Preserving Homes in Midtown Manhattan

On July 21, 2004 the New York City Council voted unanimously to approve two extensions to the Murray Hill Historic District. The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association’s Preservation & Design Committee, co chaired by Joyce Mendelsohn and Virginia Parkhouse, waged a two-year battle to obtain historic designation for 12 properties on East 36th and East 37th Streets. These properties and several others were in the originally proposed historic district, but unfortunately were not included when the Murray Hill Historic District was designated in January 2002.

As the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation report states: “these [buildings] connect the two segments of the existing Murray Hill Historic District and contribute to Murray Hill’s history as one of the city’s premier residential districts. Primarily constructed between 1863 and the 1920s, the houses in these extensions reflect the history of New York City rowhouse design and, through their residents, portray important aspects of New York City’s social and cultural history during the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century.” For the full designation report, click here. The district (including the extensions) is also listed on the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places.

HDC is thrilled that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has acted to enlarge this charming historic district. Murray Hill is one of the only remaining low-rise residential districts in midtown Manhattan and, as such, is constantly beset by high-rise development pressure. This designation goes a long way in helping to preserve the unique townhouse nature of the neighborhood, and creates continuity to the district that was previously missing.

No designation occurs in a vacuum – to paraphrase Senator Hillary Clinton, it takes a village to create a historic district. Special congratulations go out to the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association and its stalwart Preservation & Design committee, Tony Robins for working on the National Register nomination and Kathy Howe, who handles New York City applications to the Register for the New York State Historic Preservation Office (and is a terrific friend to NYC neighborhoods in Albany), Council members Christine Quinn and Margarita Lopez, State Assembly member Dick Gottfried and his district representative Dan Golub, Irene Peveri of the East Side Rezoning Alliance, landmarks committee chair Gary Papush of Manhattan Community Board 6, our colleagues at the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Municipal Art Society and the inimitable Jack Taylor – who will somehow see this article even though he is constitutionally opposed to computers.

Special thanks go to LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney and the hardworking Landmarks staff: Ronda Wist, Diane Jackier, Mary Beth Betts, Gale Harris, Jay Shockley, and Donald Presa. Without their commitment to this neighborhood, this designation could not have happened.

Alert! Cass Gilbert’s Austin-Nichols Warehouse Endangered

A magnificent, but lesser known, building by Cass Gilbert is in danger of losing its essential character if the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) grants the owner’s request for a zoning variance. Dramatic façade alterations proposed by the owner, along with a large rooftop addition for which he is seeking the variance, would forever render the building ineligible for designation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which unfortunately has yet to act on numerous requests to evaluate the building’s significance. The former Austin-Nichols Warehouse at 184 Kent Avenue on the Williamsburg waterfront is one of the most important industrial buildings in the city and a great work by one of the country’s most important architects. Built in 1913, this reinforced concrete warehouse is a great example of the combination of functionality and aesthetics that became a hallmark of the modern movement in architecture – of which this building is an important precursor. Its bold form, which brings an unusually streamlined Egyptian Revival character to the boxiness typically used for industrial designs, creates a sense of monumentality that is clearly evident even when seen from across the river in Manhattan. Up close, the subtlety and brilliance of the design – the relationship between the narrow window openings, the battered corners, and the dramatic coved cornice that terminates each façade – creates a composition that has few peers in the city’s and the nation’s rich industrial heritage.

If the BSA variance is granted and the owner proceeds as planned, a hulking superstructure seemingly modeled on today’s cruise ships will rise at the economically favorable Manhattan-facing side of the roof. These luxury penthouses would overwhelm the building’s simple elegance and destroy the intent of Gilbert’s carefully composed design. Compounding this, the curved cornice, which is a critical feature of the design, will be overwhelmed not only by the massing of the proposed rooftop addition, but also by extraneous architectural embellishments that the current designer seems to think necessary to join the old and the new. Finally, the proposal calls for the removal of the concrete mullions between each tripartite window, which would destroy one of the building’s key character-defining features.

HDC needs your help. We are currently working with community members to prevent the desecration of this great building, but we need the BSA, the LPC, and City Council to hear from more people about how important this building is to them. We are lobbying the BSA to deny the proposed variance. Please send an e-mail to Meenakshi Srinivasan, Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals by clicking on this link. We also believe that this eminently worthy building should be protected through designation by the LPC as an individual landmark. Please send an e-mail to LPC Chair Robert Tierney at comments@lpc.nyc.gov and ask that the building be heard for designation. Finally, it is critical that we all urge City Council Member David Yassky to weigh in with both the BSA and the LPC to help protect 184 Kent Street; e-mail him at yassky@council.nyc.ny.gov.

ROOOAAARR! Save the Date for the 2005 Landmarks Lion

On Monday, November 8th, the Historic Districts Council will be awarding its 16th Annual Landmarks Lion Award to the architectural firm of Beyer Blinder Belle. In the past, the award has been given to honor individuals who have shown unusual devotion and aggressiveness in protecting landmarks and historic districts. This is the first year HDC will bestow the award on a professional organization, a testament to the incredible record of work that BBB has produced over the past 36 years.
Since their founding in 1968, Beyer Blinder Belle’s pioneering work in the preservation of historic structures, adaptive reuse, community planning and historically-compatible new architecture has set a gold standard for the field. The firm’s record of outstanding work in an extraordinary range of situations has redefined the limits of preservation practice while bringing us closer to our heritage and fundamental purpose.
The dinner and ceremony will take place in the new Rubin Museum of Art, in the former Barney’s store at 150 West 17th Street. This BBB project masterfully transformed the former department store into a mandala-inspired venue for art of the Himalayas and will open to the public on October 2, 2004. Tickets to the benefit begin at $250. For more info about the event, contact Alice Rich.

40 Years Old and Counting: 2 Columbus Circle Still Threatened

Despite support from The National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Preservation League of New York State, and even the normally preservation-shy New York Times architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, Edward Durell Stone’s Gallery of Contemporary Art at 2 Columbus Circle still remains under dire threat of demolition-by-design. As regular readers are aware, this 1964 building is to be the new home of the Museum of Arts & Design, an appropriate use for a museum building. Unfortunately, MAD intends to strip the iconic marble façade from the building and substitute a faddish translucent design. The 1964 building was declined to be considered as a potential landmark by the Landmarks Commission in 1996. Despite thousands of requests, the LPC continues to refuse to reconsider their decision and give this important Modern building a public hearing. Landmark West! is heading the multi-pronged effort to save 2 Columbus Circle and has established an online petition to the LPC to demand its day in court. As Mr. Muschamp wrote in December 2003: “The refusal of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold hearings on the future of 2 Columbus Circle is a shocking dereliction of public duty. Unacceptable in itself, this abdication also raises the scary question of what other buildings the commission might choose to overlook in the future.” Sign the petition and help this important and prominent Modern landmark!

Meet the Press: HDC’s Summer Lecture Series Continues

The summer Preservation Panel Series sponsored by the HDC and the New York chapter of the AIA has been a great success. July 12th’s Archaeology panel informed attendees about the intricacies of doing archaeological work in New York City. The audience was treated to slides of several interesting sites including the Weeksville Houses and the Hendrick I. Lott House in Brooklyn. On July 27th, a panel of experts experienced with the community board process shared insights and answered many audience questions on the workings of community boards and landmarking. Be sure to join us for our August 10th panel, Working with the Press. Marketing experts and journalists will discuss how to effectively use media outlets for an advocacy campaign. To RSVP for the panel, click here – payment will be $10 at the door and AIA CES credits will be awarded.

Friends Frolic on Fireboat

On July 21st, friends of HDC were treated to a beautiful boat ride in New York harbor aboard the historic John J. Harvey fireboat. The Harvey was built in 1931 and was used in maritime firefighting between 1931 and 1994. Rescued from a scrap yard by a group of marine preservationists and lovingly restored, the Harvey is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and played an important role during the September 11th terrorist attacks, when it provided water for firefighting for over three days. Friends of HDC were lucky enough to see the fire pumps in action several times and were awed by views of the city at sunset – not to mention an informative waterside tour of Red Hook and the proposed Ikea site, as well as the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Brooklyn Bridge Park. To see pictures, click here.

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The Advocate for New York City’s Historic Neighborhoods
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