Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten, at 236 President Street. Image credit: LPC.

Carroll Gardens newest landmarks are a preservation of a rich history of service to the neighborhood. On September 18, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved individual landmark designation of the Hans S. Christian Memorial Kindergarten at 236 President Street and adjacent 238 President Street House in the Carroll Gardens community in Brooklyn. The approvals came following strong appeal from the community to designate the properties as landmarks in order to preserve not only their rich cultural history and architectural heritage, but to help shield them from the threat of redevelopment. (more…)

Engine Companies 264 & 328, Ladder Company 13. Image Credit: LPC

Early 20th century buildings, a firehouse and police precinct house, reflect civic development of Far Rockaway. On March 13, 2018, Landmarks voted to add two buildings in Far Rockaway, Queens, to its calendar. The buildings are the Firehouse, Engine Companies 264 & 328, Ladder Company 13 at 16-15 Central Avenue, and the 53rd Precinct Police Station, at 16-12 Mott Avenue.  A seaside resort community through most of the 19th century, Far Rockaway was not linked to the rest of Queens until the construction of a railway bridge across Jamaica Bay in 1888, when the first year-round residences were constructed. (more…)

New York Public Library Reading Room. Image Credit: NYPL.

UPDATE: Landmarks 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 and protect an important part of one of the “City’s finest public civic institutions.” She thanked the New York Public Library’s leadership for their stewardship of the space.

Commissioners voted unanimously to designate the individual landmark.

Original article below:

If designated, reading and catalog rooms would join New York Public Library Building exterior, and Main Lobby and other interiors, as City landmarks. On June 6, 2016, Landmarks voted to add the Main Reading and Catalog Room of the at 476 Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan to its calendar, officially commencing the process for designation as a potential interior City landmark. The exterior of the building, as well as the Main Lobby, third floor central hall, and two staircases, are individual and interior landmarks already. The firm of Carrere & Hastings won an architectural competition to design the Library in 1897, with a Beaux-Arts plan. The library opened to the public in 1911.

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The Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. Image Credit: LPC.

Speakers at hearing on designation lavish praise on quality and significance of hotel’s opulent Art Deco interior spaces. On January 24, 2017, Landmarks held a hearing on the potential designation of certain interior spaces in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan. The exterior of the hotel, with its block-sized footprint, was designated an individual landmark in 1993. Landmarks officially added the interiors to its calendar on November 1, 2006.  The specific interiors in the potential designation were identified by Landmarks staff as the most important spaces, as well as the corridors that connect them. The hotel was designed by the firm Schultze and Weaver, with partner Lloyd Morgan overseeing the project. (more…)

Councilmember David Greenfield, chair of the Committee on Land Use . Image credit: William Alatriste/New York City Council

Peter Koo and David Greenfield-sponsored bill was supported by Real Estate industry and vehemently opposed by preservationists. On June 8, 2016, the full City Council voted to approve a bill amending the City’s Landmark Law following a Land Use Committee meeting on June 7.

The legislation, Introduction 775, mandates that Landmarks vote on an item for designation as an individual, interior, or scenic landmark within one year of holding a public hearing. If the Commission does not hold a vote within the 12-month time span, the item will be removed from the Commission’s calendar. The Commission may extend the time frame by another 12 months with the owner’s concurrence if there is sufficient need. For historic districts, the Commission must take action within 24 months of the district’s initial calendaring. For all items that have been calendared prior to the law’s passage, the Commission must take action within 18 months of the law’s effective date, with a provision for a further 12-month extension with the owner’s consent. (more…)