Wrecking Ball Arrives at 185-191 Bowery

Credit: MBFC

Last week, Lower East Siders reveled in the news that two historic Bowery structures received protective landmark designation from the Landmarks Preservation Commission – Bowery Mission (227) and the Bowery Bank of New York (124-126).

Despite the glad tidings, however, the influential thoroughfare is still losing its character. And fast. As we’ve been following for, oh, three years now, 185-191 Bowery is slowly being razed before our very eyes. Demolition of the four-parcel lot was quiet for awhile, at least until DOB permits were issued in April. Developments are on the daily now. Most mornings, the plywood shed doors are ajar revealing a stark scene of deconstruction. Workers are removing the contents of these longtime denizens brick by brick, plank by plank.

It’s sad. Especially since the replacement is something the neighborhood definitely does not need at this point. Another hotel. Yes, the Amsterdam-based CitizenM hotel chain (“the embodiment of affordable luxury”) is poised to drop a 90,000 square-foot tower here at the corner of Delancey Street. Numerous neighbors and commenters have already asserted in the past that the aging infrastructure in the immediate vicinity might not support such a ginormous development. We’ll need to confirm that with our crack squad of Boogie engineers…

185 Bowery lost its head two years ago; 187 was itself decapitated within the last couple days.