The Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse. Image credit: LPC

Wide support voiced for designation of monumental Stanford White-designed powerhouse and iconic Classicist department store, despite owner opposition. On November 5, 2015, Landmarks held the third of four special hearings to address the backlog of items calendared prior to 2010, but never brought to a vote on designation. Previous hearings were held on October 8 and 22, 2015. The November hearing was the first devoted to items in Manhattan.

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Landmarks Preservation Commission. Credit: LPC.

Items originally proposed for designation in recent years often faced significant opposition. The Landmarks Preservation Commission will begin the process of addressing the 95 items calendared for potential designation before 2010, but that have never been brought before the Commission for a final vote. Landmarks will hold public hearings on groupings of the items at special Thursday meetings on October 8, October 22, November 5, and November 12 of 2015. The groups, which will consist of up to 12 items each, will be clustered by borough and community board. An initial plan to eliminate the backlog by de-calendaring the items without holding public hearings was withdrawn after the idea drew heavy opposition from preservationists and elected officials. The existence of the backlog has drawn attention to Landmarks’ procedures, and is part of the impetus for potential legislation that would impose ULURP-like timelines on Landmarks’ designation process. (more…)

Landmarks had originally scheduled removal of 94 potential individual landmarks and two historic districts from its calendar for December 9th. On December 5, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission rescinded plans to remove 96 items from its calendar without bringing the items to a vote of designation. The items planned to be removed included 94 items calendared as potential individual City landmarks, and two potential historic districts. The action, called a decalendaring, was scheduled to take place at its public meeting on December 9, 2015. (more…)

Proposed East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. Credit: LPC

New district would encompass more than 300 buildings in an area that was home to successive waves of immigrant groups. On June 26, 2012, Landmarks heard extensive testimony on the proposed designation of the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District. The proposed district would encompass approximately 330 buildings located primarily along Second Avenue between St. Marks Place and East 2nd Street and adjacent side streets. A portion of the district would extend along East 6th and East 7th Streets, reaching Avenue A.

The area is largely characterized by multi-family 19th century tenement buildings that housed various immigrant groups newly arrived to the country. The area became home to German and Irish immigrants as wealthier New Yorkers moved uptown, and in time became known as Kleindeutschland (Little Germany). Later, the area became home to Jewish and Eastern European immigrants, and Second Avenue became a focal point for lower Manhattan’s Jewish community, gaining the title of the “Yiddish Rialto.” After World War II, the neighborhood came to be dominated by Latin American immigrants. Realtors began calling the neighborhood the “East Village” shortly after the removal of the elevated Third Avenue subway line in 1955. The area has a rich legacy in the arts, and in social activism. Landmarks calendared the district on June 28, 2011.

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Extension would bring roughly 582 buildings under Landmarks’ jurisdiction. On August 10, 2010, Landmarks moved to calendar the proposed Park Slope Historic District Extension, the first step toward landmarking. The extension would include approximately 582 buildings located to the southwest of the original 1973-designated Park Slope Historic District, which encompasses 1,975 structures.

The proposed district is bounded by 7th Street to the north, 15th Street to the south, Eighth Avenue to the east, and Seventh Avenue to the west. The district would include the properties along the northwestern curve of the traffic circle at Bartel-Pritchard Square, across from Prospect Park’s south- west entrance. A small pocket of properties along Prospect Park West between 9th and 10th Streets would also be included within the district. The proposed extension features a mix of rowhouses and apartment buildings, with many dating to the 1880s and incorporating Italianate and Queen Anne-style architectural design. The properties closest to Prospect Park include early 20th century neo-Classical style architecture. The extension’s notable structures include two 19th century firehouses, the former Ansonia Clock Factory built in 1879, and the Renaissance Revival-style Acme Hall built by Charles Nickenig and featuring a ballroom, bowling alley, and meeting rooms.

Before calendaring, Chair Robert B. Tierney thanked Landmarks staff and the neighborhood advocates who were instrumental in proposing the district. Landmarks did not set a date for a public hearing.

LPC: Park Slope Historic District Extension, Brooklyn (LP-2443) (Aug.10, 2010).