The GPBA's Role in the Transformation of the formerly crime-ridden 23rd Street Corridor
In 1994, the GPBA was founded after Arlene Harrison's then 15-year-old son was brutally beaten by a random "wilding" gang outside their Gramercy Park home.
That same year, the crime-ridden Kenmore Hotel (145 E 23rd St, between Lex & Third ave) was seized by the Justice Department, the largest asset forfeiture in the history of the federal government to this day.
The GPBA then mobilized support for Housing & Services' $30 million plan that turned the Kenmore into a national model of affordable supportive housing.
The first article below describes the GPBA's role in the takeover and rehabilitation of the Kenmore.
The following articles show recent developments along 23rd Street, underscoring the major transformation of 23rd Street since that time.
1994 federal seizure of the Kenmore Hotel, a warren of 641 rooms on E 23rd Street, was notorious for drug dealing and crime.
Credit John Sotomayor/The New York Times
GPBA Archives: A Look Back in Gramercy Park History
1994 Federal Seizure of the Kenmore Hotel
GPBA's role in the takeover and rehabilitation of the Kenmore