WHY DO I CARE?
Dear Editor,
The major demolition of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital campus is scheduled to begin on August 1st. The Rudin family has acknowledged on their website that the construction will be ongoing through 2016. This means that for the next four years, conservatively speaking, District 2 will suffer from aggravated and constant noise levels, lowered air quality due to millions of tons of particles from destruction of concrete, asbestos, metals and VOCs, (volatile organic compounds) and all the other waste materials acknowledged in the City Environmental Quality Review and in the Final Environmental Impact Report.
In the reports, a line of 400 ft. is drawn around the site showing the area expected to be affected by what they call ‘Significant Adverse Effects.’ This is the highest level of negative effects possible without resorting to the term ‘Unavoidable Significant Adverse Effects.’ These include the noise and air issues mentioned above.
The PS41 campus is clearly well within that perimeter.
Furthermore, owners and residents of the buildings along this block of West 11th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues have been offered some mitigating measures by the Rudin family under the aegis of their West Village Residences LLC to compensate for their loss of four years of the quality of their environment. These measures include storm windows, air conditioning unit or fan units, to be purchased and installed by the WVR LLC. The letter is signed by Eric Rudin.
PS41 has been offered absolutely nothing; the Final Environmental report draws a line next to the school building. The WVR LLC shows a blatant disregard for the current and future health of our children, and for their ability to receive the education they are due by right over the next four years.
The Rudin family cannot be allowed to get away with this flawed plan and egregious treatment of the district’s public school children and the extremely dedicated faculty who have made PS41 into one of the top ten public schools in New York City. This high quality public school has taken years to build through the efforts of the staff, devoted parents and the work of the entire neighborhood to keep it funded and vibrant.
Shame on you, Rudin family, for this cheap bypassing of the urgent scholastic needs of the community you are entering with your billion dollar project. The cost of helping the school to survive through this time is less than that of losing the great public school you are probably using as one of the fabulous perks of West Village living.
The school has prepared a letter and delivered it into the hands of the Rudin Management. The letter requests that the WVR LLC covers the cost of air conditioning and the required electrical upgrade, constant professional air quality and noise monitoring, HP air purifiers and HP vacuums for the school. We are awaiting a response, which has been requested by Friday June 22nd.
On June 20, Nightline was outside PS41 at pick-up today with their cameras, interviewing parents and children. One second grader, when asked about the heat in the school, was heard to tell the reporter “Oh, it’s too hot in school, because the Rudins won’t give us air conditioning.”
