Rendering of 119-121 Second Avenue. Image credit: LPC.

Applicants presented a plan with a reduced penthouse and modified storefronts, among other changes, with a bronze plaque memorializing those who lost lives in 2015 gas explosion. On August 7, 2018, Landmarks considered and approved a modified proposal for two lots at 119-121 Second Avenue in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The empty lots, at the corner of East 7th Street, compose a portion of the site of a 2015 explosions, caused by an illegal gas set-up, that led to the deaths of two people, caused multiple injuries and destroyed three buildings. The project’s developers are Nexus Development Group, who acquired the property in 2017. (read more…)

AT&T Building. Image credit: LPC.

Designation will include that owners intend to demolish, but report will focus on the significance of the main tower. On July 31, 2018, Landmarks voted to designate the former AT&T Headquarters Building, at 550 Madison Avenue, an individual City landmark. The 37-story-tall, granite-clad tower was designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, and completed in 1983. An early major work of postmodern architecture, the tower rejected the unadorned glass curtain walls of the International Style, and reintroduced masonry cladding and ornament, in a playful pastiche of quotation. The pinkish Stony Creek granite recalled the City’s Beaux Arts architecture, while at the base a monumental central entrance arch is flanked by Renaissance-inspired flat arches that originally opened to twin arcade beneath the tower. The iconic pediment topping the building, with its circular opening, recalls sources such as Chippendale furniture and a 15th-century Florentine chapel. (read more…)

449 Convent Avenue rendering. Image credit: LPC.

19th-century rowhouse that previously stood at site demolished by emergency declaration after owner failed to make repairs following fire. On July 24, 2018, Landmarks voted to approve the construction of a new building at 449 Convent Avenue in the Hamilton Height/Sugar Hill Historic District Extension. An 1897 Renaissance Revival rowhouse occupied the site until 2011, when it was demolished by the Department of Buildings under an emergency declaration. The demolition followed a severe fire, and the building was declared unsafe after the owner failed to make necessary repairs. (read more…)

Rendering of development at 119-121 Second Avenue. Image credit: LPC.

Public speakers and commissioners sought to ensure that deaths in 2015 catastrophe suitably memorialized. Landmarks considered an application to build a new development on two lots at 119-121 Second Avenue at its July 10, 2018, meeting. The empty lots are the site of a 2015 explosion, caused by an illegal gas set-up, which killed two people, caused multiple injuries, and destroyed three buildings. The site lies in the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District.  The site’s developers, Nexus Development Group, acquired the property in 2017. (read more…)

Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten, at 236 President Street. Image credit: LPC.

Owner of one of two buildings associated with Methodist Church and the immigrant community of Carroll Gardens threatened litigation should Landmarks designate the property. On June 26, 2018, Landmarks held a joint hearing on the potential individual landmark designations of two buildings in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The adjoining buildings are the 238 President Street House and the former Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten, at 236 President Street. The Italianate-style building at 238 President Street was built in 1853 as a one-family residence, and converted to a training center and residence for Methodist deaconesses in 1897. The two-story Beaux Arts building at 236 President Street is a rare early example of a purpose-built Kindergarten in the United States. (read more…)