Hi All-
Thank you to the dozens of you who have already contacted our local elected officials about urging them to vote down Related proposal and text change to build on the site of Ruppert Playground. Please keep up the good work! You may have also seen today that Related started to do some excavating and exploratory work on the site but they DO NOT have permission to build anything yet. What they have dug up can be put back together very easily so we should not give up the fight and only be more resolved to continue our fight. We are not giving up and neither should you despite what Related is trying to do.
To that point we also need you to contact The Windward School, the proposed anchor tenant for Related's development on the playground site. We urge you to contact them with your personal opinions on the project and the negative impacts it will have on this community. By no means do we feel this school is a bad idea for Manhattan we just feel that this playground site is not the right place for any school.
So again we ask that the Windward school work with Related to find a more suitable site out of the many other sites that Related already has permission to develop on. We should also point out to the school that Related currently does not have permission to built anything on the playground site. They have misrepresented that it is an "as of right" development which it is not! The project should follow proper protocol and gain consent from all the other entities in the Ruppert Urban Renewal Area before they can go forward.
A school can be built anywhere - This vital community park cannot!! Please see the list below of contact information for the school we have been able to collect thus far (we want as many people as possible to contact the school via phone, email and letters. Please start doing this right away and if you cannot reach the person on the list please ask to leave a message for them):
Dr. John J. Russell is currently the Head ofWindward School
Main Telephone Number:
Christie Borden
Associate Director of Institutional Advancement, Special Events
Lower School Campus
Middle School Campus
Also please email me back with any feedback you get from the school.
Regards,
Oscar Fernandez (Campaign To SaveRuppert PlaygroundOrganizer)
"Save Our Park, Save Our Community!"
