Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 088420
Brooklyn, Block: 1917, Lot: 28
132 Willoughby Avenue - Clinton Hill Historic District
A French Second Empire style rowhouse built c. 1871. Application is replace a window.

HDC Testimony
HDC does not feel casement windows are appropriate for this c.1871 rowhouse. In LPC’s Rowhouse Manual, the illustrated example of the Second Empire Style, which looks distinctly like 132 Willoughby, shows one-over-one double-hung windows. Not only is this form the most historically appropriate, it is also the primary one on this row of five houses. We urge the commission to require the appropriate windows for a rowhouse of this style and date.

LPC Determination: Incomplete

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 091047
Brooklyn, Block: 1067, Lot: 50
799 Carroll Street - Park Slope Historic District
A rowhouse built in 1889 and resdesigned in the neo-Federal style by George Chappell in 1918. Application is to replace the cornice and alter windows.

HDC Testimony
This 20th-century alteration by a well-known architect deserves the same protection the Commission regularly gives to similar historic alterations. There is no documentation (at least none provided) regarding the building’s appearance before the 1918 alterations took place, and it was not built as part of the row that neighbors it. The proposed dentilated cornice feels fussy and out of synch compared to the rest of the façade. The change in the division of the Palladian window cuts it in half, changing its proportions. Finally, no material samples were provided for either the cornice or the windows, an important consideration for any proposed work. We are lucky that 799 Carroll Street has retained Brooklyn architect George Chappell’s coherent design for a neo-Federal façade ninety years later – there is no need or reason to fuss with it. HDC urges the commission to reject this application.

LPC Determination: Incomplete

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 091281
Manhattan, Block: Various, Lot: Various
West Broadway, b/w Chambers and Franklin - TriBeCa South Historic District
A commercial thoroughfare first laid out in the late 18th Cenutry. Application is to install flood mitigation measures. (Advisory report)

HDC Testimony
The proposal available at Public Review on Friday was just two sheets of paper, making it rather difficult to access this project and comment on it. We thank the applicants for the full presentation today that answers many of our initial questions.

As nice an amenity as benches and bicycle racks would be, HDC feels the design needs to be more in keeping with this district. Benches and racks in a darker, more matte metal with more traditional lines, rather than the curvy, zigzag of aluminum would serve as better compliments to the district. Whatever is to be placed in an historic district, no matter how practical it may be, should take into account the unique character of the neighborhood.

LPC Determination: Approved

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 088395
Manhattan, Block: 822, Lot: 19
19-25 West 20th Street - Ladies' Mile Historic District
A 20th Century Utilitarian style parking garage designed by Matthew Del Gaudio and built in 1926-1927, and a parking lot. Application is to construct a new 16-story building on the empty lot, construct a three-story addition on the garage and install signage.

HDC Testimony
TO BE DETERMINED
Coming along nicely. Signage very nice.
We are pleased to see the rooftop addition defined on the exterior as a sepreate entityu from the new building. However, we feel that it does not relate well enough with the garage below in color, materials, or design details such as the windows and their openings. Awful lot of glazing. Set back just 5 feet from the front façade, making it read as part of it. Set back more and reconsider design.

New building. Glad to see a building with a clear base, shaft and capital like others in the district - very ordered, very clean. Only comments - no to a canopy. Not found on a building of this size on a side street in this district. The penthouse appears to be an awkward pre-designation rooftop addition. Either scrap the idea, or redesign it as a set back piece of the building. Design is so ordered and coherent, why not this part too?

LPC Determination:

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 087360Manhattan, Block: 1406, Lot: 30
177 East 71st Street - Upper East Side Historic DistrictA neo-Federal style residence designed by S.E. Gage and built in 1909-1910. Application is to construct a rooftop addition and a rear addition.

HDC Testimony

NO COMMENT

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 088148
Manhattan, Block: 1497, Lot: 71
1035 5th Avenue - Metropolitan Museum Historic District
A neo-Classical style apartment building designed by J. E. R. Carpenter and built in 1925. Application is toreplace windows.

HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to this application to install tilt and turn, single pane windows, particularly on the very visible 85th Street façade. As we have testified in the past, windows are an important design feature of such large apartment buildings of the 1920s. The addition of each single pane window inches the building further and further away from its original design, giving the façade an increasingly blank look. We urge the commission to reject this application and hope the building will consider a Master Plan for more appropriate windows.

LPC Determination:

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 090150Manhattan, Block: 1142, Lot: 39
116 West 71st Street - Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District
A Renaissance Revival style rowhouse designed by Thom & Wilson and built in 1883-84. Application is to construct a rear yard addition and a rooftop stair bulkhead, and to excavate the rear yard.

HDC Testimony
HDC approves of the proposed rooftop stair bulkhead, but we have concerns about what is proposed in the rear of this rowhouse. In the case of the proposed rear yard addition, there seems to be an awful lot of work to be done and a considerable amount of historic fabric to be removed for relatively little space. In particular, we object to the removal of the top floor fenestration, a feature this commission regularly requires to be retained. We also would like to voice our concern over the excavation of this rear yard. Asalways in such a proposal, we must remember that this house is part of a larger row, and the impact of such work on the neighbors must be carefully considered.

LPC Determination: Incomplete

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 088046
Brooklyn, Block: 2104, Lot: 25
271 Adelphi Street - Fort Greene Historic District
An Italianate style rowhouse built in 1871. Application is to legalize a chimney flue installed without LPC permits.

HDC TestimonyHDC supports the community board resolution. The added flu is not the problem, the bright red picket fence used to disguise it is. We recommend considering painting it black, dark green or leaving it a stained natural wood.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 086693
Queens, Block: 78, Lot: 23
21-47 45th Avenue - Hunters Point Historic District
An Italianate style rowhouse built by Root & Rust in c.1870. Application is to alter the rear façade and construct a rear yard addition.HDC Testimony
This is a rear façade is completely visible from 44th Avenue due to the wide driveway located directly behind 21-47 45th Avenue. The full width addition extends too far into the fairly well preserved garden space of these rowhouses. The majority of these houses do not have extensions, and none of them are as deep as the proposed. We would hate to see a domino reaction start with each rowhouse being extended a bit more than its neighbors. While we are happy to see the top floor fenestration preserved, the full rear facades of these homes seem relatively intact. HDC would like to see more preserved here and that the alterations be more in harmony with the original. The windows on the left side of the second and third floors should be retained. The terrace would benefit from a less solid treatment, possibly just a railing rather than primarily brick parapet. A smaller addition with fenestration that feels more like an historic enclosed porch would bemore appropriate.

Due to the visibility of this façade and relatively well preserved rear facades and garden space of the row, HDC recommends that alterations and additions to this structure be minimal and designed with as much harmony as possible to the original.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

Hearing Date: 7/22/2008
LPC Docket Number: 083155
Bronx, Block: 5812, Lot: 60
4595 Fieldston Road - Fieldston Historic District
A Mediterranean Revival style house, designed by Dwight James Baum and built in 1927-1928. Application isto construct an addition, install a pool and fence and alter the rear yard.

HDC Testimony
Although we approve of the yard alterations, HDC does not feel the addition proposed is appropriate to this charming house that the designation report describes as “an excellent example of the Mediterranean Revival style" with no apparent alterations. Built at a time when the neighborhood was being developed in a number of picturesque style following the strict design guidelines of the Fieldston Property Owners Association, the house was designed by Dwight James Baum, who was responsible for nearly a quarter of the district’s houses. A talented and versatile designer, Baum is remembered most for his suburban style homes in a variety of historic revival styles in Fieldston where he himself lived and worked.

Adding a second floor to the one-story addition seen in the 1940 photo would change the structure and itsproportions, as well as detract from streetscape. Although the roofline is a bit shorter than that of the main house, the design of this addition is not subordinate enough. The eave and gutter line matches that of the house. The window is taller and much wider than those on the second floor of the house. Also the window is topped with a thick, detailed molding seen on the windows of first floor of the house, but not at all seen on those of the second floor or the addition. Finally the quoins that frame the proposed window are found on the corners of the house and its entrance, not around its windows. Losing the roof terrace on the small addition, would also mean the loss of a transitional living space between the indoors and nature, a typical part of the Mediterranean Revival style. If there is a need to add an extra room to this house, HDC recommends considering doing so in the rear instead.

LPC Determination: Approved w/mods

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