| E-BULLETIN
OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL
August 2006, Volume 3 Number 8
East Side, West Side
Demolitions All Around the Town
So much for a quiet summer. The record heat wave hasn’t
slowed the demolitions of a number of prominent historic buildings
in New York, including
one designated landmark. In Manhattan’s East Village,
despite massive public approbation, property owner Gregg
Singer is busy ripping the terra-cotta ornamentation off the
façade of the individually-designated former P.S. 64 building.
In what is becoming a more and more common story, Mr. Singer received
permits for façade work before the building was landmarked,
therefore allowing him to proceed with destructive work despite
the landmark protection. That this is allowed to happen is a travesty
and an outrage. Fortunately, Council Member Rosie Mendez has stated
that she is interested
in introducing legislation to fix this loophole. If so, she’ll
probably find some allies in Midtown, where a row of Beaux-Arts
rowhouses are under dire threat of being facademized. In this
case, the buildings do not have landmark protection, but the permits
have been pulled for major façade alterations. Another historic
building at siege is St.
Brigid’s, an “Irish Famine” church that has
survived for 160 years in the ever-changing East Village, but might
not survive this real estate cycle. Speaking of churches cowering
in the shadow of the bulldozer, there’s Saint
Saviour’s Church in Maspeth, Queens where it’s a
day-to-day struggle to keep this building standing. Recently, the
Temporary Restraining Order brought by the advocates has expired,
which was the only thing keeping the developer from razing the church
– despite the fact that they would need a zoning
change and a variance to build anything other than a church
there!
These are only the most recent urgent messages that
have been brought to our attention, there are many, many, more.
What can you do? Please contact Mayor Bloomberg and
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and tell them that New Yorkers
need their help to save our city from out-of-control developers.
Please copy HDC on any letters or emails that you send.
Here’s
a sample letter:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC)
FAX (212) 788-2460
E-MAIL: http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
Speaker Christine Quinn
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE: (212) 788-7210
FAX: (212) 788-7207
E-MAIL: http://www.nyccouncil.info/rightnow/contactspeaker.cfm
Dear Mayor Bloomberg & Speaker Quinn:
New York City needs your help. Everyday, we are losing
our historic buildings and the irreplaceable character of our neighborhoods
to out-of-control development. New York’s historic neighborhoods
are the foundation of our city, and are the basis for our city’s
unique and remarkable way of life. We must act now to preserve these
places before they are gone forever. I urge you to establish a public
forum which will examine how to help guide new development so it
does not destroy our historic neighborhoods, but instead enhances
them. Please help preserve the West 56th Street Houses, St. Brigid’s
and Saint Saviour’s. Please support an examination of the
interfaces of all the Land Use agencies; Buildings, Landmarks, City
Planning and the Board of Standards & Appeals in order to unwind
the bureaucratic tangle where the actions of one city agency are
antithetical to the mission of another. We need more transparency
and accountability in the managing of our city’s built environment.
Sincerely,
Name
Address
Sick in New York
During the month of September HDC is partnering with
the Library
of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen to present
“Forlorn and Forgotten: Preserving the Historic Hospitals
and Medical Institutions of New York City,” a fascinating
series of programs that will investigate the history, archaeology
and preservation of New York City’s hospitals, asylums and
quarantine sites.
On September 12, From Health to Home: Adaptive Reuse
of Medical Institutions will discuss the topic of the reuse of medical
buildings and will feature local examples such as the former Towers
Nursing Home on the Upper West Side, the historic buildings of North
Brother Island and Staten Island’s Farm Colony-Seaview Hospital
as discussed by the architects who have worked on them.
On September 19, The Evolution of Sickness: Historic
Hospitals of New York will examine how illness was managed historically
in New York City through an examination of buildings and sites that
developed around the treatment of sickness. There will be case studies
from the Lower East Side, Roosevelt Island and Staten Island. Both
lectures will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will be held at the Library
of the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen located at 20
West 44th Street in Manhattan.
The series will conclude with a rare hardhat tour
of Ellis Island. The tour, lead by Save
Ellis Island staff, will follow the path taken by immigrants
detained for medical treatment. Save Ellis Island, Inc., is the
private nonprofit partner of the National
Park Service dedicated to the restoration and adaptive reuse
of the island’s 30 unrestored buildings, including those of
the south side’s hospital. The tour will meet at 10am on Saturday
September 23rd, its location will be announced upon registration.
Each lecture is $15/$10 for Friends of HDC and General
Society Members. The Saturday Tour of Ellis Island is $45/$35 for
Friends and Members. The complete series of all three events is
$65/$45 for Friends and Members. Advance reservations are required.
Tickets can be ordered online via Paypal by clicking here,
by calling the HDC office at 212-614-9107 or e-mailing hdc@hdc.org.
Save the Date: HDC’s 18th Annual Landmarks
Lion Award
On November 9 HDC will present its Landmarks Lion
Award to Robert Silman, the noted structural engineer. The reception,
dinner and award ceremony will take place at Low Memorial Library,
the architectural centerpiece of Columbia University’s campus.
Benefit Committee listing begins at $500. For more information,
to join the Benefit Committee or place a congratulatory ad in the
program, please contact Frampton Tolbert at ftolbert@hdc.org
or 212-614-9107 x 13.
Become a Friend of HDC. You can now join us On-Line!
HDC’s Friends and supporters make all our programs
possible. If you’re not one already, please take this opportunity
to become a Friend of HDC and receive benefits such as free events,
special admission offers, access to technical and moral support
and advance notice of preservation issues. Learn more about the
benefits of being a Friend,
check out the updated
sections of our website or join
our mailing list to receive an information packet in the mail.
To unsubscribe from the email list please email hdc@hdc.org
and write "Unsubscribe" in the subject heading. We’ll
miss you!
The Advocate for New York City’s Historic Neighborhoods
232 East 11th Street New York NY 10003
tel: 212-614-9107 fax: 212-614-9127 email: hdc@hdc.org
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