Saturday, May 7th @ 10am

ERFA’s Lisa Mercurio Leads a Jane’s Walk:

Each year, the Municipal Art Society is the local organizer of “Jane’s Walk,” a three-day event that honors the legacy of urban activist Jane Jacobs with hundreds of walking tours in over 180 cities across the globe. This year, ERFA’s Lisa Mercurio has generously volunteered to lead a Jane’s Walk of our neighborhood.

The walk is entitled, “Historic Sutton Place Clashes with Billionaire’s Row. WWJD: What Would Jane Do? See Why City History, Megatowers and Residential Neighborhoods Don’t Mix.”

When: Saturday, May 7th, from 10 am -11 am.
Where: Meet at this small Privately Owned Public Space (POPS), a beautifully landscaped park between 400 and 410 E. 59th St. The tour will continue on Foot

It will highlight our community’s struggle to maintain our unique character in the face of oversized and unwanted development. The meeting place is between 400 and 410 E. 59th St., a pretty, privately-owned public space between First and York Avenues. You can see the walk’s details and sign up to join the walk right here. To RSVP, simply create a login on the Jane’s Walk site and click the “I’m going” button next to the event’s date and time.

Spread the word.  Get your neighbors and friends to come along as well. See you there!

Once again, ERFA’s President, Alan Kersh, was featured in the news: this time, in The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ looked into the bankruptcy/foreclosure battle between the developer Bauhouse and its lenders, and spoke with him about the project.

WSJ: Bankruptcy Is Bellwether of New York’s Condo Market

Controversy over the project started as soon as its existence became public in March 2015…

The Sutton Place tower’s sheer scale—with 78 floors it would reach far higher than surrounding buildings—and location in the middle of a narrow residential street not far from Billionaire’s Row, drew immediate backlash from the community.

“It caught everyone by surprise,” said Alan Kersh, president of the East River 50s Alliance, which has been fighting the tower since it was first proposed last year, calling it “wickedly out of character and out of scale with our neighborhood.”

Come to our town hall meeting this Thursday, April 7th at 8am at Morso Restaurant and Cafe, 420 East 59th Street.

If you can’t make, you can still attend a future meeting (also at Morso) on Thursday, May 5th at 8am.

See you there!