Despite eviction from Upper West Side church, Center at West Park shows will go on, supporters say
An arts center inside a landmark Upper West Side church must move out after a years-long fight over the lease resulted in its eviction.
The Center at West Park held a rally Monday and vowed to keep running their programs. They were joined by local lawmakers and celebrities.
It nonprofit operates inside the West Park Presbyterian Church, where spaces are used for different forms of rehearsals and performances. The eviction means an end to that.
The church's lawyer said the Court of Appeals agreed that the lease violated the religious corporation law, so now The Center must move out. That gives the 135-year-old church an opportunity to go through the landmark preservation process to enforce its rights to be demolished and rebuilt at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
"It just feels cruel and inhuman"
"We are currently in the middle of production. So if people are evicted tomorrow, all of this hard work will just get tossed out the window," managing director Di Zhu said.
Executive Director Debby Hirshman says The Center will abide by the law, and act accordingly following the eviction notice. She added that the show will go on and planned performances will be relocated to backup locations.
"Next is all the things you see on the calendar that will take place wherever we are," Hirshman said. "Our continued performances serving young artists and making sure there's affordable rehearsal spaces must continue."
Supporters say losing the space is detrimental to not only actors and musicians, but the community that supports their work.
"It just feels kind of cruel and inhuman to just be willing to, first of all, evict artists from a safe place in a building like this," actor Christian Slater said.
"When you see these big shows on Broadway, getting a ticket and sitting in the back row, $300? Our tickets, we sell them for $14, and it's world-class artists. We're doing great work here," Zhu said.
The church's lawyer says locks will be changed on Tuesday and anyone inside will be removed. Advocates for the arts center say that despite the move, the group will continue to oppose the church's plan for a real estate deal valued at more than $30 million.
"We will bring the voices and the proof," Hirshman said. "If it is not granted a hardship, then it can't be demolished."
