Let’s reactivate this former rec center as a socially inclusive community space �that builds capacity for resiliency through ‘green culture’ - art, stewardship and healthy activities
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Stanton Building Task Force is led by Sara D Roosevelt Park Coalition, University Settlement, Green Map System & FAB-NYC
The Stanton Building
Sara D Roosevelt Park, Lower East Side
Let’s reactivate this Park House as much-needed community space
Stanton Building Task Force Timeline as of 9 / 2022
Location,�Location, Location
Outside the flood zone �just south of Houston & 2nd Ave
in lower Manhattan’s narrow�Sara D Roosevelt Park, �the Stanton Building can�meet 21st century needs
1934
Long-time New Yorkers remember when the Parks Dept closed dozens of community rec centers after the 1970s economic crisis. Returning that purpose to the Stanton Building was originally promised in 1982 by Patrick V. Pomposello, Manhattan's first Parks Borough Commissioner.
Over the year we observed park users, NYC’s official count of homeless people rose 40% (Politico, 7/5/17). Parks have become havens
Inset from Street Smarts map of free meals. �Yellow arrows point to #StantonBldg
under-utilized park houses mapped in 2016
NYCommons.org
The City boarded up the windows and made the Stanton Building a store room for parks throughout the borough (there’s a container too). Everyday, trucks come all the way to the Lower East Side, generating pollution, unsafe conditions & garbage around the building
With local residents imagining a lively community space instead of storage in workshops led by Asian Americans for Equality and Hester Street Collab and press coverage, we finally were allowed �inside the Stanton Building with Council Member Chin, Parks officials & SDR Park Coalition in 2015.�$1 million was allocated for new public toilets by Borough President Brewer & CM Chin!
Stanton Building Visioning & It’s My Park Day - July 2016
Culture, Nature & Climate Action
An all-ages community skill center:
Art, health & wellbeing
Nature care & creative cultivation
Community mapping & urban design�Bicycle innovation & ‘repair cafe’ Preparedness & green jobs
Organizations taking part:
Green Map NYC
NY4Parks
Partnerships for Parks
LUNGS & NYCCGC
CCCE
LES Ready �Beyond the Grid
LES Ecology Center�Time’s Up & Mechanic Coop
Return of the Stanton Building Workshops 2 & 3 - July 2016� Watch: https://bit.ly/SB16playlist
NY4Parks’ 2016 survey - SDR Park maintenance received second lowest grade in NYC
D
Borough President Gale Brewer
2016 Visioning outcomes
100+ Surveys (in person & online)
300+ Signed Petitions
20 community sketches�3 languages plus ASL
Continuing Developments towards the Return of the Stanton Building
12/1/16 - City Council Hearing on inaccessible park buildings.�#StantonBldg testified - http://bit.ly/596NYCccT
14 articles in 5 publications Letters of Support
6/17 Direct responses at the �Mayor’s LES Town Hall
Finalist! 7/17
• Gale Brewer� Manh’n Boro President �• Margaret Chin� NYC Council Member �• Goddard Riverside � Homeless Outreach�• Susan Lerner� Common Cause�• Rob Watson, LEED Fellow�• LES Ready
Good to hear, Parks Commissioner Castro ��Thanks to MBP Brewer and CM Chin, $1M for new public restrooms!
9/11/17 #StantonBldg presented at the Grassroots Alliance, alongside OEM
10/2017: New School Tishman Environment & Design Center hosted Stanton Bldg “World Cafe”
This #Sandy5 event was a success, �drawing 87 participants and an ongoing preparedness design project
Documentation, followups, soon
Late 2017
Decades after activists began imploring the city to turn over a derelict storage facility in Sara D. Roosevelt Park, the gears are finally turning on a prospective plan to transform the storehouse for community use.
“Let’s help the Parks Department meet its mission, which highlights “resilient and sustainable parks, public spaces, and recreational amenities,” �... the New York Times reported that ‘City vehicles logged 102 million miles… 25-percent more miles than in 2014.’ If Mayor de Blasio is serious about emissions reduction, removing the storage component from Stanton Building is a no-brainer.”
In 2018, �the Stanton Building Task Force expanded!
Our new partner:��
9/15/18
Borough President Gale Brewer, Sen Kavanagh, CM Chin’s Chief Li, �and other electeds spoke
News: �Fall 2018 -�Winter 2019
… Yes! Parks is removing storage from the building! Celebration planned with Council Member Chin:
… the contract for the new bathrooms was awarded! Construction underway!�
… Parsons design students presented us with a 3-D model of the park.
Pratt interior students’ detailed study will be presented April 10 2020
2/19 … the new bathrooms are underway!
SAVE THE DATE: Weds April 10th 6:30 pm Downtown Art, 70 East 4th St.
Help us celebrate the movement to reactivate the Stanton Building as it progresses to return for public access!
The recent announcement by NYC Parks that they will move their storage out of the Stanton Building and commencement of construction on the public toilet rooms in the building are indeed cause for celebration! Join us for this special community event commemorating SDR Park’s past and future at this important juncture.
The evening will feature
� This event is a collaboration between the Sara D. Roosevelt Park Coalition, Green Map System, University Settlement, FABnyc, Downtown Art and a team from Pratt Institute supported by the Pratt Center for Community Development.
Keena Suh & Pratt Interior Design exhibit + Parks SDR Park Archive
4/19 … great design work - there is outstanding potential to make a flexible and low cost center here!
Final Pratt design review in May 2019 was exciting - we can’t wait for community access to the building for workshops, art, climate action and healthy activities! ��
Fall 2019
Featured on the:
24 social and & resources marked with SDGs, linking the UN to the LES. Parks Commissioner Liam Kavanaugh joined us in planting the first two of the 1,000 trees for the LES Street Tree Canopy
While the bathrooms were in-progress, Stanton Bldg was listed in the “Living New Deal” and inspired Green Map’s Second Nature concept. bit.ly/GM2ndNature
let’s celebrate� the first of many doors �to be opened at the Stanton Building
Jan 31, 2020
Beautiful New �Public Restrooms!�
“Stepping into the bathroom for the first time made me more appreciative of the architectural grace of the Stanton Building, and its potential to bring happiness to the whole neighborhood.”
Wendy Brawer, task force member
“The simple change of having lighting through the windows (rather than being boarded up) makes the building a lantern and a destination (not to mention the safety factor). How great it would be if the whole building could provide a beacon in every sense of the word!” Keena Suh, task force advisor
Stanton Bldg & Sara D Park are in the New York Times! 7/15/22
Join us for:
Vote for our Participatory Budgeting request. �It makes this parkhouse �a bright beacon for a safer park!
Welcoming the new Manhattan Parks Commissioner who made the announcement we have been waiting for! More photos here
Project News bit.ly/stanton22� this deck bit.ly/SB18deck�#StantonBldg fb.me/stantonbldg � email stantonBldg@gmail.com