Judge rejects bid to overturn landmark status

State Supreme Court Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich recently rejected
a building owner’s bid to overturn the landmark status designation at
the former P.S. 64 building, at 605 East 9th Street at Avenue B in the
East Village. Building owner Gregg Singer argued that the building,
which the Landmarks Preservation Commission had granted landmark
status, was ineligible for that designation because Singer had removed
many of the decorative elements from the building’s exterior. Kornreich
issued the decision November 12. Singer, who purchased the building for
over $3 million at auction in 1998, in March was denied a permit to
construct a college dormitory at the site.