New zoning district created to protect existing commercial uses will also facilitate private developer’s mixed-use project. On September 21, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s proposal to create the new M1- 6D manufacturing zoning district. The Council also approved an accompanying proposal by Edison Properties to apply the new M1-6D district to the mid-block portions of two blocks bounded by West 28th and West 30th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The rezoning will facilitate Edison Properties’ proposed two-building mixed-use project on a through-block lot at 249 West 28th Street.

Planning proposed creating the new M1-6D zoning district after Edison Properties expressed interest in redeveloping its property with a residential use prohibited by the area’s M1-5 zoning regulations.

The area was once part of the City’s industrial center and home to a thriving fur industry. Over the years, the area transitioned from manufacturing and production uses into commercial office uses. The rezoning area is characterized by parking lots and a lack of ground floor retail. Recent development in the area includes hotels lacking the setbacks and articulations of the remaining pre-war buildings. Planning proposed the M1-6D district to establish use and bulk regulations that would protect existing office and light industrial uses and encourage new development that would reflect the area’s architectural character.  (more…)

East 54th Street building provided public bathing facilities to tenement residents. On May 10, 2011, Landmarks designated the East 54th Street Bath and Gymnasium at 342-348 East 54th Street in Manhattan as an individual City landmark. Werner & Windolph completed the three-story, Classical Revival building for the City in 1911. The redbrick building features a large stone cornice, tripartite arched openings, and four Doric columns featuring capitals adorned with Poseidon’s trident. Landmarks staff described the structure as “remarkably intact.”

The East 54th Street facility was the twelfth of thirteen Free Public Baths of the City of New York. The City’s baths were mandated by an 1895 State law and served the residents of nearby tenements which often did not possess bathing facilities. The East 54th Street Bath became obsolete as the surrounding residential buildings added bathing amenities. The facility ceased operating as a bathhouse in 1938, and the City converted the building into a public gymnasium and community facility. The City in 1996 closed the building to carry out extensive renovations. The facility re-opened to the public in 2001. (more…)

Designations span nearly a century of Manhattan history. On March 22, 2011, Landmarks designated the Japan Society Headquarters in Turtle Bay, the Engineers’ Club Building in Midtown, and the Lower East Side’s Neighborhood Playhouse as individual City landmarks. The buildings feature disparate architectural styles and represent distinct periods of the City’s history.

The Japan Society Headquarters at 333 East 47th Street was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and completed in 1971 on land donated by John D. Rockefeller III. The building fuses modernism and traditional Japanese architecture, and features a concrete, charcoal-colored facade, slatted window screens, and vertical brass latticework. At a public hearing, the Japan Society submitted a letter endorsing designation. 7 CityLand 94 (July 15, 2010). Before the designation vote, Chair Robert B. Tierney stated that Japan was “very much in our minds today,” noting the recent earthquake and tsunami that ravaged the country. (more…)

Sixteen-story building was illegally converted to residential use in 1997. On January 26, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved Mocal Enterprises Inc.’s proposal to convert its sixteen-story commercial building at 1182 Broadway in Manhattan to partial residential use. The building, zoned for manufacturing and commercial uses, is located within the Madison Square North Historic District.

In 1997, Mocal illegally converted the portion of the building above the fifth floor into apartments. Mocal initially applied for a special permit to legalize the building in April 2008. In March 2010, Buildings issued a partial vacate order and currently only one commercial tenant remains in the building.

Mocal proposed converting the sixth through sixteenth floors plus penthouse to allow 44 residential apartments and would provide separate entrances and elevators for residential and commercial tenants. Because the building is located within a historic district, it was necessary for Mocal to create a Landmarks approved maintenance plan for the building’s preservation. Landmarks approved Mocal’s restoration plan in January 2008. (more…)

Mid-20th century Look Building’s design was influenced by European Modernism. On July 27, 2010, Landmarks designated the Look Building at 488 Madison Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan as an individual City landmark. The 23-story, asymmetrical building was one of the City’s first office towers to reflect the influence of European Modernism.

Emery Roth & Sons designed the Look Building and the Uris Brothers developers completed the structure in 1950. The building was named after one of its early tenants, Look! Magazine, and it features ribbon- like bands of windows and a series of setbacks faced with white brick. Emery Roth & Sons closely followed the 1916 zoning resolution’s setback regulations in order to maximize floor area. (more…)