To the editor:

Crain's readers deserve to be reminded of the entire story of the former Public School 64, a deed-restricted community facility that Gregg Singer purchased at a contentious public auction in 1998.

Public School 64 served the local immigrant community as a neighborhood hub and continued to do so after the school was closed. Volunteer organizations overcame all obstacles, including an underground river that flooded the auditorium, to remake Public School 64 into vital space for all ages to teach, make art, dispense health care, repair bicycles, screen movies and rehearse.

By auctioning the building, a former administration eliminated this thriving cultural center with little or no regard for these organizations or the residents they served. Vehement community opposition to the sale of this building was clearly demonstrated at the auction and the ensuing eviction of its tenants, and has persisted without fail for two decades.

In his Sept. 4 Crain's op-ed, Mr. Singer attempts to reduce this great political injustice to mere pettiness by singling out one man's support for his community's efforts. The well-documented "battle between a developer and the community" that Mr. Singer dismisses as a "falsehood" has had extensive press coverage for over 20 years! The organizations that transformed the Lower East Side from an abandoned wasteland merit more respect.

Mr. Singer knew when he purchased this property (and knows now) that he could build a dorm if an appropriate institution would agree to occupy a certain number of beds. If a proposal had met those terms, the project would have gone forward. The state's Court of Appeals has ruled on this. The ruling and the deed restriction still stand. That Mr. Singer has owned the building through three administrations, in an exuberant market, without bringing a single proposal to fruition is the result of his own failed efforts. To those who lived through these events, it is Mr. Singer's revisionist history that rings false.

Only Mr. Singer can explain why he has made little attempt to protect this cherished landmark from the elements, why he has let it become an eyesore, why he allows it to suffer demolition by neglect. Broken windows and holes in the roof let pigeons fly in and out. Scaffolding on the East 10th Street sidewalk protects pedestrians from falling debris. The sidewalks are in treacherous condition. Surely one does not need a permit to sweep the sidewalks.

Laura Sewell, a longtime Lower East Side resident, is the executive director of the East Village Community Coalition.