Anti-Extell Rally Planned This Morning to Oppose Gargantuan 56-Story Tower
This image has been archived or removed.
Chinatown and the Lower East Side are basically telling Extell to shove it.
Extell chief Gary Barnett sure knows how to generate controversy. His bridge-eclipsing market-rate monolith at 250 South Street has become a lightning-rod issue among locals, who claim the resultant rush of gentrification will destroy the waterfront community. It’s a two-tower development that offers luxury amenities to the 1% but a separate 13-story “poor door” facility for the low income population.
Despite the recent amendment to reduce overall height of 250 South Street from 71 to 56 stories (approximately 100 feet), advocacy groups, residents, and small businesses remain in opposition to the Extell phallus at the former Pathmark site. A rally is planned for this morning (11am) to call on Mayor de Blasio to “support community-based rezoning to protect the local neighborhood, and especially public housing, which is at risk of being privatized.”
The opposition gathering will happen at the corner of Cherry and Pike Streets. It’s hosted by Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), Chinatown Tenants Union, Chinese Staff and Workers Association (CSWA), CAAAV Organizing Asian Communities, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), Mujeres Y Hombres Luchadoras, National Mobilization Against Sweatshops (NMASS), and Community Development Project, Urban Justice Center.
The twin towers of Extell are still in the pile-driving phase of development. Both are slated for a 2018 completion.
Recent Stories
Lower East Side Ferry Route Permanently Reconfigured Due to Poor Ridership
Spring and summer usually see peak ridership for the city’s nascent ferry system. However, as with everything else these days, the novel coronavirus got in the way. In response to the ongoing crisis, the NYC Ferry program is reducing service by an additional 20-percent. Three routes are permanently reconfigured, including the Corlears Hook line, which […]
Scarr’s Pizza Reopens Today for Pickup and Delivery
On the sidelines for two months, Scarr’s Pizza reopens on the Lower East Side today. The popular Orchard Street pizzeria had shuttered in mid-March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic seized control of the city. Customers can order only for pickup or delivery (via Caviar); no slices. Still no word on how this extended closure ultimately […]
POP International Galleries ‘Collects for Cause’
Hello Art Lovers! This one’s for you. Starting tomorrow, and running through June 20, POP International Galleries (whose brick and mortar is 195 Bowery) will be presenting an online group charity exhibit suitably named “Collect for Cause.” The event will feature a mix of new and familiar faces. From the POP Press Release: No one […]
MooShoes Permanently Closes its LA Store Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
Popular vegan shoe store, MooShoes, permanently closed its Los Angeles satellite earlier this month. The retail outpost had been in business on the West Coast since 2014. Six years later, it’s done in by the novel coronavirus. The shutter does not affect the Lower East Side original, which has been out of commission due to […]
Man Seriously Injured in Stabbing at Ludlow and Delancey
Cops say that a man was seriously injured in a stabbing on the fringe of Hell Square late Monday night. The twenty-something was stabbed in the “upper abdominal” area during an altercation with an unknown assailant near the northeast corner of Ludlow and Delancey Streets. The police report noted a “large pool of blood” on […]
