Church officials and congregation opposed designation. On January 12, 2010, Landmarks designated West Park Presbyterian Church at 165 West 86th Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The Romanesque Revival building’s development occurred in two phases. Leopold Eidlitz designed a small chapel completed in 1883. When the church outgrew the building in 1889, it commissioned Henry Kilburn to build a new sanctuary and redesign the small chapel’s facade. Kilburn’s design features distinctive red sandstone cladding, round arch openings, and a large bell tower.

At the July 14, 2009 hearing, Church representatives spoke in opposition, testifying that the congregation had been forced to worship at another site because of the building’s deteriorating condition. Valerie Campbell, West Park’s attorney, said that in order to restore the main building, the Church partnered with a developer to demolish the small chapel and build a residential tower on its footprint. Campbell said the developer withdrew after Landmarks scheduled the designation hearing. Residents, preservation groups, and elected officials testified in support of designation, including Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, and representatives for Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, and then-Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum. 6 CityLand 138 (Aug. 15, 2009). (more…)

Landmarks considered designating building for the third time. On July 14, 2009, Landmarks heard testimony on the possible designation of the former Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse at West 58th Street and Eleventh Avenue. Designed by Stanford White, the Beaux-Arts style powerhouse is an example of the City Beautiful architectural movement influenced by the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Landmarks considered designating the powerhouse in 1979 and 1990, but never called for a vote on the matter.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Company built the electric powerhouse to run the City’s first subway system in 1904. Con Edison purchased the powerhouse in 1959 and uses the facility to provide steam for numerous private customers. Although much of the original structure has been retained, five of the six original chimneys have been removed, with a much larger chimney added to the southeast corner. The building’s upper cornice and original terra-cotta roof tiles have also been removed. (more…)

The day before CityLand met with Manhattan Community Board 9’s Pat Jones, Borough President Scott Stringer announced his recommendation in support of Columbia University’s expansion plan—the same plan Community Board 9 rejected because it conflicts with the proposed development plan Ms. Jones helped draft. While most people would be deflated by such a turn of events, Ms. Jones remained calm and focused, as she sat down with CityLand to discuss the future of Manhattanville.

Raised in Corona, and a graduate of Flushing High School, Ms. Jones has only left the city for the four years that she attended Michigan State University. She returned to New York to work for JP Morgan, eventually becoming a Managing Director. After settling into a brownstone in the Hamilton Heights Historic District, Ms. Jones volunteered to work at her community board in 2002. In addition to her position as Vice-Chair for Community Board 9, Ms. Jones is the Chair of the West Harlem Development Corporation and a board member of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone. (more…)

Planning Commission approves modifications. On September 17, 2007, the City Council approved, with modifications, the plan to rezone 51 blocks of the Upper West Side. Two days later, the Planning Commission gave its final approval to the plan, finding no objections to the Council’s modifications.

The plan, the result of a two-year collaborative effort between City Planning, HPD, Landmarks, the Manhattan Borough President and local residents, sought to address concerns over out-of-character construction in the area. It down-zoned blocks characterized by low-density townhouses, limiting building heights and further restricting residential density, while focusing high-density development on Broadway, Amsterdam above West 104th Street, and West 106th Street. It also applied the City’s inclusionary housing program primarily along Broadway, allowing developers to increase the size of a project with an agreement to build affordable housing. 4 CityLand 122 (Sept. 15, 2007). (more…)

Inclusionary housing bonus proposed for Broadway above West 97th. Alarmed by the construction of two apartment buildings exceeding 30 stories on Broadway between West 99th and West 100th Streets, Upper West Side residents asked the City to consider rezoning the area and setting stricter height limits. This started a two-year collaborative planning effort by City Planning, HPD, Landmarks, the Manhattan Borough President’s office and local residents. The efforts focused on a 51-block rezoning plan for West 97th and West 110th Streets between Riverside Drive and Amsterdam Avenue, and West 104th and West 110th Streets between Amsterdam and Central Park West.

Under the current zoning, which dates back to 1961, only two zoning districts cover the 51-block area (R8 and R7-2). The area west of Amsterdam Avenue allows high-density residential development with no height limit even along streets characterized by small three- and four-story townhouses. (more…)