Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Six Auxiliary Buildings Collectively Designated an Individual Landmark

Unfinished cathedral, the largest in the world, designated a landmark for second time. On February 21, 2017, Landmarks commissioners voted to designate the St. John the Divine Cathedral and Close an individual City landmark. The cathedral, the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, is the largest church in the United States, and the largest cathedral in the world. It stands at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood.

The Landmarks … <Read More>


New Townhouse Approved for Vacant Lot

Sculptural dwelling takes cues from arched bays of carriages houses common to Clinton Hill’s Vanderbilt Avenue. On February 7, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved an application to construct a new building on a vacant lot at 311 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill Historic District. The site, currently used for parking, is on a through-block lot, with an existing 1890 townhouse facing Clinton Avenue. The planned building will rise to … <Read More>


Two Adjoining Bank Buildings Designated as Individual Landmarks

“Bank Row” buildings represent two eras of 20th-century economic expansion. Landmarks voted to designate two bank buildings in Brooklyn as individual City landmarks at its meeting on January 24, 2017. The elder of the two landmarks, the People’s Trust Company Building, stands at 181 Montague Street, and the second item, the National Title Guaranty Building, adjoins it at 185 Montague Street. The buildings are the only unprotected historic structures on what is known … <Read More>


City’s Newest Landmark also its Youngest

Late 1970s and early 1980s hotel interiors are a rare preserved exemplar of late Modern and early Postmodern design. Landmarks voted to designate as an interior City landmark the hotel lobby and Ambassador Grill of the United Nations Hotel at its meeting on January 17, 2017. The hotel, at 1 United Nations Plaza was built as part of a larger complex by the United Nations Development Corporation. The two interior spaces were completed seven … <Read More>


Two Adjoining Bank Buildings Considered as Individual Landmarks

Elected officials and local residents urge Landmarks to designate 20th century financial-services-industry structures. On November 29, 2016, Landmarks held hearings on the possible individual landmark designations of two buildings built as banks in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The People’s Trust Company Building, at 181 Montague Street, and the adjacent National Title Guaranty Company Building, at 185 Montague Street, are both part of Brooklyn’s “Bank Row.”  Historic banking structures on the … <Read More>


Wide Support for Designation of Early Postmodern Hotel Interiors

Some speakers testified that landmarked space should be expanded to connect bar and lobby as one designated interior. At its meeting on November 22, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission heard testimony on the potential designation of two interior spaces on the first floor of the United Nations Hotel at 1 United Nations Plaza in East Midtown. The interiors under consideration are the Ambassador Grill and the Hotel Lobby, built as part of a hotel … <Read More>