ENDANGERED BUILDING OF THE
MONTH:
Jamaica Savings bank
Despite support from the community
board, the professional and civic community and even the local Council
Member Helen Sears, the City Council chose to disapprove of the
Jamaica Savings Bank’s landmark status; stating that the building
did not rise to the appropriate standard of a landmark. In doing
so, the Council decided to disregard months of effort and research
by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which constitute a major
expenditure of resources for the small city agency.
This act is even more troubling by
what it reveals about the bias against Modern architecture. Another
stated reason for the denial was a disdain for the design as well
as the comparative youth of the building. However, the Landmarks
Law states clearly that the landmarks should possess “a special
character, historical or aesthetic interest or value as part of
the development, heritage or cultural characteristics of the city,
state or nation.” Taste does not factor into the decision
and as for age, the Law is equally clear that any structure over
30 years old is potentially eligible for landmark designation. As
the LPC’s Designation Report states that the building is “unique
and memorable” and furthermore, that it was designed during
the bank’s centennial and the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing,
which celebrated striking architectural forms and dramatically-engineered
structures. Through its design and its materials, as documented
in the designation report, this small bank building is definitely
proven to be an exemplary expression of the mid-century architectural
zeitgeist.
Built in 1966-68 for the Jamaica Savings
Bank, this building exemplifies the move towards expressive new
forms that had been made possible by recent advances in building
technology, notably in reinforced concrete shells. Today it still
serves its original function as a bank, and is a bold and striking
example of modern architecture on Queens Boulevard. (For the full
Designation Report: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/jamaicasavings.pdf
)
Please write to Mayor Bloomberg
at http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
and ask him to veto the City Council’s resolution disapproving
this landmark designation. This may be our only hope to save this
highly significant modern building.
Past Endangered Building Alerts:
Drake-Dehart House
All Saint's Church
McCarren Park Play Center
Old Calvary Cemetery
Austin, Nichols Warehouse
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