By Devin Gannon, Tue, September 18, 2018 (on right) 236 and (on left) 238 President Street via LPC
The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday designated the Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten at 236 President Street and the adjacent apartment building at 238 President Street as individual landmarks. The two Carroll Gardens buildings are associated with Elmira Christian, an advocate for early childhood education. “These two properties are distinguished by their architecture and share a great history of education and social reform in Brooklyn,” LPC Vice Chair Frederick Bland said in a statement.
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By Dana Schulz, Tue, September 18, 2018 Rendering courtesy of the Rockwell Group for the Howard Hughes Corporation
It might still be steamy outside, but the colder months are upon us, and this year, NYC will have a brand new ice skating rink. CityRealty uncovered renderings that show how the Howard Hughes Corporation would like to transform the South Street Seaport’s Pier 17–the SHoP Architects-designed food/drink, retail, and entertainment complex–into a rooftop winter village. The proposal by David Rockwell Group calls for an ice rink just slightly smaller than that at Rockefeller Center, a skate shop, and a warming hut. The team is presenting the plan to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (Pier 17 is part of the South Street Seaport Historic District) this afternoon, so check back for updates on the vote.
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By Devin Gannon, Wed, August 8, 2018 Courtesy of Morris Adjmi Architects
The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved on Tuesday a seven-story condo on the site of the 2015 East Village gas explosion. Designed by Morris Adjmi Architects, the project was first presented to the commission in July but was sent back to the drawing board over concerns regarding the windows and gloomy coloring. According to Curbed NY, the firm’s new design features a brighter facade, more traditional windows to reflect the character of the East Village and a permanent plaque to honor the two people that died during the explosion.
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By Michelle Cohen, Tue, July 31, 2018 This morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the AT&T building at 550 Madison Avenue as an individual landmark. Designed by Philip Johnson and completed in 1984, the world’s first postmodern skyscraper originally served as the AT&T headquarters. A decade later, Sony moved in and it became known as the Sony Tower. Recently, a growing roster of preservationists and architects have been urging the LPC to landmark the building after plans surfaced showing significant changes to its architecture.
So what happens now?
By Devin Gannon, Mon, July 16, 2018 Photo of Whitman via Wikimedia; Photo of 99 Ryerson Street via NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
A coalition of preservationists, LGBT groups and literary experts is asking the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reassess their decision last year to not landmark Walt Whitman’s Brooklyn home, the last residence of the 19th-century poet remaining in New York. Located at 99 Ryerson Street in Clinton Hill, the home was where Whitman and his family lived between May 1, 1855 and May 1, 1856.
While living at the home, Whitman wrote “Leaves of Grass,” a collection of poems considered to be one of the most significant American works ever. The home is also one of the earliest extant buildings in NYC associated with a member of the LGBT community.
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By Michelle Cohen, Tue, July 10, 2018 Rendering by Morris Adjmi Architects
Almost three years after an explosion caused by an illegal tap into a gas main at the corner of Second Avenue and East Seventh Street destroyed three buildings at 119-123 Second Avenue and killed two people, new renderings have been revealed of Morris Adjmi Architects‘ proposed seven-story, 21-unit condo that would replace the circa-1886 tenements that once stood there. As it’s within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, it needs approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. After reviewing the plans this afternoon and deciding that the proposal is “close, but not quite there,” they’ve sent Adjmi and Yaniv Shaky Cohen’s Nexus Building Development Group back to the drawing board over concerns regarding the windows, storefront, and coloring. Neighbors and those affected by the tragedy are also calling for a commemorative plaque to be incorporated into the design.
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By Michelle Cohen, Wed, June 27, 2018 All renderings courtesy of Beyer Blinder Belle and Selldorf Architects
On Tuesday the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the most recent plan submitted by the museum for the expansion and renovation of the 1914 Gilded Age mansion it calls home in a 6 to 1 vote with one abstention, the New York Times reports. Three prior attempts by the museum in a quest to gain more space for exhibitions and programs were turned back amid vocal protests by neighborhood advocates and preservationists. The revised plan submitted by the project’s architects Beyer Blinder Belle and Annabelle Selldorf includes the decision to restore the museum’s original gated garden, which had been a point of controversy with those opposed to the project.
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By Dana Schulz, Tue, June 26, 2018 In a vote today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Boerum Hill Historic District Extension. The 288-building district is split into three distinct sections, all adjacent to the existing 250-building Boerum Hill Historic District that was designated in 1973. According to an LPC press release, the extension “represents the diverse cultural and economic history of Boerum Hill, as well as its largely intact 19th-century architecture.” It’s mostly residential blocks, made up of late 19th-century brownstone and brick townhouses, along with a block-and-a-half commercial stretch of Atlantic Avenue.
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By Emily Nonko, Thu, June 21, 2018 Grand Central Terminal Lobby via Wikipedia
On June 26th, 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a momentous decision that wouldn’t just save a cherished New York landmark, it would establish the NYC Landmarks Law for years to come. This drawn-out court battle was the result of a plan, introduced in the late 1960s, to demolish a significant portion of Grand Central Terminal and erect a 50-story office tower.
Though the proposal may seem unthinkable now, it wasn’t at the time. Pennsylvania Station had been demolished a few years earlier, with the owners citing rising costs to upkeep the building as train ridership sharply declined. The NYC Landmarks Law was only established in 1965, the idea of preservation still novel in a city practicing wide-scale urban renewal. Finally, Grand Central wasn’t in good shape itself, falling apart, covered in grime, and home to one of the highest homeless populations in New York City. But a dedicated group of preservationists–aided by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis–took the fight to the highest levels of the court. Keep reading to find out how, as well as learn about the celebrations planned by the MTA surrounding the anniversary.
Here’s how Grand Central was saved
By Devin Gannon, Wed, June 20, 2018 During a nearly two-hour public hearing on Tuesday, passionate preservationists, architects, and community groups testified in front of the Landmarks Preservation Commission in support of designating the postmodern skyscraper at 550 Madison Avenue as an individual landmark. Best known as the AT&T Building, the 37-story tower was designed by Philip Johnson, along with his partner John Burgee, and completed in 1984.
As postmodernism’s first skyscraper, 550 Madison has stood out for its pink-gray granite facade, arched entryway and Chippendale-inspired crown. A wide range of people on Tuesday voiced support for giving 550 Madison landmark designation, including architectural critic Paul Goldberger. In his testimony, Goldberger cited his own 1978 New York Times review of the building, before it was built, when he called the AT&T Building “a major monument” of postmodernism and “the most provocative and daring skyscraper to be proposed for New York since the Chrysler Building.”
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