Revisions would see delegation of some work, including certain rear yard and roof top additions, to staff for review and approval. On March 27, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on a proposed overhaul of the agency’s rules, found in Title 63 of the Rules of the City of New York. The proposed amendments were published in the City Record on January 30, 2018. Landmarks has made a PowerPoint presentation available online. (more…)

Empire State Dairy Company complex. Image Credit LPC.

Owners asked for exclusion of portion of site due to need for environmental remediation; Landmarks decided to designate property as originally proposed. Landmarks voted to designate as an individual City landmark six buildings constituting the former Empire State Dairy Company complex on December 5, 2017. The complex dates to the early 20th century and occupies an entire blockfront at 2840 Atlantic Avenue. The commission added the property to its calendar in March of 2016, after Landmarks had identified the buildings as significant historic resources in a survey of the area taken to complement the rezoning of East New York. (more…)

Webber Packing House. Image Credit: LPC.

Potential individual landmarks added to the Commission’s calendar include two schools and a former meat packing plant. On November 14, 2017, Landmarks voted to add three items in East Harlem to its calendar for consideration as individual City landmarks. The three buildings are: The Richard Webber Harlem Parking House, at 207 East 109th Street; the former Public School 109, at 215 East 99th Street;  and the former Benjamin Franklin High School, at 260 Pleasant Avenue. The identification of the properties were done through a survey undertaken as part of a comprehensive plan to bring affordable housing and other public benefits to East Harlem. (more…)

120 West 14th Street, Manhattan. Image credit: LPC

Prominent Art Deco headquarters of international Christian charity organization features designated after opposition retracted by Salvation Army leadership. On October 17, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Salvation Army National and Territorial Headquarters, located at 120 West 14th Street, as an individual City landmark. The complex was completed in 1930 after the organization outgrew its original New York City location. The complex was designed by Ralph Walker of the firm Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker—the architect behind several of the City’s significant Art Deco buildings. Other individual landmarks designed by Walker include the Western Union Building, 1 Wall Street, and the Barclay-Vesey Building, all renowned for their Art Deco design.

The landmark is composed of two buildings: an auditorium and an office building, both clad in brick and cast stone. A third structure, a concomitantly developed women’s dormitory, is protected as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District and is not included in the individual landmark designation.  The asymmetric complex’s three-story arched entryway features prominently on the streetwall of 14th Street. Landmarks added the item to its calendar in 1980, and held hearings in 1982, 1990, and 2014. (more…)

The Immaculate Conception Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Image Credit: LPC.

Ten of thirteen items brought to a final disposition were designated by Landmarks and will proceed to City Council for ratification. On December 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission made its final dispositive votes on items prioritized for designation in the commission’s Backlog Initiative, with one exception. The initiative, began in 2015, sought to address the backlog of designation items that had been added to the commission’s calendar before 2001 but never brought to a vote. The Commission identified 30 of the 95 items as priorities, and removed the rest of the items from its calendar by no-action letter. A series of public hearings were held, and throughout 2016 Landmarks voted to designate the majority of the items. Landmarks voted to design ten of the final 13 backlog items, with two removed from its calendar, and one to be voted on at a later date. (more…)