New York’s oldest known piano factory begins landmarking process. On April 11, 2006, Landmarks held a public hearing on the Estey Piano Factory, located at 112 Lincoln Avenue in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx. The factory was built between 1885 and 1886 by the firm of A. D. Ogden and Sons. An addition was added in 1890, and further additions were built between 1895 and 1919. Though not as renowned as Astoria for Steinway Pianos’ factory, Mott Haven was once a center of piano manufacturing in the United States with more than 50 firms with factories in the area.

Currently housing artists’ studios, the Estey Piano factory is the oldest such factory in New York, and a focal point of the Mott Haven neighborhood. Its signature seven and one-half-story clock tower is visible from the waterfront and the Harlem River, and the brick facade building is a well-preserved example of late 19th-century industrial architecture in the American round arch tradition. (more…)

Hearing held on proposal to compel designation hearings. On November 14, 2005, the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses held a public hearing on a proposed Local Law which would allow the Council to order the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a public hearing on a proposed landmark designation. The proposal, sponsored by Council Member Bill Perkins, would add two new provisions to the landmarks law. Under the first, the Council, by a majority vote, could force Landmarks to hold a public hearing on a proposed landmark designation within 60 days of its vote. The second amendment would direct Landmarks to calendar a public hearing within 60 days of receiving notice that the state’s Historic Preservation Office identified a property as eligible for the state register.

Council claimed that the changes were in response to increased community complaints that Landmarks’ existing designation process was not “sufficiently transparent,” a claim related to failed attempts to force hearings on Two Columbus Circle and St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Harlem. Opening the hearing, Perkins stated that he hoped the legislation would shed some light on how Landmarks operates. (more…)