Hearing to determine West Park Church’s future – Business News
The rowdiest show on the town may be Tuesday’s public listening to on the West Park Presbyterian Church’s hardship utility to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
The congregation wants the LPC’s blessing to sell the rotting construction to Alchemy Properties, which might demolish the 135-year-old wreck at Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street and put up an house tower.
Count on members of the misnamed Center at West Park — an “arts center” that moved a block away after it was booted from the church two years in the past — to make noise and muddy the waters.
The congregation of West Park Presbyterian Church is searching for permission from the Landmark Preservation Commission to sell the building to Alchemy Partners. Steve Cuozzo
The arts group, egged on by the New York Times and a few showboating celebrities, claims the church building which wants not less than $30 million to restore can simply be fixed up for much less, and that the humanities group one way or the other has the suitable to re-claim its former space there.
In truth, the humanities group’s eviction when its lease ended was upheld by the state’s highest court docket.
New York’s highest court docket has upheld an arts group’s eviction from the church. New Africa – stock.adobe.com
It furthermore has failed to raise money because it promised to help protect the church.
The Presbytery of New York utilized to the LPC for the hardship exemption on Sept. 11.
A Dec. 1 letter to the LPC from the Presbytery, which oversees 88 congregations, says a hardship designation would “provide critical funding” to enable the congregation to “continue fulfilling its mission of worship and service” and supply vital financial assets” to develop church s providers in all 5 boroughs.
The arts middle seems to have a totally different motivation: to protect views of board members who stay instantly subsequent door and stand to lose them if and when the new building goes up.
