Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 085367
Staten Island, Block: 200, Lot: 76
1000A-B Richmond Terrace - Individual Landmark Historic District
A Greek Revival style civic building designed by Minard Lafever
and built in 1839-41; and a Greek Revival style civic building designed
by Richard Smyth 1879-1881. Application is to modify window openings.
HDC Testimony
HDC approves of the barely visible bulkheads proposed for buildings
A and B in Sailor’s Snug Harbor. We also find the proposed
doors suitable (although we would have appreciated a floor plan
in the materials available for public review in order to determine
exactly why the doors were needed).
We feel that the air conditioning louvers proposed for installation
in some of the windows though are too obvious and less intrusive
locations need to be found. Rather than filling in the rectangular
windows near the hyphen, would it be possible to place the units
in a sunken areaway with a grill on top? Could they be placed on
the roof instead of adding louvers to the round window on Building
A, a prominent spot on the façade? At the very least, if
other locations are not possible, the louvers should be painted
matte black rather than left metallic to minimize their intrusive
appearance.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084496
Manhattan, Block: 232, Lot: 21
30 Howard Street - SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
A commercial building designed by J.B. Snook and built in 1868.
Application is to install storefront infill.
HDC Testimony
HDC objects to the over abundance of glass in this proposal. Moreover,
there is no compelling reason to change the existing storefront.
While the existing may not be original, it has all the design elements
we typically look for in a storefront on a building of this age
and style including the nicely paneled bulkhead. If changes must
be made such as windows to doors or vice versa (there was no floor
plan included at Public Review on Friday to determine the reasons
for such changes), they should be done while maintaining the historic
character of the storefront.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084561
Manhattan, Block: 232, Lot: 5
10-12 Crosby Street - SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
aka 444 Broadway, a neo-Grec style warehouse building designed by
Schweitzer and Greve and built in 1876-1877. Application is to install
new storefront infill.
HDC Testimony
While the proposed is attractive, HDC would like to request the
applicant (and the commission) to consider retaining the large multi-pane
windows. They are part of the building’s history and speak
to this façade's role on a side street. These windows can
still be used as show windows and will provide an extra level of
charm and character that would be lost if they were to be removed.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 082085
Manhattan, Block: 544, Lot: 1
393-399 Lafayette Street - Individual Landmark Historic District
Aka 21-23 East 4th Street, a Romanesque Revival style printing house
designed by Babb, Cook & Willard and built in 1885-1886 and
altered in 1890-1891. Application is to install sidewalk lamp posts
and legalize signage installed without LPC permits.
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to this application that seeks primarily to highlight
the business and not the individual landmark that houses it.
This is the DeVinne Press Building, not the Astor Wine and Spirits
Building as one might guess from the abundance of signage. A neon
sign attached to the building next door advertises the business
as does a flag over the entrance and signage on two floors of windows.
With large show windows at ground level, the store has ample visibility,
and its signage should be limited to a few window signs.
The proposed sidewalk lamps are also inappropriate and unnecessary.
This block is very well-lit at night, and there is an historic street
lamp just 24 feet away from the location of the proposed. If there
is an issue with lighting, it should be handled at a district level,
not just individual structures. The lamps appear to act as frames
to the entrance of the building. While such a detail is sometimes
found on civic structures and grand mansions, it would be inappropriate
for an industrial building.
HDC urges the commission to reject any further street lights at
this location and to seek alternate, less distracting plans for
signage.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 080216
Manhattan, Block: 572, Lot: 47
7 West 8th Street - Greenwich Village Historic District
A rowhouse built in 1851 and altered in the early 20th century to
accommodate a ground floor storefront. Application is to replace
a storefront installed without LPC permits. And a roll down gate
(2/26)
HDC Testimony
HDC would like to compliment the applicant for this fine proposal
for new storefronts. We support this design that harkens back to
8th Street's heyday with a 1940s style storefront that adds black
spandrel glass and removes the parapet to expose the historic railing.
We hope that this restoration will inspire others on the block.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 085011
Manhattan, Block: 613, Lot: 7501
31 Perry Street - Greenwich Village Historic District
A stable building built in 1901. Application is to install windows
and doors, and alter masonry openings.
HDC Testimony
HDC finds the oversized, undivided windows completely inappropriate
for this 1901 stable building and urges the commission to reject
this part of the proposal. The vast expanses of glass changes the
character of this building and the special courtyard of which it
is a part
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084829
Manhattan, Block: 1220, Lot: 5
175-177 West 89th Street - Individual Landmark Historic District
A Romanesque Revival style carriage house and stable designed by
Frank A. Rooke and built in 1892. Application is to ammend CofA
93-0030 for the construction of a one-story penthouse addition.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not approve of the plan given a Certificate of Appropriateness
in 1993, and we doubt that 15 years later an addition of this size
and visibility would be approved by the commission. In light of
this, we are opposed to adding yet more visible bulk to what was
already approved.
The stair bulkhead in particular is too obvious and clunky - we
suggest changing the orientation of the stairs to minimize the visibility.
The additions to the peaked parapets change the reading of the façade
of this building and its relationship to the neighboring stables
with similar parapets
HDC urges the commission to do whatever is possible to reduce the
visibility and massing of this addition.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 3/4/2008
LPC Docket Number: 085204
Manhattan, Block: 1170, Lot: 1
390 West End Avenue - Individual Landmark Historic District
An Italian Renaissance style apartment building designed by Clinton
and Russell and built in 1906-1908. Application is to establish
a Master Plan governing the future replacement of windows.
HDC Testimony
The Apthorp Apartments set the bar high for luxury when it was opened
in 1908, and six decades later its elegance was formally recognized
when the building was designated one of the city’s first Individual
Landmarks. Considered to be the finest of the surviving apartments
developed by the Astors, the Apthorp embodies the sophistication
of turn-of-the-century courtyard apartment buildings. An Individual
Landmark of such architectural importance deserves windows as distinguished
and refined as the rest of the building.
The windows on the seven bottom floors should be wood – restored
originals or exacting replicas – as per LPC’s windows
guidelines. While HDC would not necessarily be opposed to aluminum
windows on upper floors, we are concerned about the lack of detailing
in the proposed replacements. The sills and moldings are too thick,
while the sashes are too flat and thin. The profile of the window
sash with its ogee curve should be replicated, as should that of
the original brick mold.
What may seem like small changes on one window becomes magnified
when repeated over and over on a façade. The Apthorp’s
fenestration, with over 2,000 windows in over 20 different window
types, several of which are considered “special” windows
by LPC guidelines, is a key element of this Individual Landmark’s
design. HDC urges the commission to modify this application so that
those special design elements are preserved.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 3/4/2008
LPC Docket Number: 083301
Brooklyn, Block: 1965, Lot: 38
214 Greene Avenue - Clinton Hill Historic District
An Italianate/neo-Grec style rowhouse designed by Benjamin Linikin
and built in 1876 and altered with a storefront addition in 1908
by Axel hedman. Application is to modify a storefront installed
without LPC permits.
HDC Testimony
The proposed storefront seems to lack the depth seen in the 1940s
tax photo. In addition, the signage is disproportionately large,
and we would like to see a wood bulkhead on the door as it is on
the rest of the storefront. HDC recommends that staff work with
the applicant to create a storefront that follows more closely the
one seen in the historic photo.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084785
Queens, Block: 148, Lot: 58
39-46 48th Street - Sunnyside Gardens Historic District
A brick rowhouse with Art Deco-style details designed by Clarence
Stein, Henry Wright and Frederick Ackerman and built in 1927. Application
is to enclose the front porch, replace a fence and replace windows..
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed the rooftop addition proposed in this application.
Firstly, we question if there is a great enough set back to meet
present zoning requirements. Beyond that legal detail, such additions
are inappropriate for the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District.
HDC would like to state for the record that this application’s
architect Laura Heim is the wife of HDC advisor Jeffrey Kroessler
and we worked closely with her to advocate for the designation of
the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District.
There was much discussion in the Public Review Committee regarding
the enclosed front porch of this application. Some felt strongly
that no new alterations should be allowed in this very carefully
planned community. Others felt that the enclosure was similar enough
in design, materials and setting to others in the historic photos
presented to be appropriate, with the caveat that the awning over
the second floor balcony be removed. There was also a question of
whether the porch is too deep as the historic enclosures appear
to be a foot or so shallower.
While we understand that the existing fence and driveway are legal,
they are not suitable to the historic district and this application
is a perfect time to address this issue. Three quarters of this
yard is paved over and the applicant should be encouraged to increase
its greenery. One way would be with shrubbery rather than fencing
around the perimeter. This would be far more appropriate to a yard
that lines the mid-block entryway to the garden core.
Finally, we applaud the use of wood windows to replace vinyl, but
we would like to see divided lights.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084881
Queens, Block: 125, Lot: 19
47-17 39th Avenue - Sunnyside Gardens Historic District
A brick rowhouse with Colonial Revival style details designed by
Clarence Stein, Henry Wright and Frederick Ackerman and built in
1928. Application is to alter the window and door openings.
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to this application as the proposed alterations would
be clearly visible from 48th Street and would remove historic fenestration.
The sliding glass doors are more in keeping with detached suburban
homes design of later decades and are not in character with the
Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. The rear door with its small
adjacent window is a typical feature of these facades as noted in
the designation report. The historic fenestration of Sunnyside Gardens’
rowhouses is as important as that of any grouping of rowhouses in
any other historic district in the city and should be retained and
cared for to the same degree.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084573
Queens, Block: 148, Lot: 22
39-61 47th Street - Sunnyside Gardens Historic District
A brick rowhouse with Colonial Revival details designed by Clarence
Stein, Henry Wright and Frederick Ackerman and built in 1927. Application
is to alter the front porch and construct a roofotp addition. (Front
porch being handled at staff level 3/4).
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed the rooftop addition proposed in this application.
Firstly, we question if there is a great enough set back to meet
present zoning requirements. Beyond that legal detail, such additions
are inappropriate for the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District.
On rowhouse rear facades through out the city, the retention of
top floor fenestration is regularly required by this commission.
The importance of this should be stressed even more in this district
where the rear facades act as the frame for the historic garden
core. These facades were not built as separate items, but as a common
façade, and their unity is essential to their design and
the plan of the whole community. Similar rooftop additions shown
in this row are illegal and certainly should not be used as a precedent.
HDC urges the commission to protect what it designated last year,
the important planned character of Sunnyside Gardens, and reject
this application.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 063269
Queens, Block: 1473, Lot: 1
85-02-30 37th Avenue - Jackson Heights Historic District
A Moderne style commercial building designed by Sampan and Shampan
and built in 1947. Application is to create masonry openings and
install storefront infill and awnings.
HDC Testimony
While we could approve the addition of one extra door on this Moderne
style commercial building, HDC questions the need for two sets of
double doors right next to each other. We also feel that the door's
installation should have some relationship to the location of the
high windows, either centered below them or placed a comfortable
distance away. Simplicity is a key element in this building’s
design, and the façade should not be cluttered with unnecessary
openings.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
Hearing Date: 2/26/2008
LPC Docket Number: 085183
Queens, Block: 8034, Lot: 1
202 Beverly Road - Douglaston Historic District
A Tudor Revival style house built in 1926 and designed by E.J. Robin.
Application is to legalize the installation of stone posts and a
walkway without LPC permits.
HDC Testimony
HDC opposes the legalization of the stone posts and excessive paving.
While such posts have been approved in this district for grander
homes on much larger plots of land recalling the earlier villas
that first were built here in Douglaston, the posts are not appropriate
for a more modest 1920s home on a smaller plot, particularly not
on the side. The paved parking area at the house’s front is
inappropriate for a district known for its ample landscaping. Large
yards of grass, trees, shrubs and flowers are a rarity in New York
City and should be preserved, especially in this historic district.
LPC Determination: Approved w/mods
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