Landmarks designates a Queens single-family cobblestone building. Supported by the owner and at the urging of Council Member Tony Avella, Landmarks designated the single-family home at 35-34 Bell Boulevard in Bayside, Queens, noting its construction entirely of rugged, uncut cobblestones as its most distinguishing feature. Built in 1905- 1906, 35-34 Bell Boulevard is a Colonial Revival-Style home influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement. It was part of a subdivision of the last 1 00 acres of the Abraham Bell farm, in Bayside, where cobblestone walls had been used to mark the farms’ boundaries. (more…)

4 St. Mark’s Place, Manhattan. On October 19, 2004, Landmarks designated, as an individual landmark, the 1831 East Village federal style town house, which in 1833 became the home of Col. Alexander Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamilton.

The Hamilton-Holly House, a residential and retail town house at 4 St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, is notable for its distinctive 26-foot width and 3- 1 12 story height as well as its varied history for housing several East Village theatrical groups. The designation was recommended by several preservation groups and supported by State Senator Thomas Duane, State Assembly member Deborah Glick and Council Member Margarita Lopez. (more…)

Owner, without a permit, had installed a row of planters and pergola on mansard roof. 34 West 74th Street is located in the Central Park West Historic District and the Central Park West-West 73rd-74th Street Historic District. The structure is one of a row of eighteen Georgian Revival style rowhouses with Beaux-Arts style elements, designed by Percy Griffin and built in 1902. In 2002, after the Landmarks Preservation Commission issued a notice of violation to 34 West 74th Street for installing a row of planters and a pergola on the roof without a permit, the items were removed and Landmarks rescinded the warning. In 2004, the building owners applied to Landmarks for a permit to re-install both. On September 7, 2004, Landmarks granted the permit to re-install the wood pergola, but denied the application to re-install the planters.

Landmarks found that the natural-finish wood pergola, which would be secured to a chimney on the eastern side of the roof, would not detract from the appearance of the building, its mansard roof, or the row of houses on the block. The pergola, an arbor or trellis framework that supports climbing plants, is a feature often seen on rooftops within the two Historic Districts. The row of planters extending the full length of the building, however, significantly changed the appearance of the mansard roof. Landmarks found it stood out against the skyline in a way that drew undue attention. (more…)

Permit will remove inappropriate changes made to Columbus Circle Landmark. On September 1, 2004, the Landmarks Preservation Commission issued a master plan permit for the individual landmark, 240 Central Park South Apartments, located on an entire block along Broadway and Columbus Circle between West 58th and West 59th Streets. Central Park South Associates LLC, the owner, sought the master plan to allow prospective changes to the residential windows, courtyards, and storefronts.

Landmarks approved, finding the permit an important step towards the elimination of inappropriate changes made prior to the buildings’ landmark designation. The permit allows future changes, without additional hearings, so long as the work complies with several montages and renderings submitted and approved by Landmarks. (more…)

101 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn. Built in 1929-30, the Art-Deco style Long Island headquarters of the New York Telephone Company served the increasing telephone needs of a burgeoning Brooklyn. Designed by the prominent New York City architect Ralph Walker, the Landmarks Preservation Commission noted that its rich orange horizontal brick patterns, intricate metal work and series of dramatic setbacks make it an exceptional example of Art-Deco application to an office skyscraper design. Chair Robert B. Tierney noted that the current owner, Verizon New York, Inc., supported the designation and the Commission commended Verizon’s upkeep. Voting to approve its Landmark designation, Commissioner Meredith Kane voiced the importance of the designation in light of the City’s plan for the “massive regrowth of Brooklyn’s downtown.”

Review of this designation is pending before the City Planning Commission and the City Council. (more…)