A grassroots proposal to restore public bathrooms and create a cultural center serving the Lower East Side and Chinatown deserves a fair review on its merits—not dismissal on a technicality.

We are calling on NYC Parks to provide an equitable review of a proposal that would transform the long-abandoned public restroom building at Allen and Delancey into a community-rooted Cultural Center serving the Lower East Side and Chinatown.

For seven decades, this public building has sat vacant while our neighborhoods continue to lose affordable cultural spaces, community gathering places, and desperately needed public restrooms.

Our proposal offers a different future.

The project would restore public bathrooms while creating a vibrant cultural center dedicated to preserving the stories, traditions, and creativity of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. The space would host exhibitions, workshops, educational programs, community meetings, youth programming, and intergenerational storytelling initiatives. It would be a place where residents, artists, students, and visitors can come together to celebrate the history and diversity of one of New York City's most important neighborhoods.

This vision was developed with support from settlement houses, cultural institutions, community organizations, educators, artists, and local residents. It represents years of grassroots organizing and relationship-building.

Yet our proposal was deemed "non-responsive" and removed from consideration before it could be evaluated on its merits.

We believe community-led proposals should receive a fair and equitable review process—especially when competing against well-funded development interests with teams of lawyers, consultants, and procurement specialists.

This is bigger than one project.

Public assets belong to the public. Community organizations should not be shut out of opportunities to steward public spaces because they lack the resources available to large private developers. Government procurement processes should encourage civic participation, not create barriers that disproportionately disadvantage grassroots organizations.

We are asking NYC Parks to:

• Reconsider the disqualification of our proposal and allow it to be reviewed on its merits.

• Ensure that community-based organizations receive equitable treatment throughout the RFP process.

• Create pathways that make public procurement more accessible to grassroots and nonprofit applicants.

• Prioritize projects that provide public benefit, cultural preservation, and public restroom access.

The future of this building should be decided by the value it brings to the community—not by a procedural technicality.

If you believe public spaces should serve the public, if you believe community voices deserve a fair hearing, and if you believe the Lower East Side and Chinatown deserve investment in culture, history, and public infrastructure, please sign and share this petition.

Together, we can ensure that community-driven visions receive the fair consideration they deserve.

A Community-led vision shouldn't be dismissed on a technicality. Sign today and help us fight for a more equitable future for public space in New York City.

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