Developer denied by State Supreme Court

A justice in State Supreme Court has rejected a developer’s bid to overturn a 2006 decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the former Public School 64 in the East Village, which closed in 1977, as a city landmark. The ruling is another step in a complex, decade-long battle over the fate of the building, which has become a symbol of broader struggles over gentrification.

In a ruling dated Nov. 12, the justice, Shirley Werner Kornreich, dismissed the argument by the developer, Gregg L. Singer, that the building was ineligible for landmark designation because he had stripped the facade of much of its decorative ornamentation.

“Justice Kornreich said the deliberate removal of these architectural details failed to undermine the elementary school’s architectural significance or its historic and cultural associations, which served as the basis for the commission’s decision to landmark the building,” the commission said in a statement on Monday.

East Village School’s Landmark Status Is Upheld

Yeah, but if it has been "altered", why not remove it from the list? It certainly would be grounds in Queens. In fact, designations based on "cultural and historical associations" have been rejected for many Queens landmarking efforts. (Unless they're associated with the politically correct culture of the moment, that is.)