35 Cooper Square

c. 1820 - May 26, 2011

Address: 35 Cooper Square, between East Fifth & Sixth Streets on the Bowery. 35 Cooper Square is a nearly 200-year-old federal-style building. The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors collected 1,000 signatures from the public and neighbors within the community to advocate that this building be designated as a historical landmark. The community experienced an enormous setback when the City approved the site for full demolition. In The Local East Village, Rozdeba states, "The property was brought by Cooper and 6th Property LLC after the previous owners sold it back to an insurance company" at one point the Cooper Square Hotel had once owned this property (Rozedeba, 2011). Much of the property is damaged and described as "there's not much left to the building" thus, questioning what is left to preserve as Elisabeth de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the commission described (Rozedeba, 2011). Preservationists were campaigning to preserve the 35 Cooper Square building as a landmark historical site and held a vigil for the demolished site on May 26, 2011. Stephen Rex Brown outlined the historical significance of 35 Cooper Square through a published article in The Local East Village in 2011. Brown includes various historical images that showcase how 35 Cooper Square appeared in specific historical periods such as Pre-1878, 1903, 1917, 2003, and 2011. Brown presents a painting of Cooper Square, during this period 35 Cooper Square was located across Paresis Hall, 32 Cooper Square, a historic gay establishment.