In August, the city approved developer Gregg Singer’s controversial, $40 million plan to convert a former Alphabet City public school into a college dormitory. Now City Councilwoman Rosie Mendez wants Mayor de Blasio to use eminent domain if necessary to return the landmark P.S. 64 building to the neighborhood.
“We don’t need a dorm — we’ve never wanted a dorm,” Mendez told the New York Post. “When the building was sold to this developer . . . he was supposed to develop it. He has not. The city can negotiate to get the building back.”
The 100-year-old building overlooking Tompkins Square Park was abandoned in the 1970s and later transformed it into a hub for artists and activists. Singer bought the building at auction in 1998 for $3.15 million. [NYP] – Christopher Cameron