East Village School's Owner Sues City For Blocking Dorm Project

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The man trying to turn a former East Village school into a college dorm sued the city Wednesday, alleging a "conspiracy" among officials and residents to stop the project.

Gregg Singer, the develper, bought the former home of P.S. 64 at 605 E. Ninth St. in 1998. Since then, the city and community groups have schemed to put the building back in the city's hands, Singer alleges in the lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.

Singer accuses Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Council members, the Department of Buildings and local activists of putting up illegal and arbitrary roadblocks in what should have been a simple process to repurpose the building. The lawsuit includes charges of conspiracy and violation of due process rights.

"What began as a hunch of impropriety over a decade ago has now turned into a complex web of emails, letters, conversations, press statements, and other actions that culminate into a multi-level plan executed over a period of years for one primary purpose: New York City’s reacquisition of Old P.S. 64," says the lawsuit, which The Wall Street Journal first reported.

Singer has sought for years to turn the building into a dormitory for various colleges, but officials required a lease with a school to approve the plans. The project remained stalled even after Adelphi University signed a lease with Singer in August 2016. Adelphi terminatd the lease on Oct. 11, 2017.

The next day, de Blasio announced his intent to buy the building back from Singer, even though it's not for sale. The move drew praise from local residents. Community groups have opposed Singer's plans since then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani sold the building 20 years ago.

The lawsuit accuses Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, of enlisting elected officials to get the Department of Buildings to go against its own previous rulings. Public pressure from officials, including former Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, forced several schools to back out of the project, the lawsuit says.

Berman reportedly rejected the claims. "The reason why he hasn’t been able to get a permit for the last five or 10 years is because he hasn’t filed one that is actually legal," Berman told The Wall Street Journal.

The Department of Buildings defended its actions, telling the Journal it denied Singer's permit applications because he "failed to submit sufficient proof that the building would be used as a student dormitory."

The building, constructed between 1904 and 1906, housed P.S. 64 until the school closed in 1977. CHARAS, a Latino community group, used it as a community center until 2001. The city designated it a landmark in 2006.

Protests have surrounded the building since its 1998 sale. Demonstrators released 10,000 live crickets as it was auctioned off at One Police Plaza in 1998, the Journal reported.

(Lead image: The former P.S. 64 building is seen on East Ninth Street in the East Village. Photo from NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission)