This is the former P.S. 64 building and location of CHARAS/El Bohio, on 9th between B and C (the Christodora seen on the left). There’s a lot that I could write here, but I will try to condense it to the best of my ability: this building was constructed between 1904 and 1906, crucial years in the evolution of the LES from “Kleindeutschland” into a largely Eastern-European Jewish neighborhood. Designed by C.B.J Snyder, P.S. 64 was an innovative public school building, among other things the first in NYC to provide free professional theater to the public (its grand Auditorium was the site of many productions, talks, and important local political events - supposedly FDR would gauge the strength of his Jewish base by the turnout for his speeches at the school). In the 70’s the city shut the doors and it fell into disrepair. CHARAS, a community organization that had sprung out of Puerto Rican gang culture, alongside Reverend Norman Eddy’s Adopt-A-Building organization (which had recentl...
This is an ongoing documentary project on the neighborhood I was born and raised in, with a particular focus on its current re-development and so-called "revitalization".