Since news broke three weeks ago of plans for a 23-story dormitory on E. Ninth St. on the site of the former CHARAS/El Bohio cultural and community center, neighborhood opposition has rapidly built against the project. A new group, Stop the Dorm/Save Our School, was formed a week after the news broke, and has been gathering petitions to fight the dorm. Two weekends ago, S.O.S./S.T.D. gathered 2,000 petition signatures over one weekend in Tompkins Sq. Park in support of landmarking the old P.S. 64, the turn-of-the-century school building on the site and former home to CHARAS, which would be razed for the project. The petitions were sent to the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Last weekend, just as easily, they gained another 2,000 signatures on a general petition against the project and for saving the building.
