Hearing Date: 1/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 083436
Manhattan, Block: 174, Lot: 7501
249 Church Street - TriBeCa East Historic District
aka 65 Leonard Street An Italianate/Second Empire style store and loft building built in 1866-1867. Application is to replace the entrance door.

HDC Testimony
While it is nice to see that the entrance is being brought forward and flush with the facade again, HDC would like to see a proposal that keeps the transom and frame. The proposed is just too plain and transparent. We are also curious about the style and condition of the storefronts (all the drawings and photos show them with the gates rolled down.) Their design could help guide the design of this entrance door.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

Hearing Date: 1/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 079428
Manhattan, Block: 474, Lot: 7504
473 Broadway - SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
A Beaux Arts style store and loft building designed by Ralph Townsend and built in 1894-1895. Application is to create a new window opening.

HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to this proposed new window opening as it is oversized and misplaced, too close to the front façade. This highly visible alteration is unnecessary given that the adjacent wall in the same room is composed almost entirely of windows, and the proposal easily opens the door for more windows to be added on the three floors below. We ask the commissioners to turn down this inappropriate application.

LPC Determination: Incomplete

Hearing Date: 1/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084663
Manhattan, Block: 530, Lot: 63,64
8,10,12 Bond Street - NoHo Historic District
aka 358-364 Lafayette Street, an altered factory building built circa 1920 and two one-story garages designed by Sapolsky & Slobodien and built in 1959. Application is to amend the design of a previously approved 7-story building.

HDC Testimony
HDC does not approve the installation of the proposed canopy on the Bond Street façade as it is rather awkward and overly designed. We urge the commission to turn down this part of the application.

More importantly, we would like to comment on the fact that this was an incomplete presentation at Public Review and seems to still be today. There are no plans or elevations of what was previously approved. What was presented was not labeled and there were discrepancies in the various drawings. This application should not be approved until a clear presentation is given so that the public and the commissioners fully understand what is proposed and what is approved on a project as important as a new building in an historic district.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

Hearing Date: 1/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 083403
Manhattan, Block: 632, Lot: 1
685 Washington Street - Greenwich Village Historic District
A one-story building built in 1937. Application is to demolish the building and construct a seven-story building with a two-story penthouse.

HDC Testimony
HDC has no objections to the demolition of the existing structure or to the possibility of a new building on this site. However, we do not feel the design and massing of this proposed building is appropriate for the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension.

The larger, more substantial buildings in this area are primarily manufacturing and ware houses or civic buildings such as the neighboring police precinct, the Village School and St. Veronica’s Roman Catholic Church, while residences tend to be smaller (three to five stories and a similar number of bays) and less assuming. The proposed is not to scale with other residential buildings, and design details such as the double-wide windows and the balconies lend a horizontality to the building, emphasizing its length. Other window issues lend an inconsistency to the building. The second-floor windows should be one-over-one like the others in the building, not single panes. The proposed shows a mixture of three types of window surrounds giving the building the appearance of one already calling out for a window master plan. Of the three styles, we feel the simple stone lintels and sills would be most appropriate.

New construction in an historic district can be a challenge, but when time and attention to detail is taken, the result can be a beneficial one to the neighborhood. HDC urges the commission not to approve a new building for this site until one that is sympathetic to the scale and style of the district is proposed.

LPC Determination: Incomplete

Hearing Date: 1/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 084285
Manhattan, Block: 1420, Lot: 1
200 East 66th Street - Individual Landmark Historic District
A modern style apartment and retail complex designed by Mayer & Whittlesey and Skidmore, Ownings & Merrill, and built between 1947 and 1951. Application is to establish a Master Plan governing the future installation of storefronts and signage.

HDC Testimony
Manhattan House has all the makings of a good restoration - clear historic photos, original plans, and historic fabric. HDC strongly feels that these elements should all be used to create a Master Plan for future storefronts and signage restoration, not simply alterations.

The proposal calls for fixed storefront awnings over the windows, but not over the doorways, while the historic photos, plans and the original, existing awning on the drug store clearly show that retractable awnings should stretch continuously across the building. The interrupted line of the proposed awnings disrupts the horizontal reading of the building's base and creates the uneasy appearance of a smile missing teeth. As proposed the awnings are affixed to the building within the sign band. Again, from historic documents and existing conditions we see that the aluminum housing for the awnings should be placed just below the sign band so as not to intrude upon another important horizontal design element.

The signage should enhance the historic appearance of this individual landmark. Lit signage is perfectly appropriate here, but neon and aluminum channel letters like those on the pharmacy, rather than the bland, shopping-mall style proposed. Such unique signage would be eye-catching, elegant and historically accurate.

Finally we would like to see the glazed concrete panels along Second Avenue retained. These panels were originally recessed and brought to the level of the rest of the base sometime around 1956. Ideally this area could be recessed again with glass storefront corners on either side.

We are extremely lucky to have so much clear documentation and original fabric on Manhattan House. Anything less than a full restoration of these storefronts is not fitting for this Individual Landmark.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

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