Commission debates legalization of illegal addition

Architect testified that Buildings’ database failed to indicate that West 68th Street property was located within landmarked district. At its April 14th public hearing, Landmarks considered the legalization of a one-story, fifth-floor addition to a residential building at 12-14 West 68th Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. The 506 square-foot addition was built onto a 1925 studio building, itself built as an addition at the rear of the main 1895 Queen … <Read More>


Webster Hall designated over owner’s objections

Late 19th century building served as performance space, ballroom and assembly hall. Landmarks voted unanimously to designate Webster Hall, located at 119 East 11th Street, as an individual City landmark on March 18, 2008.

Architect Charles Rentz designed the Renaissance Revival-style building in 1886 with a brick exterior and terra cotta ornaments. The building once served as a venue for Progressive Labor Party rallies during the labor movement. In the 1920s, it was nicknamed … <Read More>


Former FDNY firehouse offered for redevelopment

The former East 125th Street firehouse, located between Lexington and Park Avenues. Photo: Jonathan Reingold.

Proposal lists a $1 purchase price for Harlem firehouse. The New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development are jointly seeking proposals to purchase and redevelop the former East 125th Street Firehouse as a community or cultural facility.

The Romanesque Revival-style firehouse, located between Park and Lexington Avenues, dates back to the late 19th … <Read More>


Early 20th century rooming house heard

Owner of renaissance-style building willing to accommodate landmark status. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks heard testimony on the Allerton 39th Street House, built between 1916 and 1918 at 145 East 39th Street in the East Side of Manhattan. The building was one of six Allerton Houses in the City, a chain of residences and clubs that served young middle-class men until the mid- 1920s. Arthur Loomis Harmon, who later worked on the Empire State Building, … <Read More>


Domino Sugar environmental study gets first review

Community and preservationists comment on plan to construct 2.6 million sq.ft. of housing on former factory site. On July 31, 2007, City Planning held a public hearing on the draft scope of an environmental impact statement for the proposed transformation of the Domino Sugar Refinery into a large mixed-use development with 2.64 million sq.ft. of residential space, 120,000 sq.ft. of retail space, 100,000 sq.ft. of community facility space, and 1,450 below grade accessory parking spaces. … <Read More>


Board of Estimate vote revisited 16 years later

Landmarks re-designates two City and Suburban Homes buildings carved out from 1990 designation. On November 21, 2006, Landmarks ended the controversial debate over the landmark status of the City and Suburban Homes Company’s First Avenue Estate in Lenox Hill by voting unanimously to amend its landmark status. In 1990, Landmarks unanimously designated all 15 buildings in the First Avenue Estate, a development constructed between 1898 and 1915 over the entire block bounded by East 64th … <Read More>