Public School 64, the 130,000-square-foot building in Manhattan's East Village that would become the CHARAS/El Bohio Community Center, was active between its completion in 1906 and its closure in 1977.
[3] Unlike the Real Great Society, CHARAS was a holistic, multi-issue organization that addressed issues as wide-ranging as housing, environmentalism, education, job training, and the arts.
[5] The organization consulted with mathematician Buckminster Fuller over many years on alternative technology, sweat equity, and geodesic domes to house the poor.
[10] After a brief intermission, the building sold for $3.15 million to Gregg Singer,[1] who was originally anonymous but later revealed[10] as a campaign contributor of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
[1] During that period, the Village Voice rated the site as the city's "Best Place to Rally Around and/or Resuscitate" based on its community services for the Lower East Side.
[12] The eviction was delayed by the September 11 attacks[13] and by "Singer alerts", in which the landlord was required to announce prospective tenant visits in advance, giving activists ample time to organize an impromptu demonstration.
[10] Squatters planned to occupy and defend the building, particularly to protect precedent, but CHARAS demurred because they wanted the city's future support as a community organization.
[14] New York Reclaim the Streets held a block party for a final defense and celebration of the space, which had become a symbolic for community losses due to gentrification.
[18] Singer's lender, Madison Realty Capital, began foreclosure proceedings in 2018 for missed mortgage payments, claiming to be owed over $100 million.
The lender sold the loan to 605 East 9th Community Holdings, which The Real Deal reports is connected to Aaron Sosnick, a billionaire who previously expressed interest in the property.