Results tagged “landmarks”

If you haven't taken the time to revisit all the Ghostbusters landmarks, and we're guessing that even with this handy map, you haven't—then head over here. The Scout has a side by side comparison of movie stills and the locations in their current state. The best part, this is all part of a new series called “New York, You’ve Changed."

Sure, old buildings have plenty of supporters sticking up for their preservation and landmark rights, but what about coordinates of where historic events took place? The NY Times takes a look at 39-year-old amateur historian, and Columbia grad, Andrew Carroll's project to preserve and mark those sites. While his mission will take him to all 50 states, there are plenty of places here in NYC (Barack Obama Alley anyone?).

Last year New York City stayed plugged in while many major cities around the globe powered down for Earth Hour. Instead, Rufus Wainwright tried to recreate the blackout with a 12-hour "Blackout Sabbath" on March 19th—if you don't remember it, then it probably didn't go as planned.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 8 to 3 yesterday to approve St. Vincent's designs for an $800 million hospital tower on the site currently occupied by the landmark O'Toole building in Greenwich Village. The vote came just a day after preservationists announced their lawsuit against St. Vincent's; some community groups have been trying, unsuccessfully so far, to stop the hospital from razing the 44-year-old building. The commission had previously rejected plans for a 329-foot hospital tower, but ultimately approved it at a height of 278 feet. But hospital officials still need the commission to approve their proposal for a 350-unit condo across the street; St. Vincent's plans to use money they raise from the apartments to build the hospital. Looking ahead to a surely prosperous future, developer William Rudin optimistically tells NY1, "Hopefully the economic situation we are in will have alleviated itself. And the economic stimulus would have kicked in and we'll see positive things happening in the economy and we think four to five years from now."

In its second article in a series about the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the NY Times examines the "legal loophole" that developers take advantage of: Once they learn their building might be up for landmark status, developers often "[rush] to obtain a demolition or stripping permit from the... Department of Buildings so that notable qualities can be removed, rendering the structure unworthy of protection." This is what happened in 2006, when the cornices of the 19th century Dakota Stables were removed; the LPC didn't landmark it since it was "irreparably changed"-- now you have luxury condo The Harrison. There are proposed City Council bills to prevent builders from similar action, but some think there should be better communication between the DOB and LPC. One LPC commissioner says, "When a property owner goes to the buildings department for a permit to strip, it should be a red flag."

The NY Times begins a series on the Landmarks Preservation Commission's workings. The Times finds an "overtaxed agency that has taken years to act on some proposed designations, even as soaring development pressures put historic buildings at risk." While the LPC says necessary work to research requests cannot be put under deadlines, there is the proposal to enlarge the Park Slope historic district that has been lingering for 7 years. (A judge ordered the LPC to work faster, since letting proposals "languish is to defeat the very purpose of the L.P.C. and invite the loss of irreplaceable landmarks.") Many preservationists chime in about LPC Commissioner Robert Tierney--one says, "He’s a guy who’s had no demonstrable interest in historic preservation, who has the most important preservation job in New York City."

After a long, bitter public battle, St. Vincent's hospital has won permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical tower. The hospital applied for, and was granted, a “hardship-status” exemption, which allows nonprofit landlords to demolish landmark buildings if they can prove that the building is preventing them from carrying out their charitable mission. Community groups, preservationists and local celebrities like Susan Sarandon have opposed the scope of the project, which also calls for a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). In a statement, hospital officials said they can now take "another step forward to building a 21st century, technologically advanced hospital for Manhattan’s West Side and Downtown."

The Landmarks Preservation Commission met again yesterday to deliberate on St. Vincent's Hospital’s “hardship-status” application, which, if approved, would let the hospital raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 233-foot tall luxury condominium. Unlike previously rowdy sessions that featured protest from local celebrities, there was no public comment this time. Instead, the commission heard from outside experts like Michael Meola at the city’s Economic Development Corporation, who testified that no other sites “would be a viable alternative to the O’Toole Building.” Developer William C. Rudin added, “Now more than ever, the city needs a project like this as an investment in our future.” No decision was made yesterday, but Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation tells the Times, "A lot of people are questioning whether they will actually stick with this."

Earlier today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to welcome five more structures into the elite family of New York City landmarks. According to City Room, the newly protected locations are:
• The Tompkinsville pool in Staten Island (above left) and its modern L-shaped recreation center, one of five WPA-era pools opened in the summer of 1936. (The most famous of the bunch being McCarren Pool.)
• The Betsy Head Pool and Recreation Center, located within a 10.5-acre park in Brownsville, Brooklyn, which also opened in '36. The commission's statement maintains that "the recreation center is noteworthy for the extensive use of recessed glass-block walls and a rooftop observation gallery with parabolic arches that support a cantilevered canopy on the roof."
• Fire Engine Company No. 53 (above right) at 175 East 104th Street in East Harlem, which was finished in 1884 and now houses the Manhattan Community Access Corporation, a local cable television station. The four-story brick building is comprised of a cast-iron base with a wide entrance, with decorative motifs such as torches, terra cotta sunflowers and sunbursts.
• The Public National Bank of New York building (1923) at Avenue C and Seventh Street, which the commission digs for its "Viennese-inspired, terra cotta wreath of fruit which originally held a clock, an eagle and decorative urns."
• The former Wheatsworth Bakery, a seven-story brick factory located at 444 East 10th Street. Finished in 1928, the bakery was designed in the Art Deco and Viennese Secessionist styles by Williamsburg architect J. Edwin Hopkins for the cracker manufacturer that invented the Milk-Bone dog biscuit. It's now a storage warehouse. A landmarked storage warehouse.

Susan Sarandon and husband Tim Robbins testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission today in protest against St. Vincent’s proposal to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village, as well as four other buildings to make room for a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). For the former Bull Durham stars, all that would mean a lot of noise and dust soiling the air near their building, which is a block away.

In presenting their argument for a massive demolition and construction project in the West Village – one that would raze the distinctive O’Toole Building (pictured) – representatives of St. Vincent’s hospital told the Landmarks and Preservation Commission yesterday that it will have to shut down if their proposal is not approved. Last month the commission unanimously rejected the hospital’s $1.6 billion development plan, which would demolish nine buildings to make room for a 329-foot-tall medical building on the O’Toole site and a 265-foot-tall luxury condominium in partnership with the Rudin Management Company.

The Sun has it that their new pitch would still demolish the O’Toole building, but the new hospital would be 9% shorter than previous plans, rising to less than 300 feet. Rudin Management Co., which would buy eight buildings from the hospital to finance the project, would also build a somewhat smaller luxury condominium once they tear down the buildings – it would drop to 233 feet from 265 feet and be 60 feet less wide. Rudin would also spare four of the purchased buildings.

     

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission is holding a public hearing to consider the largest proposal in its 43-year history: An application by the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center to demolish eight structures in Greenwich Village on West 11th and 12th Streets, near Seventh Avenue, and construct an $800 million, 21-story, 329-foot-tall hospital and condominium tower. Falling to the wrecking ball would be the 1963 O’Toole Building which houses the hospital. The plans are strongly opposed by local residents, The Municipal Art Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff:

It’s historical censorship. The O’Toole Building was one of the first buildings in the city to break with the Modernist mainstream as it was congealing into formulaic dogma… It represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades… In patronizing fashion, hospital officials have suggested that preservationists are choosing buildings over lives, as if the two were in direct opposition. This is the kind of developer’s cant that is ruining our city. The addition of up to 400 co-op apartments is about money, not saving lives. There are plenty of other ways that the hospital could upgrade its facilities.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is once again considering a number of buildings and areas for potential landmarking or historic district designation, such as the Webster Hall, Fisk Terrace-Midwood Park in Broolyn, and One Chase Manhattan Plaza. You can see the list here - PDF.

If you are one of the 700,000 people who pass through Grand Central Terminal every day there are things that you may take for granted or just may not know about the great train station. Thanks to Metro-North's Dan Brucker, Gothamist can reveal some of them to you.

A landmark Tottenville home that caused a bitter fight between its owner and neighbors has entered a new stage of its existence: foreclosure proceedings. The Staten Island Advance reports John Grossi, who bought the 1869 Bedell House in hopes of razing it to build townhouses, is happy to let the bank have the building, "I won't put another dime into the property."

The fate of McCarren Park Pool turned around after being landmarked and given a $50 million gift from Bloomberg, yet its future look is still up in the air. Following the February 4th meeting, last night another Community Board meeting was held to discuss The Pool. This time architects Rogers Marvel and The Parks Department were on hand to present conceptual plans. Curbed has the reveal, but they note the renderings are merely "draft images and, of course, the redesign has to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission."

Later today, the city will discuss whether the I.M. Pei-designed Silver Towers should be landmarked. The Observer reported that NYU announced its support today, a reversal from an earlier position over three years ago.

Plans to construct a glass addition to the top of the Battery Maritime Building moved a little closer to fruition this week with the approval of Community Board 1. The New York Post reports that the Board was a little concerned about the scale of the glass addition that will be added to the century-old structure, but that something productive had to be done with the building to ensure its continued existence. Plans by the Dermot Company include the installation of a 140-room boutique hotel, a restaurant, a lounge, and a specialty foods marketplace.

Michael Lappin, CEO of the managing company for what is being called the "New Domino", responded yesterday to our questions about the proposed project via email.

The iconic Domino Sugar sign is not included in these renderings. [We photoshopped it back in, above.] Is there any plan to preserve that somewhere at the site? We are making every effort to save the sign. We are looking at different engineering solutions regarding the “where and how.” It’s a complex problem.

Well, candy is in the mouth of the beholder, but here are the actual renderings. As noted yesterday, the proposals for the new residential and retail complex at the Domino Refinery will be presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission at a public hearing today at 2pm at the Municipal Building (1 Centre Street), 9th Floor North. Brownstoner posted snapshots of the renderings taken last week at a community board meeting, as well as floor plans for the modified refinery, which would feature five floors of residential units on the roof.

More detailed images of the proposed development at the landmarked Domino Refinery in south Williamsburg have emerged; the biggest news is that developers plan to build a five-story glass addition on top of the Filter House (above), the tallest structure at the refinery, which has been closed since 2004. According to plans revealed by architects Beyer Blinder Belle, the modified refinery would have 1,550 underground parking spaces, 30,000 square feet of retail space, an interior courtyard and “community facilities” on several floors.

A building that formerly housed the Jamaica Savings Bank is total landmark bait. It was even called "the finest Beaux-Arts building in Queens" by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. But now the building's current owner may stand in the way of the third attempt to landmark the building.

Everyone is buzzing about the Brooklyn Bridge Park development today. The latest is that the project (which has been stalled time and time again) could begin next month as a wrecking ball tears down a piece of the area's history. The Daily News reports:

If approved today, the $18 million construction phase would include the demolition of the historic Purchase Building [pictured] and the removal of portions of five piers, officials said.

Continue reading "Demolition to Begin Brooklyn Bridge Park Development"

It's official. Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate DUMBO a historic district, pending City Council approval.

This past September, preservationists won a major victory when the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to give parts of the massive old Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg landmark status. Three of the buildings at the site will be preserved and renovated for residential use, including some affordable housing.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on Franklin Ave. and 169th St. in the Bronx, a missing child on West 54th St. in Manhattan, and a stabbing on Fulton St. and Red Hook Lane in Brooklyn.
• Walter O'Malley was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame recently. The former owner of the Dodgers, he infamously moved the team from Brooklyn to Los Angeles because the city wouldn't build him a new stadium.
• Times Square subway station music store Record Mart is back in business.
• The director of personnel at the NYC Board of Elections wants to travel to Iraq and Afghanistan to help soldiers vote in the next election.
• David Lemus, who spent 13 years in prison for the 1990 murder of a bouncer at the Palladium, was declared not guilty in a retrial after the real killer confessed.
• Childhood flashback: a piece of geometric animation scored to music by Phillip Glass that appeared on Sesame Street.
• The ACLU filed a suit against the NYPD seeking to get them to cease stopping and questioning photographers they see taking pictures of city landmarks.
• A Queens mother was arrested after her 3-year-old son brought 14 bags of pot to daycare with him to show his friends. The incident went unnoticed until the kid screamed "Give me my stuff back!"