Michael Sofronski
A historic Keith Haring mural at an aging former West Village community center featured in the classic flick “Raging Bull” could be in danger when the site is demolished, advocates fear.
The 116-year-old Tony Dapolito Recreation Center on Clarkson Street in Manhattan was set to be repaired when it closed in 2021, officials said at the time.
But now the city contends the building is too far gone to fix – and critics fear its demolition could impact the site’s 18-foot-tall, outdoor, poolside mural painted by the iconic late street artist in 1987.
“If demolition does move forward, we would strongly advocate for measures to preserve the mural in some form,” said Gil Vazquez, executive director of the Keith Haring Foundation, to The Post.
“However, there has been no clear indication from city officials whether the mural is guaranteed to remain intact or if it might be affected by any future redevelopment plans,” Vazquez said.
City Hall policy adviser Zachary Campbell said at a recent hearing that the city intends to keep the site – which was featured in the 1980 Academy Award-winning Martin Scorsese film “Raging Bull” – for some kind of “public park use.”
The pool was where Robert DeNiro’s “Raging Bull” character Jake met Vickie, played by Cathy Moriarty.
“We would like to explore building an aquatics [center] … and building a new outdoor pool there essentially,” a Parks rep said at the hearing.
Manhattan Borough Parks Commissioner Tricia Shimamura added that a vision for the future of the site isn’t fully realized because the agency is still seeking funding for the project.
The building is landmarked because it is located in the Greenwich Village Historic District and also because of its history as the former Carmine Street Public Baths.
A Parks rep added to The Post that the agency is “exploring potential options” for the mural and that “any future site design will involve coordination with Haring Foundation to preserve the mural for future generations.”
But Vasquez said the city has not engaged the Keith Haring Foundation in any formal discussions.
The group is “open to working with officials and the community” to ensure the mural’s protection, Vazquez said.
“There is currently no funding allocated for any project — whether demolition or restoration — at the Tony Dapolito site,” he said.
“Given this uncertainty, we plan to take advantage of the site’s limbo status to capture detailed, high-resolution images of the mural, likely using a drone, to document its current state and condition.”
Haring was a hugely influential pop artist in the 1980s who started with chalk drawings in the city’s subway system. He died of AIDS in 1990 at age 31 — and his paintings have been sold for as much as more than $6.5 million since.
Plans to renovate the rec center for $4 million began in 2017, but the scope soon ballooned to a budget of $17 million, with only 72% of the construction completed as of May 2024, The Post previously reported.
Manhattan’s Community Board 2 passed a resolution last year imploring the city to restore the building rather than raze it.
But officials said Wednesday that the decades-old recreation center – with amenities including indoor and outdoor pools and basketball courts – still suffered from crumbling facades, non-fire-code-compliant stairs and corroding steel beams that are “pushing the building apart.”
“Parks and external parties have studied the building extensively to think creatively and look at ways to possibly repair the building in a way that addresses structural issues, improves programming, and meets legal code-compliance,” the Parks Department representative told The Post.
“Over time it became clear that more investment would be needed to address the full extent of building needs. … We also saw how any renovation to bring the building up to code would result in a reduction of community programming space.”
Rich Caccappolo, Manhattan Community Board 2 Parks & Waterfront chair, said, “When you walk around, you get a sense that the building is in a … very difficult-to-salvage state.
“And I ask: Is it worth salvaging?”
Several longtime West Villagers believe that answer is a resounding yes.
“I feel very strongly about the center and especially about the pool, and preserving it – especially as someone who went there every summer with my sisters,” said Noel Masal, 24. “Not having a lot of money in this area, this was accessible to us.”
West Village resident Donna Aceto, 34, told The Post she used the center’s gym for years until it closed because of its structural issues in 2021 – and that she is still priced out of other more expensive facilities in the area.
“They’re all expensive,” Aceto said.
Other Big Apple residents at the hearing questioned why Parks didn’t make the necessary repairs immediately.
Mary Ann Arisman, chair of the St. Luke’s Place Block Association, pointed out that her block of 15 townhouses built about 175 years ago is still standing “because generations before us and many people who live on the block right now have maintained those buildings.”
“And if we hadn’t, we, too, would be cited by the city for demolition by neglect,” Arisman said.
Soho resident Sommer Omar, a 30-year-old lawyer, pointed out that the city spent more than $150 million repairing another recreation center in Brownsville, Brooklyn, last year.
“I am having a hard time believing that there aren’t resources to repair this,” Omar said.
Village Preservation, an advocacy group dedicated to architectural and cultural preservation in the area, believes an “oversized tower” akin to the Gansevoort Square proposal — which could end up featuring a 60-story residential skyscraper — will replace the rec center.
“There is no reason to demolish the building,” Andrew Berman, executive director of Village Preservation, told The Post. “It’s a waste of money, [and] it’s environmentally the wrong thing to do. It’s always greener to reuse a building, if you can, rather than tear it down and build a new one.”
A letter to Mayor Eric Adams signed by the Preservation League of New York State, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Historic Districts Council and other groups last year similarly argues the notion that the structure is too difficult to repair “is entirely unfounded.
“Countless historic landmarks throughout New York City that have been restored, repaired, and preserved have also been altered over time,” the letter reads.
“It is alarming to hear city officials claim that deterioration at this building, the maintenance of which is the responsibility of the City itself, should be a green light for demolition.”
West Village resident Chance Pryor, 31, told The Post that potential development at the site could set a dangerous precedent in terms of keeping the character of the neighborhood he calls home.
“There’s less and less of these public spaces that are for everybody – especially in this area, which has become so corporate and so soulless,” Pryor said. “I have seen the city change so much in the last 10 years. When is it gonna end?
“People still live here,” the local said. “This is important.”