In the 1960s, the city rented out the Christodora building (located next door to PS64) to Black Panthers, Young Lords, and other community groups. Due to the difficulty of researching first-hand records on the operations that took place during this time, rumors regarding the reasons for the closure remain to be reported by capitalist journalists. A deal with the city was reached during the eviction of the organizers of the Christodora building in exchange for the vacant PS64 building. As a result, Chino Garcia and other activists decided to resume their operations at PS64, renaming it CHARAS Community Center.

In court and out of court, there was a long struggle to keep the CHARAS building in the hands of community members and activists. The judge, however, ruled in December 2001 that the activist should be evicted. The opposition of a property pimp does not end there. Gregg Singer has been battling Landmark regulations since then. In January 2009, Singer’s project should run smoothly if all plans adhere to the New York City Landmark laws and regulations… Evidently, Singer has not been so sincere.

As the rent for CHARAS was $874/month for the whole building, activist focused its efforts on community defense, medical care, arts, and other activities that provided social opportunity and rehabilitation. It was run by many former gang members and provided a safe space for drug users as well. It is pertinent to note that some artists with roots in CHARAS include Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, and Spike Lee. On July 20th, 1998, former Mayor Giuliani sold the building at auction.

Even though CHARAS members and their surrounding community disapproved of the sale, the building was ultimately sold to Gregg Singer… but not before the auction was bombed with 10,000 crickets. It only took about 45 minutes for the halt to be lifted, and Singer found himself the new owner of PS64/CHARAS/El Bohio. The community was given 30 days to move out by Gregg Singer in the summer of 1999.

Singer successfully evicted the 22-year-old CHARAS community from the building.

It was attempted to avoid a landmark commission, but by September 13th 2006, the Landmark Preservation Commission had taken action. Many attempts were made during this time and in the following years to dig into the loopholes of constructing a for-profit dormitory, but all of these attempts failed. Mayor de Blasio stated in a public forum on October 12, 2017 that it was a mistake for the Giuliani administration to sell the building. A mayor or his office failed to contact the owner and refused to meet with him or discuss the project with him. A letter was sent by the owner’s managing partner to Mayor de Blasio on March 19, 2020, offering to use the building for free during the Coronavirus outbreak. It was not of interest to the Mayor.

As long as Gregg Singer retains ownership, he hopes that this new administration led by Eric Adams will approach this issue differently.