Art-deco automat building designated

After two hearings, 1930-built Horn and Hardart Automat finally designated. On January 30, 2007, Landmarks unanimously approved the designation of 2710 Broadway, one of the last remaining structures in the city to once house a Horn and Hardart Automat. Constructed in 1930 by the architectural firm E.P. Platt and Brothers, the Art-Deco style building features glazed terra cotta ornamentation of contrasting colors in stylized floral motifs that remain remarkably intact.

The building’s owner, Norma Teitler, … <Read More>

Permit issued for hotel addition to Lambs Club

Located just off Times Square, the Lambs Club hosted famous actors and actresses for nearly a century. Photo:Morgan Kunz.

Four-story addition approved as part of luxury hotel conversion of Times Square landmark. Landmarks issued the permit for a four-story addition to the Lambs Club, a designated landmark located at 128 and 130 West 44thStreet between Broadway and Sixth Avenue. The addition is part of the planned conversion of the 1905 neo-Georgian building to a luxury … <Read More>

Hotel construction threatens Federal row houses

Disputed ownership of potential landmark property lent twist to hearing. On January 30, 2007, Landmarks held designation hearings on three Federal-style row houses at 94, 94 1/2, and 96 Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan.

Constructed between 1789 and 1799, contractors built the row houses soon after the laying out of Greenwich Street. They are among the few post-Revolutionary upperclass houses left in Manhattan and among the very oldest residences south of Chambers Street. The buildings … <Read More>

Hearings held on nine Robert Moses projects

Depression-era pools and play centers considered for individual designation. In the 1930s, under the guidance of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, the City built dozens of parks and swimming pools using federal Works Progress Administration funds. In the summer of 1936 alone, the City opened eleven large pool-oriented play centers.

On January 31, 2007, Landmarks heard public testimony on the proposed designation of nine of these WPA play centers, including the Bronx … <Read More>

Designation rejected for Harlem ballroom

Landmarks accepted promise that community group will restore building as part of development plan. On February 13, 2007, Landmarks removed the Harlem Renaissance Ballroom and Casino from its designation calendar to allow a redevelopment plan by its current owner, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, to go forward. Built between 1920 and 1923 as one of Harlem’s first entertainment complexes, the Renaissance now sits in extreme disrepair with trees growing out of its partially caved-in roof. Abyssinian … <Read More>

BSA legalizes New York Sports Club in SoHo

Club opened a 16,000-square-foot location without permits. In June 2006, New York Sports Club received a Department of Buildings decision stating that the manufacturing zoning on its SoHo lot prohibited its proposed gym. Nevertheless, New York Sports Club opened the SoHo location one month later and applied to BSA to legalize the use. The gym, located at 225 Varick Street between Clarkson and West Houston Streets, is 16,741 sq.ft.

At BSA, New York Sports Club … <Read More>