Photo of project rendering courtesy of the Historic Districts Council
Owner proposed a one-story brown metal addition to 1890s rowhouse on St. Nicholas Avenue. On July 10, 2012, Landmarks considered 719/721 SNA Realty LLC’s proposal to build a one-story addition on top of a five-story rowhouse at 721 St. Nicholas Avenue in Harlem’s Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District. Sitting at the corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 146th Street, the 1890s building features a curved tower with an arcading attic story facing St. Nicholas Avenue, and a brick parapet and a mansard roof facing West 146th Street. The building also features brownstone bands, which it shares with two adjacent rowhouses on St. Nicholas Avenue.
Architect Richard Franklin, of Franklin Associates, presented the proposal, which called for a brown-metal clad rooftop addition reaching nine-feet two-inches in height. The addition would set-back roughly eleven feet from the St. Nicholas Avenue facade, and sit flush with the West 146th Street facade. Franklin testified that the project would revitalize the deteriorating structure, while maintaining its original character. The building had long housed mixed uses, with retail on the ground-floor and residential uses above.
(more…)
Community group claimed landmarking would hinder responsible development plans. On January 16, 2007, Landmarks held a hearing on the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino, comprised of two buildings at Adam Clayton Jr. Boulevard and West 137th Street in Harlem. “The Rennie,” as it was known, was designed by architect Harry Creighton Ingalls and built in stages between 1920 and 1923. One of the first entertainment complexes in Harlem, and one of the largest African-American owned enterprises in the city, the Renaissance hosted theater, sports, and private events. Prominent artists like W.E.B. DuBois and Langston Hughes graced its stage, as did the Harlem Rens, a team in the basketball equivalent to baseball’s Negro league. Inspired by Islamic architecture, the Renaissance features decorative brickwork modeled on North African tile murals and terra cotta ornamentation. The building currently lies in a state of extreme disrepair, with trees growing out of the partially caved-in roof.
The Abyssinian Development Corporation, a non-profit community development organization, owns the Renaissance. Chaired by Calvin Butts, pastor of the nearby Abyssinian Baptist Church, the development corporation hopes to transform the building into a cultural and commercial center designed by architect Max Bond. Included in the project would be a 17-story residential tower containing affordable and market-rate housing. Abyssinian would demolish the adjacent, non-historic YMCA building to open views of the Church’s spire and would build a glass arcade to shelter parishioners before and after services. (more…)
Photoplays theater built in 1914. The Claremont Theater building, located at 3320-3328 Broadway in Harlem, Manhattan, is one of the oldest structures in New York City constructed specifically for showing motion pictures, originally called “photoplays.” The 1914 theater was designed in the neo-Renaissance style and faced in white terra cotta and white glazed brick by architect Gaetano Ajello, best-known for his apartment buildings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The building has an unusual arrangement with three distinct fronts, including an elaborately decorated clipped corner facade that served as the auditorium’s original entrance. In 1915, the theater’s entrance was prominently featured in a short film produced by Thomas Edison. Noting its well-preserved exterior and importance to the city’s cultural history, Landmarks unanimously voted to designate the Claremont on June 6, 2006.
Landmarks also unanimously approved the designation of the Mark W. Allen house in New West Brighton, Staten Island on June 13, 2006. The house, one of only a few remaining craftsman-style homes, was built in 1920-21 for Mark W. Allen, a prominent Staten Island politician. Landmarks noted that the house retains a high degree of original fabric. 3 CityLand 4 (May 15, 2006). (more…)
Image of portion of interactive map featuring highlighted landmarks and historic districts across Upper Manhattan. Image Credit: NYC LPC
The story map features highlighted landmarks and historic districts but also presents in-depth historical context about the significance of those sites. On February 9, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission released Preserving Significant Places of Black History, an interactive story map that highlights New York City’s African American history through historic districts and designated landmarks. (more…)
Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz, one of the three sites calendared by LPC on January 19th. Image Credit: LPC
The Equity Framework aims to increase diversity in New York’s landmarks and work within the Landmarks Preservation Commission. On January 19, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar three sites for designation as part of the agency’s launch of an equity framework designed to better represent New York City’s diversity and underrepresented populations. The three sites calendared for proposed designation are the Conference House Park Archeological Site in Tottenville, Staten Island, the Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz in Washington Heights, Manhattan, and 70 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. They are all cultural or historic sites that represent different populations across New York’s history. (more…)
