March 2, 2004

Statement of the Historic Districts Council
Before the Landmarks Preservation Commission

Re: The Proposed Murray Hill Historic District Extension

The Historic Districts Council is the city-wide advocate for New York City’s historic districts and for neighborhood meriting preservation. HDC is pleased to have the opportunity to testify in support of the proposed Murray Hill Historic District Extension.

The Historic Districts Council has been a supporter of the designation of a complete Murray Hill Historic District for many years. When the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the original Murray Hill Historic District in January 2002, HDC was disappointed that the boundaries excluded several buildings worthy of designation. The Murray Hill neighborhood had struggled for 30 years to protect their neighborhood through landmark designation, and the capricious boundaries of the originally drawn were odd at best, and reflected neither the historic Murray Hill neighborhood nor the best interests of preservation policy.

HDC is therefore extremely pleased that the Landmarks Preservation Commission is now proposing to correct its earlier omission and designate twelve additional properties in the Murray Hill neighborhood. Designating these twelve buildings will help to create a more cohesive historic district and protect the designated historic resources in Murray Hill from jarring, inappropriate development on its borders.

HDC has been particularly concerned about the fate of 126 and 128 East 36th Street, which just last year were threatened with demolition for a new development that could have been 24 stories as-of-right. Had these buildings, which were included in the National Register nomination for Murray Hill, been lost, the integrity of the Murray Hill Historic District would have been seriously compromised. The buildings at 124-134 East 36th Street date from approximately 1865 when Thomas Kilpatrick built them in the Second Empire style. These buildings remain remarkably intact; most retain their mansard roofs and other historic details like rustication, stoops, cast-iron railings and window surrounds. The buildings at 124-128 East 37th Street are also Second Empire style rowhouses that retain their mansard roofs. The designation of these rowhouses is desperately needed in order to have a complete historic district that adequately reflects the history and development of the Murray Hill neighborhood.

Lastly, HDC reminds the Landmarks Preservation Commission that Murray Hill is not the only historic district in New York City whose boundaries are in grave need of expansion. HDC recently completed a study of the boundaries of all the historic districts in New York City. The study affirmed what HDC and community organizations have long suspected – that historic districts often constitute only a portion of what is worthy of designation and a fraction of what comprises the traditional boundaries of neighborhoods. We urge the Commission to reconsider the worthy buildings and sometimes entire blocks that were, for one reason or another, omitted from the original historic district boundaries and therefore at risk for insensitive change or demolition. In particular, HDC hopes that the Commission will soon expand the boundaries of the NoHo Historic District to include those buildings along East 4th Street, Bond Street, and Great Jones Street that remain unprotected and therefore subject to great development pressure. We also hope that the Landmarks Commission will focus on expanding the historic districts in Fort Greene, Mount Morris Park, Park Slope, and TriBeCa, as these are some of most critical examples of neighborhoods whose historic district boundaries are wholly insufficient.