Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

Madison-Jackson, former P.S. 12 before being converted to condos, is now up for sale in its entirety, reports The Lo Down. The building was developed into apartments within the last 30 years, but sales of these apartments have been put on hold, as the current building owner has received many offers from buyers looking to purchase the entire building.

Michael Bolla, who worked with the the building owner to develop and market Madison-Jackson, attributes the high demand to pending plans to redevelop the Lower East Side area. The Madison-Jackson itself, for which sales only recently began and are now on hold, has an indoor swimming pool and apartments currently ranging from $500,000 to $1,000,000. The Lo Down reports “Prospective investors could stay the course, turn the building into a very high end development or convert the Madison-Jackson to rentals.”

Other schools around the City have “graduated” to residences in recent years as well. Former P.S. 90, now P.S. 90 Condos, in Harlem now boasts luxury condominiums, which its website says were “over 98 percent sold” as of last fall. Former P.S. 109 in East Harlem is under renovation to become a living space for artists, which should be ready to lease in 2014.

—Alissa Fleck

Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons

7-Eleven and Dunkin’ Donuts want to make more of a corporate splash on the Lower East Side, The Lo Down reports. In recent weeks, residents of the Grand Street area voted down proposals allowing the stores to lease space on the block.

It turns out 7-Eleven planned to open a location next to the Dunkin’ Donuts on 142 Delancey Street nearby. The Lo Down reports 7-Eleven will open 630 new stores in North America this year.

7-Eleven president and CEO Joe DePinto announced in a statement that the company hopes to increase its presence in metropolitan areas where it has stores currently.

Commenters on The Lo Down go back and forth on the decision being “heartbreaking,” and saying it’s a big improvement over stores that have been there in the past, like those promising “cash for gold.”

Writers at Bowery Boogie are disappointed as well, calling this development a “trajectory toward total suburban strip mall.”

—Alissa Fleck

After a two-year incubation period at the Tweed Courthouse on Chambers Street, the students of the Spruce Street School finally moved to their permanent location in the Gehry Tower last week. A red carpet—though more for the rain than for fanfare—was laid out at the school entrance as Mayor Mike Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott, architect Frank Gehry, City Council Member Margaret Chin and State Sen. Daniel Squadron greeted parents and students. Earlier in the morning, Bloomberg and Silver noted that the opening of P.S. 397 was another symbol of Lower Manhattan’s recovery in the wake of 9/11.

Hundreds of tots and guardians lined up for the first day of school, including Elda Rotor, vice president of the PTA, whose 7-and-a-half-year-old son Luca is entering 2nd grade. Rotor lived in Tribeca around Sept. 11, 2001, and her family eventually moved to the Financial District in 2006 when Luca was a baby.

“This is a neighborhood of young families who are very committed, resourceful and friendly,” Rotor said of her new community. She opted out of nearby P.S. 234 for the “opportunity to start something from the ground up.” Another parent, Chris Todd, moved with his family from Tribeca for economic reasons, but settled on the Financial District primarily for the Spruce Street School, he said.

The Gehry-designed building that houses the school is also, at 870 feet, the tallest residential structure in New York City.

LOWER MANHATTAN SILVER REFLECTS ON A DECADE OF GROWTH

In an evocative speech Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver delivered last week to the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association, the Spruce Street School opening was the launching point to discuss a decade of development and growth around ground zero.

“School openings may not make the front pages or be covered by the foreign press, but they are our most eloquent way to claim victory for a Lower Manhattan community many predicted would never come back,” Silver noted.

“On the streets where people once ran for their lives, they will find young parents among the 55,000 residents of Lower Manhattan—double the number that were here before 9/11—pushing their strollers. On busy avenues of commerce that were expected to wither away, they will find more than 300,000 well-educated and highly trained weekday workers…In the soaring shadows of One World Trade and Four World Trade, residents and visitors alike will find dozens of new hotels with a bevy of restaurants and retail shops suited to every taste and every budget,” he added.

Silver recalled his own memories of Sept. 11, 2001. “Seeing Flight 175 hit the South Tower, feeling the ground shake when the towers collapsed,  the smell of smoke.” However, he focused most of his notes on the redevelopment in Lower Manhattan: the current 8 percent vacancy rate in World Trade Center 7, Goldman Sachs breaking ground on its new world headquarters on West Street in 2005,  companies and not-for-profits like Condé Nast, Tthe Daily News, American Lawyer Media, the William J. Clinton Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences moving their operations to the area.

“My favorite observation, however, comes from the [Downtown] Alliance’s own report on the state of Lower Manhattan, and I quote: ‘Upon completion of the World Trade Center redevelopment program and the 8.8 million square feet of world-class office space, Lower Manhattan will regain its ranking as the nation’s third-largest central business district.’” The area slipped to fourth place after 9/11.

LOWER MANHATTAN $17 MILLION IN COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL FUNDING

Last week, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation awarded $17 million to Downtown nonprofits. Thirty-eight Community and Cultural Enhancement grants were given out. One beneficiary was the Manhattan Youth, which was awarded $500,000 to maintain six affordable afterschool programs. Of the funding, State Sen. Daniel Squadron said, “Our Downtown community and cultural organizations are critical to Lower Manhattan’s continued rebuilding…Their contributions are as integral as the headline projects that are reviving and transforming our community.”

LOWER MANHATTAN

National 9/11 Memorial and Museum: Pols Introduce Federal Funding Measures

Rep. Jerrold Nadler recently introduced a bill, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum Act of 2011, which would secure ongoing federal funding of up to $20 million for the memorial and museum at ground zero. Nadler noted in a release that the funding would go toward the operations of the memorial and museum, and added that Sen. Daniel Inouye has introduced nearly identical legislation in the Senate.

2011-2012 PARENT RESOURCE GUIDE RELEASED

Looking for ballet classes for your child or the nearest health center? State Sen. Daniel Squadron’s recently released third annual Parent Resource Guide has this information and more. The booklet features a comprehensive list of government agencies, educational resources (i.e., libraries and tutoring programs), community service groups (i.e., mock trials and Model UN), youth and community centers, health services (from hospitals to vision care), arts and cultural institutions and classes, sports and recreation, preschool and day care programs and summer camp information.

The guide is available for download at the senator’s website or in hard copy by calling the senator’s office at 212-298-5565.

LOWER EAST SIDE E-WASTE DAY

For those looking for a sustainable way to rid their homes of electronics, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the LES Ecology Center are sponsoring an e-waste day on Delancey Street between Chrystie and Forsyth streets on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Items accepted for disposal will be computers, monitors, keyboards, electronic mice, scanners, printers, fax machines, cables, televisions, VCRs, DVDs, audio and visual equipment, cable and satellite receivers, digital converter boxes and video game consoles.

LOWER EAST SIDE DELANCEY STREET SAFETY WORKING GROUP FORMED

Earlier this week, a group of elected officials, city agencies and community leaders convened at State Sen. Daniel Squadron’s office to form the Delancey Street Safety Working Group. After a spate of accidents and growing public concern, the Department of Transportation installed countdown clocks at intersections along this thoroughfare, which has been dubbed the deadliest street in New York City, as the first step to increasing safety. The group agreed to reconvene in one month and regularly thereafter to work out short-term and long-term improvements.

Photo caption: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver welcomes children to the newly opened Spruce Street School.
Photo courtesy of Sheldon Silver’s office.

The United States Department of Justice issued the final regulations on Monday, Aug. 29, for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (VCF), or the Zadroga Act, reported a press release from Council Member Margaret Chin’s office. One of the most notable changes was the expansion of the geographic zone recognized as the “9/11 crash site” from south of Reade Street to south of Canal Street.

“I am encouraged by the broadening of the VCF area to include thousands of individuals and families who have been profoundly affected, physically and emotionally, by the September 11 attacks,” Chin noted. “Although I advocated for a more inclusive boundary, the expansion of the VCF area to cover residents between Reade and Canal streets, many of whom receive treatment at the WTC Environmental Health Center, is a welcome change.”

Chin added that the regulations will take effect Oct. 3.

Washington Square Park Outdoor Film Series

The IFC Center and the City of New York Department of Parks and Recreation recently announced “Movies on the Square,” a free outdoor film series that will bring three New York musicals to the newly renovated Washington Square Park on Sept. 8, 15 and 22. The series is co-sponsored by New York University, whose campus borders the park.

On the Town, the 1949 Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Ann Miller film, will kick off the series on Thursday, Sept. 8, followed by Hair on Sept. 15 and Wild Style on Sept. 22.

The films depict or refer to New York City in very different eras, from the postwar 1940s to the beatnik revolution of the 1960s to the graffiti and MC heyday of the 1980s. The screenings will take place on the large lawn at he northwest corner of the park and begin 30 minutes after sunset.

Improving Delancey

After a fatality at the intersection of Delancey and Chrystie streets in mid-August, State Senator Daniel Squadron and Council Member Margaret Chin co-wrote a letter to the Department of Transportation (DOT), urging them to improve safety conditions on Delancey Street. In a release distributed last week, Squadron noted that despite improvements last year, “Delancey remains one of the most dangerous streets in this city.”

Chin added, “The number of accidents between pedestrians and motor vehicles on Delancey is unacceptable.”

The release, distributed by the council member and the senator, also noted a recent pedestrian fatality at the intersection of Delancey and Essex streets in May, adding that this particular intersection was among the deadliest in New York City. According to the release, DOT records show that from 2008 through 2010 there were “523 motor vehicle accidents at the intersection of Delancey and Essex streets, 14 of which involved pedestrians and cyclists.”

“We know that the DOT plans to install pedestrian countdown signals along part of the Delancey Street corridor. We urge the DOT to begin this process immediately and to extend the pedestrian countdown signals at every intersection on Delancey,” the two wrote in their letter.

Squadron and Chin both said they would work with the DOT and NYPD, as well as the community, fellow politicians and experts to improve the safety of these intersections.

Subway Best in Show

The report cards are in and, according to the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, which revealed its 14th annual “State of the Subways” report last week, the J/Z line, better known as the brown line, was best in class out of 18 subway routes. The C, part of the blue line, and the 2, part of the red line, tied for last place.

This is reportedly the first year the J/Z has nabbed first place, while the C has consistently shown abysmal scores, coming in last in 2001, 2007, 2009 and 2010.