Breaking: 35 Cooper Square to be Demolished
On this beautiful spring Saturday, Vanishing NY brings the unsurprising news that 35 Cooper Square is to be demolished. Neither the preservation efforts of late nor the “meeting of the minds” had any effect on developer Arun Bhatia’s decision to raze the centuries-old Federal style building. Seemed their camp was just going through the motions to appease the community.
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In any event, Jeremiah relays the official letter from the developer’s lawyer to Council Member Rosie Mendez:
Arun Bhatia has asked me to report to you on the status of 35 Cooper Square. As you know, Mr. Bhatia and his development team, including a preservation architect, met on Monday, April 11, with member of you staff, representatives of other elected officials, and representatives of community and preservation groups to discuss 35 Cooper Square. Following the meeting, various massing alternatives for the site were studied to see whether it would be possible to preserve the building or any significant portions of it. As explained at the meeting, the site is very constrained, with 35 Cooper Square occupying a large and key section of the site. Unfortunately, it was concluded that it would not be feasible to develop the site with the building or any significant portion of it remaining, and that any potential relief from the BSA via a variance would not remedy the site conditions which make preservation infeasible.
In other words, demolition. The property owner will reportedly donate a financial contribution to the Landmarks Conservancy to help document the histories of the endangered species of Federal buildings.
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