Later, the planning board and city council adopted a redevelopment plan for the site. Since the site is located in the historic neighborhood of Harsimus Cove, which is primarily residential, the rehabilitation for residential use was the only permitted principal use. Several proposals for market rate housing fell through, as did a later effort by PACO to develop subsidized senior citizen housing.

Schundler ally, Ben Lopez, named head of a U.S. Labor Dept. funded job training program, who was already ensconced at 121-125 Newark Avenue, the office building purchased for the job program by the city in 1994 at $1.7 million, wanted the P.S. 2 building. He wanted this property as an annex to his burgeoning mini-empire, even though the proposed use was not a legal one.

The Schundler administration was quite prepared to allocate a substantial amount of CDBG federal money to further the project. This happened quite early in Schundler's first administration. Even they had a hard time comprehending how the neighborhood and the school building would absorb a daily influx of up to a few thousand vocational students -- troubled youths. (Data from the county CDBG application.)

Then a group of local residents put their heads together and analyzed the Lopez/Schundler proposal as if it were a legitimate application to the planning board for a change in use, and distributed the resulting document. Other residents signed petitions and wrote piles of letters. Higher levels of government were contacted.

The night of the city council meeting to ratify the annual CDBG distribution, with many angry neighbors in attendance, the Lopez/Schundler plan seemed to evaporate. Soon after, a developer willing to follow the Redevelopment Plan was found. The school has been transformed into market priced apartments.

(The developer got a 15-year tax abatement in 1998, while at the same time Sam Lefrak got a 30 year tax abatement for luxury rentals at Newport for 30 River Court and in 1997 for 20 River Court!)

After the dust settled, the city's head of grants administration, who sided with the community, resigned. Schundler made a point of verbally attacking a female activist who had organized much of the opposition to his plan in front of a rather uncomprehending group of small business people in his office. The man does have a problem with women who stand up to him, much less win.