Designation of 280-Year-Old Church Building Proceeds Apace

No objections to designation raised at hearing; concerns about closeness of potential development on undesignated portion of lot to church building raised by Commissioners. On August 8, 2017, Landmarks held a hearing on the potential designation of the Old Saint James Episcopal Church at 86-02 Broadway in the Elmhurst section of Queens. Landmarks added the 1736 building to its calendar at its June 27, 2017, meeting. The building is the second oldest surviving religious … <Read More>


New York Public Library Main Reading Room Officially Enters Designation Process [UPDATE: Designation Approved]

UPDATELandmarks voted to designate the interior at its meeting August 8, 2017. Commissioner Adi Shamir-Baron spoke of the “rare condition of two block’s worth of interior space,” with 50-foor ceilings. She said the interiors remind us of the meaning of civic space, as a place that “honors and elevates the spirit of the individual and the collective.”

Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan stated that designation as an imperative step in Landmarks’ mission, that would preserve <Read More>


Support Voiced for Designation of Library’s Main Reading Room

Main reading room and catalog room of New York Public Library’s main branch lauded for both architecture and social significance. On July 18, 2017, Landmarks held a public hearing on the potential designation of the Main Reading Room and Catalog Room of the main branch of the New York Public Library as an interior landmark.  The Carrere & Hasting designed library, whose exterior is designated an individual City landmark, stands at 476 Fifth <Read More>


Landmarks Denies Plan to Reinstate Pre-Designation Building Permit for Rooftop Addition

Despite reductions in addition’s scale and visibility, and promises to install a diorama commemorating escape of abolitionists from Draft Riots mob, Commissioners determined that any rooftop interventions were inappropriate. At its meeting on May 23, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission disposed of an application for facade alterations and rear and roof additions to 339 West 29th Street in the Lamartine Place Historic District. In the 19th century, the building was home to prominent abolitionists … <Read More>


Initiative to Clear Landmarks’ Backlog Concludes; Council Overturns One Designation

Due to objection to landmarking by local council member Steven Matteo, the designation of a Dutch Colonial farmhouse on Staten Island was overturned. On March 28, 2017, the Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses convened to vote on the final batch of items designated as part of Landmarks’ Backlog Initiative. At the meeting the Subcommittee voted on three items it had held over from its hearing on February 7, 2017<Read More>


Subcommittee Delays Action on Three Landmark Designations

Six designations sent to full Council where they were ratified; three items held over for further deliberation. On February 27, 2017, City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses heard testimony and voted on the items designated at the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s last meeting devoted to the backlog initiative. The designated properties were introduced to the Subcommittee by Landmarks’ Lisa Kersavage and Lauren George. The Subcommittee approved designations for six of the … <Read More>