Month: May 2011

A typical walk/don’t walk sign

Continue to the full post… “Wonderful, beautiful, adaptive nature”

May 11th was the last time I ‘visited’ 35 Cooper Square. I took these photos as mementos. It has been a sad thing seeing this piece of history on the Bowery get gutted and dismantled chunk by chunk on various sites online. I couldn’t bear to see the building in any state of further destruction in person.

Continue to the full post… “35 Cooper Square, two weeks before complete demolition”

Tonight was a rally to mourn the loss of 35 Cooper Square, a small Federal-style building on the Bowery that was built in 1825 and demolished this week! It is a crying shame that developers who were taught the significance of this little piece of history ignored pleas to save the building and razed it.

Members of Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, Historic Districts Council, and other organizations as well as caring neighbors and friends gathered in front of the lot where 35 Cooper used to stand to express their sadness over the loss of the building and to encourage everyone to actively pressure the city to protect the Bowery’s historical status and help preserve the few older buildings that remain.

It was great to hear from lecturers, poets, neighbors, and friends who shared the same sentiment: We are sickened by the rapid loss of NYC history on the Bowery and want to preserve what little of it remains!

I’ve lived in New York City for 20 years (8 years of which in the Lower East Side). Preservation of this area’s history is a big value of mine and I plan on being more active in the efforts discussed at the rally.

Apologies for not catching most of the speakers’ names. What each person said resonated with the whole crowd.

Here’s David Mulkins, Chair of Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, who led the event:

Continue to the full post… “Rally to Mourn the Loss of 35 Cooper Square, May 25, 2011”