With two major projects underway on upper Orchard Street on the Lower East Side?Jason Pomeranc's new 24-story hotel, and the 15-story apartment complex across the street?nattily acronymed LES protest group LOCO is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. From their website:
We are rising up: TO STOP THE 24 STORY HOTEL AND OTHER HIGH-RISE DEVELOPMENTS ON ORCHARD STREET - AND DEMAND THE LANDMARK STATUS AND ZONING CHANGES THAT WILL "KEEP THE LOWER EAST SIDE LOW!"... We plan to do community events, forums and demonstrations in the coming months...including a human chain around the Lower East Side!
A human freaking chain?! Best news we've heard all week! Meantime, LOCO is also outraged about the so-called "asbestos situation" at 174-176 Orchard Street (above). Kinda looks like, er, insulation to us, but what the heck do we know? (To be fair, LOCO's website notes, "The roofing material in the photos, for your information, did test positive for asbestos (some had remarked that the color was not consistent with asbestos.)" Alrighty then.)
· The Ludlow - Orchard Community Organization [LOCO]
· Report on the Orchard Street Asbestos Situation [LOCO]