RECENT HISTORY OF THE BUILDING - AUCTION SALE
On July 20, 1998, despite overwhelming community and political opposition, the former Public School 64, then the CHARAS / El Bohio Cultural & Community Center was sold at public auction for $3.155 million dollars.

Immediately after the sale, the current owner began eviction proceedings against the organizations and artists housed in the Community Center, and on December 27, 2001, the Center was evicted. Since that time, the building has remained vacant and has fallen back into disrepair. In addition to it’s now dilapidated state, the owner has begun dismantling the infrastructure of the building and demolishing the newly Land marked architectural detail of the façade.

Although the current owner has no legitimate plans to develop the building in accordance with the Community Facility Use restriction, the facility is being slowly destroyed by the demolition of the façade and interiors and by neglect in maintaining the facility.

BACKGROUND
The Lower East Side was the first home for millions of immigrants arriving in American. A true melting pot, racially and culturally diverse, the Lower East Side has given birth to many great Americans and has been the breeding ground for significant political and cultural movements.

Armando Perez was one such American. Born in Puerto Rico, and raised on the Lower East Side, Armando Perez ushered in a Puerto Rican political and cultural renaissance and rose to become a beloved community leader, a tireless advocate for the poor, an unflappable elected official and the artistic director of one of the most acclaimed and vibrant community and cultural centers in Lower East Side history, CHARAS / El Bohio Community and Cultural Center.
Armando Perez’s fight for social justice came to a brutal end on April 3, 1999, when he stepped out for cigarettes in Queens and was murdered by drug dealers, in retaliation for his campaign to rid the community of their violent control.

The Armando Perez Community Center will carry on his dream; to provide a cultural home for the residents of the Lower East Side, and nurture the next generation of great thinkers, writers, artists, activists and movements. A place where artists can hone their skills and workers can learn new ones, where residents can teach or take classes, children can blossom in after school programs, organizations can work in social service, community residents can meet, and families, friends and neighbors can celebrate.

“Wake up Loisaida, defend what’s yours, Wake up Boricua, defend what’s yours!” – Armando Perez

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND – ARMANO PEREZ & CHARAS
Throughout it’s history, the Lower East Side has struggled against poverty and neglect, and in recent history, the effects of gentrification. Armando Perez, along with Carlos “Chino” Garcia, Robert and Angel Nazario, and others joined this struggle in 1965.

Calling themselves “The Real Great Society” and eventually CHARAS, (an acronym of the members first names) the young men, all former gang members, resolved to organize to improve the quality of life on the Lower East Side. These young men were instrumental in starting community gardens, the University of the Streets performance space and the first Lower East Side recycling center. CHARAS helped open a local credit union, developed solar energy for urban use, and developed and implemented a housing program that provided the first sweat equity buildings in the U.S, and became a National model for low income home ownership.

In 1979, Armando Perez, and members of CHARAS rescued former Public School 64 at 605 East 9th Street. The beautiful Beau Arts building and former elementary school, built in 1904, had been closed by the City for several years and had since become a notorious drug den. It’s once embossed cooper roof had been stripped and the building vandalized. Its rooms were strewn with garbage and debris. Without a working pump system to stop an underground stream from entering the building, the basement was in 5 feet of water.

With the help of Federal, State, and City funds, community organizations, and neighborhood residents, and a boat, CHARAS reopened the school as the CHARAS / El Bohio (the hut) Community and Cultural Center, providing the predominately poor working residents with much needed community resources. CHARAS offered residents free or very low cost community meeting space, technical assistance, job training programs, rehearsal space, studio and performance space, after school programs and a variety of classes and workshops. CHARAS motto became “doing more with less”.

For over 20 years, CHARAS / E1 Bohio was a vibrant community resource, known both Nationally and Internationally as a mecca for the arts, activism and social services. A freewheeling space where everyone was welcome to explore and develop their skills and dreams. The success of CHARAS can be attributed to Armando Perez and the dedicated Board of Directors and staff, and the tremendous amount of help from volunteer residents, professionals and technicians.

From 1979 to 2001, over 600 programs were presented by CHARAS / El Bohio including original plays, films, poetry readings, concerts, workshops, exhibits, festivals, day camps, after school programs, benefits, weddings, and birthday parties. Their record of service to the arts and the community earned CHARAS / EI Bohio the support of such prominent figures as Brooke Adams, Leo Castelli, Susan Sarandon, Luis Valdez, Richard Gere and Pete Seeger, all of whom have served on their Advisory Board.

In addition to CHARAS programming, over 500 organizations ulitilized the center; tens of thousands of individuals rented space at a nominal cost and innumerable community groups were provided free meeting space.

The strength and spirit of CHARAS was the synergy that was created daily by the continuous intersection of cultural activity and community service.

THE BATTLE TO SAVE A COMMUNITY CENTER
In 1996, despite the success of the Community Center. The City of New York Department of City wide Administrative Services, DCAS stating that it was “getting out of the real estate business” notified CHARAS that they were planning to send the building to public auction and sell it to the highest bidder! CHARAS and the larger community responded to this plan by making enormous efforts to negotiate with the administration, and offered numerous proposals for the purchase and development the building. The City’s response to their offers was a resounding NO!

Over the course of the next three years, 1996 -1999, Armando Perez led the fight to Save this Lower East Side Institution. Legal Challenges were filed, and Armando personally delivered over 20,000 signatures, postcards and letters opposing the sale to City Hall. He helped organized numerous marches, demonstrations, press conferences, rallies and public forums.

In the middle of the battle to Save CHARAS / El Bohio, Armando Perez was brutally murdered outside of the Ravenswood projects in Queens. Armand had been beaten to death by drug dealers in retaliation for his work to rid the projects of their deadly control.

While Armando’s family, friends and his Lower East Side community struggled with this devastating loss, the community galvanized to hold his murderer’s accountable and continue to work to save their community center.