GVSHP | Preservation | 75 Morton Street

from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
August 6, 2008

Late yesterday, the City formally requested that the State allow 75 Morton Street to be converted to a public school, rather than sold off to the highest bidder for development. Your letters and months and months of work by local residents and parents, working with city and state officials, paid off!

However, the story is far from over. No decision has been made by the State. And recent decisions by the City to rezone the area around 75 Morton Street and to allow condo-hotel development in this neighborhood has increased development pressure on this site and will increase the temptation to sell the building off to the highest bidder, rather than preserve it and use it for a much-needed public purpose.

WE NEED TO KEEP THE PRESSURE ON! You can still come to the rally GVSHP is co-sponsoring today, Wednesday, August 6th at 5:30 pm in front of 75 Morton Street (at Greenwich Street) to call for the preservation of this State-owned building for re-use as a local public school.

To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, go to www.gvshp.org/membership.htm.

As part of the effort to preserve 75 Morton Street for re-use as a local public school, GVSHP is encouraging our friends and neighbors to write to Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg. The Governor and Mayor need to hear from you AS SOON AS POSSIBLE that this precious resource should not simply be sold off to the highest bidder for development, but should re-used and put to a community-friendly public purpose (CLICK HERE for GVSHP's letter to the Governor and Mayor).

DON'T FORGET: Come to the rally GVSHP is co-sponsoring on Wednesday, August 6th at 5:30 pm in front of 75 Morton Street (at Greenwich Street) with local public school parents, elected officials, and the community board. Join us in calling for the preservation of this State-owned building for re-use as a local public school.

PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

Please join GVSHP for a rally we are co-sponsoring on Wednesday, August 6th at 5:30 pm in front of 75 Morton Street (at Greenwich Street), where we will be joining local public school parents, elected officials, and the community board to call for preservation of the State-owned building at 75 Morton Street for re-use as a local public school.

Background: 75 Morton Street is a former warehouse built in 1919 and currently owned and occupied by the State. However, the State intends to sell off the building, potentially to the highest bidder for whatever use they see fit. A recent rezoning of neighboring blocks, and the City's recent decision to allow 'condo-hotels' (like the nearby Trump SoHo 'Condo-Hotel') in the area, increases development pressure on this site.

GVSHP has joined with the Public School Parent Advocacy Committee to ask the City and State to turn the building into a much-needed local public school, given levels of overcrowding at nearby schools. We are concerned about what could happen to the site if it is simply sold off for development, and support locating a school there, which would maintain the building for a public purpose and potentially create an open space attached to the school which could also be used by the general public. A decision from the State is expected shortly, so Wednesday's rally is needed to send a strong message about the community's wishes for the site.

If you plan to come to the rally, or cannot come but are interested in this issue, send an e-mail to gvshp@gvshp.org to let us know.