Developer invited to submit another design. Following a lengthy presentation by real estate developer Aby Rosen’s team, Landmarks indicated its clear unwillingness to approve the 26-story tower addition proposed to top the Parke-Bernet building at 980 Madison Avenue within the Upper East Side Historic District.

The project architect Lord Norman Foster started the January 16th presentation with a photograph of the original 1949 Parke-Bernet building and its appearance now, after a 1950s alteration added another full-block story. Foster argued that the heavy, horizontal addition detracted from the original building, leading to the “paradox,” that, as Foster referred to it, a vertical contrast, or tower, would best preserve the design intactness of the original building. (more…)

Council re-designated buildings despite owner’s offer to tenants. On February 1, 2007, the City Council voted unanimously to overturn one of the final actions of the Board of Estimate. In 1990, Landmarks designated the entire 15-building complex called the First Avenue Estate that occupies the block bounded by East 64th and East 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. At its final meeting, the Board of Estimate carved out two buildings from the designation to allow the owners to redevelop the site.

The new development never materialized, and residents and preservationists pushed the City to re-designate the buildings. After a 16-year delay, Landmarks voted in November 2006 to reestablish all 15 buildings as an individual landmark. 3 CityLand 169 (Dec. 2006). (more…)

Wide support voiced for landmarking of three 19th century Far West Village buildings. On November 14, 2006, Landmarks held hearings on the possible designations of 159 Charles Street, the Keller Hotel, and the Edwin B. Brooks House, all located in the Far West Village.

The merchant Henry Wyckoff built the Greek Revival row house at 159 Charles Street in 1838 on the site of the former Newgate Prison. Wyckoff built eight houses in the area, but only 159 Charles Street remains. The building was later used to house workers from the nearby Beadleston & Woerz brewery. Donald Olsen, a shareholder in the co-op that owns 159 Charles Street, enthusiastically supported designation, asking only that the building’s garage be carved out of the designation. Olsen told Landmarks that he lived through the neighborhood’s destruction and development, and that 159 Charles was “the last building standing.” (more…)

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 and East 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. In its last meeting before being dissolved, the Board of Estimate carved out two buildings from Landmarks designation: 429 East 64th Street and 430 East 65th Street.

The buildings’ current owner, Stahl York Avenue Company, received permits from the Department of Buildings to remove cornices and parapets, enlarge window openings and stucco over the facades of the two buildings, spurring urgency to Landmarks’ vote. (more…)

Failure to designate stable allows Related Companies’ apartment project to be constructed on site. On November 14, 2006, Landmarks designated only the New York Cab Company Stable at 318 Amsterdam Avenue, but declined to landmark the Dakota Stables at 348 Amsterdam Avenue, now slated for demolition and replacement by the Related Companies with a Robert A.M. Stern-designed apartment complex. 3 CityLand 157 (Nov. 15, 2006).

Landmarks opened the voting with the New York Cab Company Stable, emphasizing the “intactness” of the 1890-built stable and its “exquisite” details, cornice, and rounded windows.

When the vote turned to the Dakota Stables, Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney explained that the actions of the owner, Sylgar Properties, had “preempted his ability to exercise judgment under the landmarks law.” Tierney explained that Sylgar planned to demolish the building and had recently obtained valid permits to strip the building and reclad it in stucco. Landmarks Counsel Mark Silberman and the Commission’s research head Mary Beth Betts advised him that the resulting “stucco box” would not be recognizable, and the landmarks law and Charter provided no legal redress. Tierney said that he would “reluctantly follow” the advice and reject designation. In his comments, Tierney explained that he had numerous talks with the owner, architect and developer and remained hopeful that the new design would incorporate significant features of the 1894 Dakota Stables. (more…)