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Elderly Battle NYC Chinatown Condo Board
About 2,000 protesters rallied in front of a luxury condominium building in Chinatown, demanding that its city-owned basement be quickly turned into a center for senior citizens.
Community advocates who led the protest say the building's condo board is holding up the city-supported plan for the basement of the former NYPD headquarters at 240 Centre Street.
The landmark building stood vacant for several years after the police department moved to One Police Plaza in 1973. In the early '80s, amid the city's fiscal crisis, it was sold to coop and condo developers, with the key provision that part of the building be reserved for community activities.
However, the agreement has hit several snags over the years. After a tax foreclosure in 1993, the city repossessed the basement. The following year, the city's Department for the Aging, a local community board, and several other community groups recommended that the vacant space be offered to Project Open Door, one of Chinatown's oldest and largest senior centers. Founded...