| April 20, 2004
Statement of the Historic Districts Council
before the Landmarks Preservation Commission
Certificate of Appropriateness Hearing
The Historic Districts Council is the advocate for
New York City’s designated historic districts and neighborhoods
meriting preservation. Its Public Review Committee monitors proposed
changes within historic districts and changes to individual landmarks
and has reviewed these applications that were before the Commission.
LPC Docket Number: 044583
Brooklyn, Block 1946, lot 19-
353 Washington Avenue - Clinton Hill Historic District
An Italianate style rowhouse built in 1860-1861. Application is
to legalize alterations to the porch and a bay window, and the replacement
of ground floor windows without Landmarks Preservation Commission
permits.
HDC Testimony
The changes made to this 1860 Italianate style rowhouse are utterly
regrettable. The incorporation of brick below the porch and on the
steps leading up to the porch is absolutely inappropriate for such
a wonderful building in the Clinton Hill Historic District. Certainly,
the Landmarks Preservation Commission would never have approved
these changes to the porch and the steps had the applicant sought
proper permits before doing the work. Likewise, the removal of the
wood on the building’s bay is detrimental to the building’s
integrity and we hope the applicant will restore the wood as promised.
Indeed, this bay is one of the building’s most distinctive
features, and the loss of the wood has had the effect of minimizing
the bay’s prominence in the building’s character. Lastly,
the replacement of the windows is insensitive to the building and
perhaps damaging to the historic fabric of the rowhouse.
The Commission must not hold this applicant to a
lower standard of review just because this work has already been
done. The Historic Districts Council asks that the Commission deny
this request for legalization and require the applicant to restore
the porch, side bay, and window to their pre-designation state.
LPC Determination: Windows Denied, Porch
Legalized if Painted White
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