E-BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL

November 2007, Volume 4 Number 11

Finally Heard! Two Brooklyn Districts Have Public Hearings

This month, the LPC held public hearings on two proposed historic districts in Brooklyn: Fiske Terrace-Midwood Park, a community of predominantly free-standing single-family homes built during the first two decades of the twentieth century mainly in the Colonial Revival and Shingle Styles, and DUMBO, a significant and quickly disappearing piece of the city’s industrial heritage. Both hearing went very well with nearly all the speakers advocating in favor of landmarking and we expect the Commission to move very quickly to designate both areas. You can still send a statement of support for either district to comments@lpc.nyc.gov. For more information on these neighborhoods you can also visit HDC’s Neighborhood at Risk.

Sunnyside Affirmed

On Tuesday, October 23rd the New York City Council unanimously affirmed the designation of the Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. HDC wants to thank everyone for their letters of support to council members. Built between 1924-1928, with 624 architecturally and culturally distinctive buildings, Sunnyside Gardens is one of the most significant planned residential communities in New York and the largest historic district in Queens.

Landmark Lollapalooza

That was the phrase one preservationist used on October 30th for what is commonly being called Designation Day, a day at the Landmarks Preservation Commission dedicated to calendaring, hearing and designating historic sites. The day spanned across four of the five boroughs, nearly 150 years and various facets of the city’s industrial, domestic, institutional and commercial history. By the end of the day New York City had seven new individual landmarks and one new historic district bringing the totals up to 1,180 and 89; respectively.

DUMBO had a happy hearing. Over 30 people spoke in favor – including developer Jed Walentas. No one spoke in opposition to designating the district, although two representatives of a property owner of seven buildings asked that the structures be designated “no style or “non-contributing” so that they could be redeveloped appropriately. HDC requested that, if LPC was considering such notions, parking lots and vacant lots on the borders should also be included to further help guide appropriate development. Rumor has it that the district could be landmarked as soon as the end of the year.

Our Lady of the Scapular & St. Stephen’s Church, heard in 1966, got a second chance Tuesday. At one time home to the largest Catholic parish in the nation, the 1854 church designed by James Renwick Jr. contains murals by Constantino Brumidi, muralist of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. While LPC cannot designate the interiors of operating houses of worship, landmarking the church would mean the impressive murals would always have a home.

The former Fire Engine Co. No. 53 on East 104th Street, previously heard in 1991, also had another hearing. The firehouse was designed by Napoleon LeBrun and Sons and built in 1881. The building’s current owner Manhattan Community Access Corporation, which plans to renovate the building and establish the Firehouse Media Center Project, will offer free media services to the community, are “thrilled” with the possible designation.

Six buildings in the East Village (near to HDC’s office in the Neighborhood Preservation Center), chosen from a survey of the area undertaken by LPC staff last summer, were also heard – the former 11th Street Public Bath, former Beth Hamedrash Hagadol Anshe Ungarn, former Elizabeth Home for Girls, former Public National Bank of New York, former Wheatsworth Factory and (still very present) Webster Hall. LPC hasn’t forgot the city’s modern buildings. The 1934-1935 Morris B. Sanders House in the Turtle Bay area, the first residence designed and built in the modernist style, was also heard.

A number of historic buildings finished the landmarking marathon and are now officially designated. Two items on Staten Island, the 1893 Standard Varnish Works Office Building and the Gillett-Tyler House (built c.1846 in Enfield, Massachusetts and moved to New York in 1931), were designated. Queens has a new landmark in the Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden. 511 and 513 Grand Street were added to the list of early Federal-style town houses now protected. Manhattan House, the 1951 full-block, white-brick, modernist highrise, and Lord & Taylor’s 5th Avenue store opened in 1914 were also granted landmark status. The newest historic district is the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory in Brooklyn. The small district is comprised of nine factory buildings dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

No word yet when the next Designation Day will be, but judging from LPC Chairman Bob Tierney’s enthusiastic remarks such hearings will be held at least twice each year.

City Council Acts to Preserve Height Limits in Historic Districts

Longtime observers of development in Brooklyn might remember the proposal to place a large addition atop the former Independence Bank Building on the corner of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue in the Cobble Hill Historic District. After getting denied by the community board, Two Trees Management revised the plan to restore the building at 130 Court Street and build an apartment building next door in the existing parking lot. After some design modifications, the LPC approved the proposal but it still required several zoning waivers from the City Planning Commission to be built according to plan, including eliminating the rear yard to build to the back of the property line and allowing the building to rise to 60 feet in a 50 foot maximum height limited zone. These permissions were fought against at City Planning by a strong coalition of community activists and preservationists, including the Cobble Hill Association, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Society for the Architecture of the City and HDC. In addition, we were joined in opposition by Brooklyn Community Board Six and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Unfortunately, local Council Member Bill de Blasio was supportive of the waivers and had testified in favor of them at the City Planning hearing.

Coalition members remained united in our concern over the proposed height, which was felt to constitute a dire precedent for the height limitations in historic districts. While most of New York City’s neighborhoods do not have strict height limits for new construction, Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights have a Limited Height Zone; which expressly mandates a 50-foot height limit. After several meetings with CM de Blasio, we successfully made the case that the height variance had the potential to set a very dangerous precedent citywide for all of the city’s historic districts and he asked his colleagues at the City Council to decline permission for the height waiver, which they did. HDC is proud of our neighborhood partners in Brooklyn for their successful advocacy and very grateful to CM de Blasio for his open mind on the issue, open-door policy to community members and willingness to re-examine the situation.

HDC’s 19th Annual Landmarks Lion Award Honors Lisa Ackerman

Thanks to everyone who joined us on October 24 to honor HDC’s 19th Landmarks Lion Lisa Ackerman. More than 200 people joined us at the stunning and historic Prince George Ballroom to fete this worthy individual who has spent countless time and energy enriching the preservation movement in New York City and beyond. Click here to see images from the event.

A New Book on the Preservation Movement

HDC's Chair Emeritus, Anthony C. Wood, a seasoned preservation activist, historian, and recipient of HDC's Landmarks Lion award, has recently published Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City's Landmarks (Routledge Press, Oct. 2007). Here, he chronicles the trials and tribulations of the decades long fight leading to the passage of the landmarks law in 1965. Wood tells the story of all those who struggled over the course of fifty years for its creation, busting the myth that preservation in New York City began as a result of Penn Station's demolition, and recounting the demise of the countless architectural riches lost in its absence.

A Book Launch and Reception will take place on Monday, November 5th at 6pm at the Museum of the City of New York, co-sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project, the Historic Districts Council, the Historic House Trust, the Municipal Art Society, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Preservation League of New York State.

Tickets are $15 for members and members of co-sponsoring organization and $20 for non-members. Visit http://mcny.org/public_programs/all/721.html for more information.

Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City's Landmarks is available through www.nypap.org, www.giveline.com and www.amazon.com.

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