COMMENTARY: Could Landmarks Have Saved Dangler House? City Should Conduct Post-Demolition Official Review

On July 21, 2022, the Jacob Dangler House at 441 Willoughby Avenue in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, was demolished less than two weeks after the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing to consider its designation as an Individual Landmark. Despite the attempt by Landmarks to save the Dangler House by commencing the designation process, the Commission has been criticized for not acting quickly enough. Could Landmarks have actually done more?


Landmarks Approves Demolition and New Construction in Greenpoint HD

Landmarks approved the demolition and new construction on the condition that applicants fine-tune design details with the Commission. On September 15, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for the demolition and construction of a new commercial building at 171 Calyer Street, in the Greenpoint Historic District of Brooklyn.


Designation Should Not Mean Demolition

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has calendared the AT&T Building at 550 Madison Avenue for a public hearing. As well it should. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, the skyscraper with a distinctive Chippendale top was the first post-modern addition to the skyline when completed in 1984. It is as emblematic of its time as the Woolworth Building (Cass Gilbert, 1913) and the Chrysler Building (William Van Allen, 1930).


Adjacent Building Owners Win Protections For Demolition

City sought to demolish derelict, mid-block row-house. The Department of Buildings issued an emergency declaration to demolish a deteriorating, vacant, and dangerous row-house at 32-49 37th Street between Broadway and 34th Avenue in Astoria. In order to demolish the abandoned mid-block building, contractors were required to erect scaffolding protecting the adjoining row-houses that physically abut the derelict building. The owners of the neighboring row-houses refused access to construct the scaffolding unless the City obtained legal … <Read More>


Warehouse Owner Wins Access to Neighbor’s Land for Demolition Fence

Owner who was required to build a protective fence during demolition could not get adjoining property owners to give access to property needed to build the fence. North 7-8 Investors, LLC, the owner of a warehouse located at 2225 46th Street in Astoria, Queens, sought to demolish the warehouse and construct a new building. Under the City Administrative Code the warehouse owner must during demolition erect a perimeter fence to protect adjoining buildings. The fence … <Read More>


Commission Addresses Demolition of Fire-Damaged Individually Landmarked Synagogue

Commissioners allowed demolition to proceed, but mandated that any material that can be retained or salvaged must be preserved. On July 12, 2017, Landmarks decided on application filed by the owners of the Beth Hamerdash Hagodol Synagogue, an individual City landmark, at 60 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side.  The building was severely damaged by a fire in May of 2017, believed to have been set by a teenage arsonist who gained access … <Read More>