Far West Village rezoning approved

Council down-zoned lots with pending development. The Council rezoned 14 blocks of Greenwich Village west of Washington Street, replacing manufacturing and commercial zoning in the area with contextual zoning districts. The proposal came from the Planning Department after Far West Village residents complained of the growing number of large development proposals that followed construction of the Richard Meier-designed, 205-foot luxury residential towers along West Street.

In the proposal, the Planning Department designed contextual commercial zones … <Read More>

Council rejects designation of Queens Blvd. bank

Objections by building owner and lack of positive support by council member sank designation. On October 27, 2005, the City Council overturned the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation of the 1966-built, former Jamaica Savings Bank on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. Landmarks designated the bank in June 2005, calling it a striking example of 1960s popular modernist architecture. 2 CityLand 92 (July 15, 2005). The bank, designed by William F. Cann, features a 116-foot long curved copper … <Read More>

Court rejects challenges to sale of Two Columbus Circle

Preservation group opposes conversion and remodeling of modernist building. Landmark West, a historic preservation group, seeks to stop the EDC’s sale of the nine-story modernist building at Two Columbus Circle to the Museum of Arts and Design. In February 2005, it lost its first two challenges to the sale, (2 CityLand 28 (Mar. 15, 2005)), when the First Department ruled that the Landmarks Preservation Commission was under no obligation to hold a public hearing on … <Read More>

Oakman-designed Tudor mansion designated

Fitzgerald-Ginsberg House designated. On September 20, 2005, Landmarks designated the Fitzgerald-Ginsberg House, located at 145-15 Bayside Avenue in Flushing, Queens. Built in 1924, the John Oakman design is a neo- Tudor style mansion featuring rusticated fieldstone walls, a multicolored slate roof and leaded glass windows. At the time of its construction, the house was located adjacent to an extension of Flushing’s Old Country Club and golf course. In approving, Landmarks noted that as one of … <Read More>

Far West Village to have district designation hearings

Two new proposed districts would encompass 50 buildings west of Greenwich Village Historic District. Landmarks took the first step towards expanding the Greenwich Village Historic District and creating a new historic district along Weehawken and West Streets in Manhattan by voting unanimously on September 20, 2005 to hold hearings on the designations.

As proposed, the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension would add 36 buildings within the three-block area bound by Perry, Washington, Christopher and Greenwich … <Read More>

Gilbert-designed warehouse designated

Preservationists fear City Council will overturn Landmarks’ designation. Landmarks voted unanimously on September 20, 2005 to designate the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse despite extensive opposition from its current owner, Council Member David Yassky and former City Council Member Kenneth Fisher, who appeared on the owner’s behalf. Constructed in 1913 along the East River in Brooklyn, the six-story reinforced concrete Austin Nichols building is attributed to Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Woolworth Building and … <Read More>