October 26, 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 the application now before the Commission.
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051865
Manhattan, Block: 1602, Lot: 1
1150 Fifth Avenue - Carnegie Hill Historic District
A neo-Georgian style apartment building, designed by J.E.R. Carpenter
and built in 1923-24. Application is to modify the penthouse terrace
and install glass railings.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not object to the modification of this penthouse terrace.
However, we would like to see the glass brought inside the piers
and shortened to meet the height of these piers in order to lessen
possible glare and its impact on this historic structure.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051593
Manhattan, Block: 1378, Lot: 27
33 East 63rd Street - Upper East Side Historic District
A neo-Grec style townhouse, designed by Chalres Baxter and built
circa 1877-1878. Application is to alter the front façade
and to construct a rear yard addition.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not support this proposal. The changing of the location
of the entrance, complete alteration of the cornice, and the enlargement
and ornamentation of the fence are all unacceptable changes for
this historic building. In addition, the proposed new entrance
is far too grand for a building of this style. And while we do
not object to the size of the rear yard addition, the proposed
excessive glazing will create essentially a light box of the rear
of the building. We would like to see the historic condition of
this intact neo-Grec townhouse retained, not destroyed.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 052261
Manhattan, Block: 1380, Lot: 30
47-49 East 65th Street - Individual Landmark Historic District
A Georgian style double townhouse designed by Charles A. Platt
and built in 1907-08. Application is to modify the areaway fence,
install a barrier-free access chairlift, to install rooftop mechanical
equipment, and to construct a rooftop and rear yard additions.
HDC Testimony
While HDC understands that the current zoning allows for filling
in this lot, we regret to see the so many rear yards disappearing.
Rear yards are a part of the historic fabric of this neighborhood,
particularly in buildings of this type.
In addition, we are concerned about the size of
the rooftop mechanical equipment and ask whether this great massing
is necessary. We encourage the applicant to explore other solutions.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051606
Manhattan, Block: 1410, Lot: 2
823 Park Avenue - Upper East Side Historic District
One of a pair of Classical style apartment buildings designed
by Pikering and Walerk and built in 1910-11. Application is to
consturct rooftop and rear yard additions.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not support this application as presented. The rooftop
addition is inappropriately visible and the fenestration is too
modern. The design is not typical of Park Avenue penthouses and
stands in contrast to this historic district. We recommend the
bulk of this addition be reduced and the design reconsidered.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051280
Manhattan, Block: 1293, Lot: 26
595 Madison Avenue - Individual Landmark Historic District
An Art-Deco style office building designed by Walker and Gillette
and built in 1928-29. Application is to amend the storefront Master
Plan established pursuant to Certificate of Appropriateness 86-0118.
HDC Testimony
HDC generally approves of these changes to the storefront master
plan. However, we do not approve of the stainless steel lighting
fixtures above the signs, as they seem inappropriate and unnecessary
since this street is already well lit. In addition, the bulkhead
is too low. We recommend keeping it at its current height.
LPC Determination: Approved
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051276
Manhattan, Block: 28, Lot: 17
82-92 Beaver Street - Individual Landmark Historic District
A Renaissance Revival style office building with Classical details
designed by Clinton and Russell and constructed in 1903-04. Application
is to install new entrance infill, a canopy, light fixtures, ramp
and railings, and to install new HVAC equipment at the roof.
HDC Testimony
This rooftop addition is simply too large and visible for this
wonderful individual landmark. It appears that too much of the
building’s program is being forced into this addition, and
that the addition should be scaled down and the program accommodated
within the existing building.
Regarding the Pearl Street entrance, while the
majority of the alterations are an obvious improvement to the
existing conditions, HDC found the proposed lighting fixtures
to be wholly inappropriate for this 1903 building. Art Deco style
lights are not suited for a Renaissance Revival building, and
the fixtures should be changed or removed entirely, as according
to the tax photo, lights did not appear originally. We are assuming
that these fixtures are the same as the fixtures which will appear
all along the façade, again creating an unnecessary amount
of lighting.
In addition, on the Beaver Street entrance, we
recommend investigating the possibility of removing the louver
above the door and putting it in the two sidelights, making the
entrance more representative of the original design. And finally,
the drawing of the proposed Beaver Street entrance does not depict
the existing detail of the pediment; we are assuming this is an
omission and that the detailing will remain.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051733
Manhattan, Block: 149, Lot: 3
79 Chambers Street - TriBeCa South Historic District
A Moderne-style commercial building designed by Frederick J. Harwig
and built in 1935-36. Application is to replace a storefront on
Chambers Street.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not support this application. The proposed storefront
is not appropriate for this historic building, or the TriBecCa
South Historic District. We are fortunate to have the historic
photo, depicting the buildings historic condition and signage.
We encourage the applicant to develop a new design, one that will
fully restore the moderne style of the building so that it can
be read as a period building.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 051582
Manhattan, Block: 215, Lot: 27
157 Hudson Street/aka 4-8 Hubert Street… - TriBeCa North
Historic District
A Renaissance Revival style stable building built in 1866-67 and
designed by Rith & Griffiths; altered and enlarged in 1898-99
by Edward Hale Kendall and in 1902 by Charles W. Romeyn. Application
is to alter the ground floor and consturct a three-story rofftop
addition with mechanical equipment.
HDC Testimony
HDC is happy to see this magnificent building being restored and
the level of restorative work appears to be excellent. However,
we do not support the proposed changes and additions to the building
as presented.
Firstly, we are opposed to the removal of the
entire first floor Hudson Street façade and its replacement
with a generic type storefront. While we recognize that the existing
first floor façade is not the original, it does a nice
job of recalling the original, and was the existing façade
at the time of designation. We believe that the applicant could
accommodate the programmatic needs of a commercial occupant with
the existing façade.
HDC is also opposed the three-story rooftop addition,
particularly on the Hudson Street façade. This addition
is a substantial increase to the existing structure and will be
visible to both pedestrians, and motorists entering the city from
the Holland Tunnel. Once the leaves from the trees have fallen,
there will be nothing masking its presence. In addition, there
is a pedestrian overpass connecting Varick and Laight Streets
that one must cross to get over the tunnel and the addition will
be highly visible from this vantage point. This addition greatly
alters a significant low-scale three-story building by almost
doubling its size. We recommend that the entire addition be set
further back and that it be decreased to one or two stories at
the most.
And finally, we are concerned about the use of
corten steel on the rooftop addition. Corten steel has a history
of failure as a cladding material. The U.S. Steel Corporation
Building and the Annenberg Pavilion of Mt. Sinai Hospital are
examples of where this material has failed. It has a tendency
to rust and bleed. We recommend that the Commission look closely
at the proposed materials for this addition.
This wonderful 1866 building certainly deserves
this restoration. However, it also deserves an addition that will
not compromise its integrity or that of the TriBeCa North Historic
District.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 036697
Manhattan, Block: 613, Lot: 3
271-273 West 4th Street - Greenwich Village Historic District
Two rowhouses combined with a new façade designed by G.
Provot in 1934. Application is to replace windows installed without
Landmarks Preservation Commission permits.
HDC Testimony
HDC does not approve of the proposed replacement windows. We encourage
the applicant to put in multi paned windows, as were present in
the tax photo and at the time of designation.
LPC Determination: Denied
Hearing Date: 10/26/2004
LPC Docket Number: 050785
Brooklyn, Block: 1073, Lot: 39
31 Prospect Park West - Park Slope Historic District
A neo-Federal sytle building designed by W.J. McCarthy and built
in 1912. Application is to construct a rear yard addition.
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to this proposal. The proposed addition is far
too visible from the public way to be appropriate, and ruins the
texture of the rear yards on this block. We recommend that this
addition be scaled down and redesigned.
LPC Determination: Approved
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