City foils TransGas’s condemnation of park site

Court rules TransGas Energy’s condemnation is premature. TransGas Energy Systems proposed to construct a power plant along the East River waterfront in Williamsburg. It spent $1.5 million in March 2001 on an option to purchase the site, and, in 2002, filed for approval from the state Siting Board.

At Siting Board hearings, the City opposed the plan, testifying that it planned to rezone the entire Williamsburg neighborhood and create a waterfront park. In 2004, the … <Read More>


DeNiro hotel fails to qualify for brownfield tax credits

Construction of DeNiro’s luxury hotel at 377 Greenwich Street nears completion. Photo:Morgan Kunz.

Developers sought brownfield credits, but had excavated and remediated site before DEC denied claim. 377 Greenwich LLC, developers of a seven-story luxury hotel and restaurant at Greenwich and North Moore Streets, conducted soil tests on the site and discovered two 550-gallon unregistered underground storage tanks. The developers applied in 2004 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to have the site recognized … <Read More>


Cell-phone antennas approved for church spire

Telecommunications equipment will not be visible from street. Landmarks issued the final permit to allow the construction of six telecommunication antennas within the steeple of the Woodrow United Methodist Church, an individual landmark in Staten Island. The work required removal of wood framing, clapboards, and vinyl siding from the spire and construction of an equipment cabinet in the rear of the site with conduits running from the rear cabinet to the church spire antennas. Landmarks … <Read More>


Hearing held on 1860 cast-iron building

Owner opposed, claiming that building was a “knock off” of famous cast-iron pioneer. Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of 63 Nassau Street, a cast-iron building in lower Manhattan that Landmarks’ research staff attributed to the pioneer of castiron construction, James Bogardis. The building, thought to be constructed in 1860, contains carved medallions of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin that are similar to those on the Bogardis building at 85 Leonard Street, … <Read More>


Testimony taken on three West Village buildings

Wide support voiced for landmarking of three 19th century Far West Village buildings. On November 14, 2006, Landmarks held hearings on the possible designations of 159 Charles Street, the Keller Hotel, and the Edwin B. Brooks House, all located in the Far West Village.

The merchant Henry Wyckoff built the Greek Revival row house at 159 Charles Street in 1838 on the site of the former Newgate Prison. Wyckoff built eight houses in the area, … <Read More>


Board of Estimate vote revisited 16 years later

Landmarks re-designates two City and Suburban Homes buildings carved out from 1990 designation. On November 21, 2006, Landmarks ended the controversial debate over the landmark status of the City and Suburban Homes Company’s First Avenue Estate in Lenox Hill by voting unanimously to amend its landmark status. In 1990, Landmarks unanimously designated all 15 buildings in the First Avenue Estate, a development constructed between 1898 and 1915 over the entire block bounded by East 64th … <Read More>