Landmarked TWA terminal restoration project proposed

Port Authority seeks proposals for restoration of former TWA terminal at JFK airport. Designed by architect Eero Saarinen, the building was TWA’s terminal from 1962 until 2001. The main building consists of four reinforced-concrete vaults separated by narrow skylights, and is flanked by two wing-shaped, single-story extensions. Two elevated oval tubes made of steel framing with a stucco finish connect the main structure to the flight wings.

In 1994, Landmarks designated the interior and … <Read More>

$811 million in bond offerings on IDA’s calendar.

February calendar includes 17 projects. The New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the Economic Development Corporation, will hold its monthly public hearing on February 8, 2007 for 17 proposed projects including bond offerings totaling $811 million and seven straight-leases.

Included among the 17 projects is a straight-lease to NBC Universal of 1,380,000 sq.ft. of office space at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The City would lease the property from the building’s owner and sub-lease … <Read More>

Atlantic Basin project proposed

EDC seeks proposals to redevelop marina and pier on Brooklyn waterfront. In January 2007, the New York City Economic Development Corporation requested proposals to redevelop the Atlantic Basin Marina, a 17-acre, 25-foot deep protected bay and a 250,000-square-foot portion of adjacent Pier 11. The Basin, located in the Red Hook portion of Brooklyn, thrived as an active port from 1847 until the 1950s. In recent years it remained largely empty, used only to store derelict … <Read More>

DOB amends and expands self-certification rules

Grounds for suspension of architects and engineers expanded. On January 10, 2007, the Department of Buildings adopted changes to its self-certification program, expanding grounds for exclusion and suspension of participating architects and engineers and authorizing the Commissioner of Buildings to immediately suspend participants to prevent a serious public safety threat. Included within the new grounds for suspension were cases of fraud, improper use of licenses or professional stamps, and negligence or incompetence in relation to … <Read More>

Landmarked SI village hall destroyed through neglect

Landmark status of SI lot officially revoked. On December 21, 2006, Landmarks rescinded the designation of the now vacant lot at 66 Lafayette Avenue in New Brighton, Staten Island, where the New Brighton Village Hall once stood, and after years of neglect, faced demolition.

Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney commenced the hearing with a brief recital of the hall’s history. Landmarks designated the 1871- built hall in 1965. After several failed incarnations, including a doctor’s office, … <Read More>

Demolition threatened Father Divine’s Bklyn house

Clinton Hill villa-style mansion designated. With a demolition permit application pending, Landmarks designated the Italianate-style home at 70 Lefferts Place in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill, one of the last free-standing individual homes remaining from the area’s past as a suburban enclave. Built in 1854 for the merchant James W. Elwell, the International Peace Mission Movement and its leader Father Divine, who claimed to be God incarnate, purchased the home in 1931 and lived communally in it … <Read More>