The Windermere and Dickey House designated. Despite strong opposition by current owners, on June 28, 2005, Landmarks designated the Windermere Apartments in Manhattan’s Clinton section, and the Robert Dickey House in Lower Manhattan.

The Windermere, constructed in 1881, is a visually compelling three-building complex located at 400-406 West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue. Its design, attributed to Theophilus G. Smith, features distinctive cornices and polychromatic brickwork. At the public hearings, the owner strongly opposed the designation, arguing the Windermere was not one grand apartment building worthy of designation, but, in fact, was three separate uninhabitable tenements. 2 CityLand 61 (May 15, 2005). In approving, Landmarks noted that the building was the oldest-known apartment complex in the area and that it played a significant role in the history of women’s housing when, in the 1890s, it was the home of young women entering the work force. (more…)

Upscale social club to occupy five floors of new 41-story residential building. RFD 55th Street LLC, owner of 60 East 55th Street, a 41- story mixed-use building currently being developed in Midtown Manhattan between Park and Madison Avenues, sought a special permit to allow a 19,249-square-foot high-end social club, known as the Core Club. The Club will feature a restaurant, library, outdoor lounge, screening room, meeting room, gym and spa. At the BSA hearing, RFD stated that the Club, which it categorized as a “physical cultural establishment,” would include facilities for weight training and massage treatments, employing ten licensed therapists.

BSA granted the special permit, finding that the proposed upscale club would not have a significant impact on the residential units in the building due to its 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily hours. BSA also found the required Department of Investigation background check on the applicant was satisfactory. (more…)

Council unable to override Mayor’s veto. The proposed sites of three marine waste transfer stations were approved after the City Council failed to get sufficient votes to override Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s veto.

The Department of Sanitation had sought separate site selection approvals through ULURP applications to construct four new marine transfer stations. The four transfer stations were a component of Mayor Bloomberg’s 20-year Solid Waste Management Plan, which at the time of the applications was still pending approval before the City Council. (more…)

Full Council approved zoning amendment granting special authority to Planning Commission Chair. On June 23, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the zoning resolution allowing the Chair of the Planning Commission to authorize the use of illuminated signs in lots occupied by a landmark. The amended zoning resolution applied only to the Fifth Avenue Subdistrict of the Special Midtown District, and impacts the New York Public Library, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and St. Thomas Church in addition to Rockefeller Center. Under the approved text, Landmarks must approve the signs before the Commission’s Chair can approve.

Rockefeller Center sought to place 16 illuminated signs at four locations: the entrance to Channel Gardens, Atlas Court, and two internal locations in Rockefeller Plaza. The signs would inform visitors of the soon-to-be-reopened observation roof on the 67th, 69th and 70th floors of 30 Rockefeller Plaza and upcoming Plaza events. Retail advertising would be prohibited. The kiosks would replicate the kiosks that were located in Rockefeller Plaza until the early 1980’s when the observation roof was closed. (more…)

Redesign will feature a glass cube in the center of the plaza and a more accessible public space. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment to the Special Midtown District allowing renovations to the General Motors building plaza, located at 767 Fifth Avenue between East 59th and East 58th Streets. The text amendment was necessary to alter the street wall and retail continuity requirements, which require that larger developments be built at the street wall.

The most prominent feature in the plaza’s redesign will be the construction of a 32-foot transparent glass cube in the center of the plaza fronting Fifth Avenue. The cube will contain an elevator and a glass stairway and will serve as an entryway to a 25,000-square-foot underground retail space. Other renovations to the Fifth Avenue frontage include regrading the plaza to lower its overall height, and adding two reflecting pools, tables and chairs, trees and planters, and a wide stone ledge around its perimeter for added seating. Renovations will also take place on the Madison Avenue side of the building, which will lose its open area when the retail space is extended out to the property line. (more…)