The City is looking for someone to buy the impressive but decaying courthouse on Beach Channel Drive on the Rockaway peninsula, hoping that a developer will want to salvage the 24,000 square foot limestone and marble edifice that was built in 1932 and has now been closed longer than it was open. The Daily News recently got a look inside the building and has photos that show that decay has worn more severely on the inside of the courthouse than on its exterior. Beyond the peeling paint, crumbling ceiling, and boarded up windows, however, one can still make out the courthouse's former grandeur. "It's a beautiful building; it has great bones" brokerbabbled Seth Pinsky, president of the city's Economic Development Council.
The most recently interested party in renovating the courthouse is Uri Kaufman, president of the Harmony Group. He wants to turn the monumental building into an outpatient surgical center offering treatments like laser eye surgery, cosmetic surgery, and ambulatory care like MRIs. The Harmony Group outlined its proposal in a meeting with Community Board 14 in December 2011.
· A rare peek inside the long-shuttered Rockaway Courthouse [NYDN]
· New life for Rockaway courthouse [The Wave]
· New life for old courthouse [The Wave]
· The Abandoned Courthouse [ForgottenNY]
· Appealing for Rehab at Abandoned Rockaway Courthouse [CurbedNY]