February 24, 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.
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 044350
Manhattan
Street Plan of New Amsterdam and Colonial New York - Individual
Landmark
The street pattern of 17th century New Amsterdam and Colonial
New York. Application is for a masterplan governing the future
installation of security devices and streetscape improvements
on Wall Street, Exchange Place, New Street and Broad Street.
HDC Testimony
The Historic Districts Council acknowledges the changing role
of downtown’s streets and the heightened need for security
along these thoroughfares in post-September 11th New York. However,
we fear that the proposal before us today will diminish the sense
of the historic street pattern that is protected under the Commission’s
designation.
The designation report for the Street Plan of
New Amsterdam and Colonial New York states that the downtown streets
are “the last visible, physically obvious remnant of a major
colonial city…Only by walking along the streets of lower
Manhattan can the full measure of this colonial capital be appreciated.”
HDC therefore objects the raising of the street bed to the level
of the curb in several sections of the designated area. Although
these streets will no longer be open to vehicular traffic, we
feel that a distinct roadbed at a level below the curb is an essential
characteristic of an active street. To lose the distinction between
the roadbed and the curb is to lose the sense of the street and
therefore the protected street pattern. The delineation of the
curb in materials alone is insufficient because it creates a ghost
of a formerly active street.
HDC emphasizes that we do not object to the change
in use of these streets, as we acknowledge that the change is
unavoidable. However, we firmly believe that these streets can
be changed from active vehicular streets to passive pedestrian
streets without raising the roadbed. Again, the designation report
states, “This picturesque street plan with its narrow curving
roadways has accommodated change and growth for almost 360 years,
and with conscious realization of what it represents can continue
to do so.” We urge the Commission to exercise this “conscious
realization” and to work with the applicants to protect
the sense of the historic streets by maintaining the height of
the roadbeds. We further caution the applicants to study carefully
other pedestrian malls, which have often created dead spaces out
of formerly lively streets.
Lastly, although we understand that is not in
the Commission’s purview, HDC objects to the design of the
security control booths. Located on the sidewalks, the prominent
booths create an unfriendly and hostile environment. They appear
too bulky and dark. By incorporating more glass in the structures
and re-thinking their boxy-design, the applicants can greatly
improve the lower Manhattan streetscape.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 044213
Manhattan, Block: 552, Lot: 65
73 Washington Place - Greenwich Village Historic District
A Greek Revival style rowhouse built in 1847. Application is to
legalize the construction of a stair bulkhead in non-compliance
with Certificate of No Effect 02-4678.
HDC Testimony
As always, the Committee objects to owners who flout the Landmarks
Law and perform work without the permission of the Landmarks Preservation
Commission. In all cases, the Historic Districts Council requests
that the Commission only legalize work that it would have approved
had the applicant sought permits in the first place, or in this
instance, had the applicant followed its Certificate of No Effect.
HDC regrets that the stair bulkhead addition was
built so far back on the roof of this 1847 Greek Revival rowhouse
as to create a large wall extending directly above the rear cornice.
In most rear yard and roof top additions, the Commission is usually
quite careful to protect the cornice on the rear façade
as a defining feature of the building. In this instance, the rear
cornice of the building used to line up quite nicely with the
cornice of its Greek Revival neighbor at 75 Washington Place.
However, now the rear cornice’s role in defining the top
edge of the rear façade has been diminished. Moreover,
the rear cornice appears to have been damaged by the new construction.
We ask the Commission to require the applicant to repair any damage
done to this important architectural feature. In addition, we
urge the Commission to ensure that the poor brick and mortar work
performed on both the rooftop addition and around the windows
on the rear façade be mitigated and repaired.
LPC Determination: No Action
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 043259
Manhattan, Block: 645, Lot: 29
17 Little West 12th Street - Gansevoort Market Historic District
A neo-Classical style factory/office building designed by Trowbridge
and Livingston and built in 1901-02. Application is to alter masonry
openings, to install new infill and two barrier-free acess lifts,
and to modify stairs and loading docks at the ground floor.
HDC Testimony
416 West 13th Street, also known as the P.F. Collier & Son
Building, is one of the most important buildings within the Gansevoort
Market Historic District. In fact, the district’s designation
report states, “The building’s two fully-developed
neo-Classical style facades by the eminent firm of Trowbridge
& Livingston, with their tripartite composition and well detailed
fenestration, and the elaborate main entrance on West 13th Street,
make it a significant presence in the Gansevoort Market Historic
District.” The building’s significance is further
illustrated in the fact there was discussion that the building
was worthy of designation as an individual landmark before the
designation of the entire district.
When the West 13th Street façade of this
building came before the Commission last October, the Landmarks
Preservation Commission approved the replacement of the windows
with new steel windows. HDC is concerned, therefore, that this
proposal for the Little West 12th Street façade of the
building plans to replace the existing windows with aluminum windows.
HDC strongly objects to aluminum windows on a building of such
importance in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. Any window-type
approved for this façade must replicate the historic windows
in details and also must match what was approved for the building’s
other façade.
HDC does not object to the other proposed changes
to the building’s Little West 12th Street façade.
We are pleased that this wonderful building is being reinvigorated,
and we hope the building owner will consider restoring the building’s
cornice in the future.
LPC Determination: No Action
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 042894
Manhattan, Block: 846, Lot: 26
East 17th and Broadway - Ladies' Mile Historic District
The northeast corner of East 17th Street and Broadway. Application
is to construct a metal and glass newsstand at the sidewalk.
HDC Testimony
In December, the Landmarks Preservation Commission did not approve
a newsstand for the corner of West 18th Street and Sixth Avenue,
in front of the B. Altman building, because of the feasibility
of another nearby location that was outside of the Ladies’
Mile Historic District. We ask the Commission to do the same in
this instance.
This newsstand proposed for the northeast corner
of East 17th Street and Broadway will only serve to clutter this
already congested intersection. At this corner, there are nine
newsracks and a double public pay telephone structure. The introduction
of a newsstand will overwhelm this crowded corner and obstruct
the nearby storefronts. There is already a newsstand across the
street on the northwest corner of Broadway and East 17th Street,
which is inside the Ladies’ Mile district. We believe that
this additional newsstand is unnecessary and detriment to the
area’s integrity. In addition, we question how the proposed
newsstand will fit in with the Union Square BID’s proposed
redesign of the northern section of Union Square Park. The design
of the newsstand in no way relates to the architecture of the
Ladies’ Mile Historic District, and we ask that it be placed
outside of the district. We suggest as an alternative location
the southwest corner of Union Square West and East 17th Street,
which is not within the designated district.
LPC Determination: Denied
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 041832
Manhattan, Block: 1185, Lot: 42
37 Riverside Drive - West End Collegiate Historic District
A neo-Renaissance style apartment building designed by Schwartz
& Gross and built in 1924. Application is to construct a greenhouse
at the penthouse.
HDC Testimony
Unfortunately, the Historic Districts Council cannot deliver intelligent,
informed testimony on this application because the boards provided
for our review were insufficient. The boards did not include real
sightlines, material samples or images and drawings of what the
proposed greenhouse will look like when completed. In addition,
the height of the proposed greenhouse was not indicated on the
drawings. We urge the Commission to delay consideration of this
proposal until the community has had the opportunity to review
a more complete set of drawings.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 042896
Manhattan, Block: 1144, Lot: 32
Columbus Avenue and West 72nd Street - Upper West Side/Central
Park West Historic District
The northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and West 72nd Street Application
is to construct a metal and glass newsstand at the sidewalk.
HDC Testimony
The Historic Districts Council strongly objects to the placement
of a newsstand on the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and
West 72nd Street. On narrow and busy sidewalks, newsstands such
as this one interrupt pedestrian flow and moreover obscure the
neighborhood’s architecture and storefronts. In this particular
case, the newsstand is sited directly in front of 101 West 72nd
Street, which was beautifully restored by William Leggio Architects
in the late 1990’s. The restoration of the building and
its Chase Manhattan Bank storefront in particular was key to the
revitalization of West 72nd Street. Landmark West’s campaign
to reinvigorate West 72nd Street by restoring the buildings and
storefronts and removing street clutter has been extremely successful.
Indeed, West 72nd Street was recently named a semifinalist in
the National Trust’s 2004 Great American Main Street Awards.
To approve an obstruction directly in front of the wonderfully
restored Chase storefront would be an affront to the work Landmark
West and the building owners, merchants, and residents on West
72nd Street have accomplished.
In addition, HDC firmly believes that the placement
of a newsstand in front of a bank produces a security risk. The
newsstand would in essence block the view of the storefront from
the street, and vice versa. This reduced visibility could be quite
detrimental in the event of a bank robbery.
In December, the Landmarks Preservation Commission
expressed grave concern about two newsstands, one on Broadway
in the Upper West Side, and one on Sixth Avenue in Ladies’
Mile. We hope that the Commission will again exert its powers
and work with the applicant and the appropriate city agencies
to find a more suitable location for this newsstand.
LPC Determination: Denied
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 043004
Manhattan, Block: 1390, Lot: 47
38 East 76th Street - Upper East Side Historic District
A Queen Anne style rowhouse designed by John G. Prague and built
in 1881-82. Application is to alter the front façade and
construct a rear yard addition and rooftop addition.
HDC Testimony
On the front façade of 38 East 76th Street, the Historic
Districts Council adamantly objects to the proposed seven-foot
high fence. The fence cages in the first floor of the building,
creating a hostile look on this Queen Anne style rowhouse, which,
besides the absence of its stoop, is incredibly intact. HDC suggests
that a fence with a maximum height of four feet is adequate to
protect the privacy of the building’s residents. In addition,
HDC questions the installation of two solid doors, which add to
the unfriendly feeling of the building. Doors that incorporate
some glazing would be both more historically accurate and aesthetically
pleasing. If the applicant is proposing solid doors for security
reasons, we note that glazing on a door adds to the safety of
a building by allowing residents to view who is on the other side
of the door before exiting or entering.
Likewise, HDC is deeply concerned with the additions
proposed for the rear yard. As you know, HDC considers the rear
yards of New York’s rowhouse blocks to be elements worthy
of the Commission’s protection. The garden core of this
particular block has several existing incursions, which makes
the protection of the rear yard at 38 East 76th even more important.
The proposal before us today calls for a large one-story roof
top addition, a six-story rear yard addition that extends nine-feet
into the rear yard and an 8-foot high structure that will cover
the entire rear yard with a fence on top of it.
First, HDC questions whether the rooftop addition,
which is only set back 8 feet from the parapet, is visible from
the street, as only one site line was provided in the drawings.
If a mock-up has not yet been built, then we urge the Commission
to require the applicant to construct one to ensure that the rooftop
addition is not visible from any location.
That said, HDC objects most adamantly to the 8-foot
high structure that will completely eliminate the rear yard and
curtail the amount of light and air entering the garden core.
We note that the boards included no design, materials or color
samples for this proposed full-lot addition so that its impact
cannot be fully determined. The glass blocks that constitute its
roof are particularly objectionable, as they will emit at night
a glow that will disturb the residents of the neighboring buildings.
We realize that the zoning resolution exempts swimming pools and
their “above-grade structures limited to a height not exceeding
eight feet above the level of the ‘rear yard’”
from the open space calculations. Nonetheless, HDC strongly maintains
that a structure like the one proposed is utterly inappropriate
in the rear yard of a Queen Anne style rowhouse in the Upper East
Side Historic District, as it destroys what little open space
is left in the rear. We urge the Commission to deny any rear yard
addition that encroaches out into the garden core any further
than the depth of the existing “L”-shaped addition.
LPC Determination: No Action
Hearing Date: February 24, 2004
LPC Docket Number: 001399
Manhattan, Block: 2104, Lot: 21
279 Adelphi Street - Fort Greene Historic District
An Italianate style rowhouse built circa 1871 designed by William
A. Bush. Application is to legalize the installation of windows
without Landmarks Preservation Commission permits.
HDC Testimony
As always, the Historic Districts Council objects to work performed
without the permission of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
In this instance, the replacement of the building’s windows
with aluminum windows whose sashes do not adequately fit the arched
openings is wholly objectionable. Changes to buildings like this
Italianate style rowhouse should help bring the building back
to its historic condition, not further denigrate its integrity.
We note that the building’s neighbor at
277 Aldelphi Street has arched wooden sashes that should serve
a model for this building. HDC urges the Commission to deny the
request for legalization and require the applicant to install
arched wooden windows that match in style and configuration the
historic windows.
LPC Determination: Denied
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