The vacant school building at the center of one of the longest-running battles over gentrification in Manhattan looks battered and forlorn on Ninth Street off Avenue B in the thriving East Village.
In a tribute to its history as a beloved community and artistic hub in the 1980s and 1990s, artists have painted colorful murals on the 10th Street side of the five-story structure and black-and-white sketches of neighborhood heroes on the front. But the windows and once proud entryways are sealed off with cinder blocks.
