Pouring concrete, that is.
Today gawkers gathered at the corner of East Fourth Street and Cooper Square, where four concrete trucks were parked, to watch the foundation of the new dorm at 35 Cooper Square go in. We shot some footage of a giant thingamajig pouring grey slop all over the hearts of East Village preservationists.
This little moment has been a long time coming: it was back in May of 2011 that developer Arun Bhatia demolished a 185-year-old building constructed by Nicholas William Stuyvesant, despite landmarking efforts by those who noted that — hold up — Cecil Taylor and William S. Burroughs visited the Federal-style house back when it was Beat poet Diane di Prima’s home.
The site attracted taggers and rats while it lay fallow, but now it’s on its way to becoming a 13-story dorm leased by Marymount Manhattan College.
Here’s what she’ll look like when all is said and done.
Will Marymount Manhattan produce the next William Burroughs? That remains to be seen, but hey, you can always celebrate the original in the meantime.