Salvation Army Representatives Oppose Designation of 14th Street Headquarters

 

Art Deco building from 1929, notable for its three-story arched entryway and asymmetrical massing. On February 11, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the possible designation of the Salvation Army Territorial Headquarters, located at 120-130 West 14th Street in Manhattan. The three-building complex, designed by Ralph Walker of Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker, was completed in 1935.  Walker was the architect of the Western Union Building and the Barclay-Vesey Building<Read More>


Proposed Development of St. Luke’s Campus Provokes Ardent Testimony

Proposal includes school expansion, and the construction of a new residential tower that would include ten affordable units. On February 4, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application for the construction of a new 15-story residential tower and additions to the Church of St. Luke in the Fields campus. The campus occupies a block bounded by Barrow, Christopher, Greenwich and Hudson Streets on the western edge of the Greenwich Village Historic District.


HDC Defends NYC Landmark Preservation

Last week CityLand published a Guest Commentary from Steven Spinola, President of REBNY.  Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council submitted this commentary in response. 

In his recent editorial in CityLand, Steven Spinola, the longtime President of the Real Estate Board of New York, suggested a number of ways which the Landmarks Law needs to be reformed to adhere to its “spirit.”  This is a curious statement that warrants further examination.  … <Read More>


Proposed Reforms to Improve the Landmarks Preservation Commission

The Landmarks Law, enacted in 1965 to preserve the city’s architectural, historical and cultural resources, contains few standards about what merits designation and few rules governing the process.  This has resulted in broad brush designations that are of questionable significance and that are impeding the City’s larger planning, economic development, and housing efforts.  It is time to amend the Landmarks Law to bring designations more in line with other city policies, provide more timely information … <Read More>


New Plan Proposed for Partially-Constructed Building

New design would alter massing to use property for residential use instead of a hotel. On November 19, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a new proposal for a through-block lot at 25 Great Jones Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension, with the other façade facing Bond Street. The lot is currently occupied by a partially constructed thirteen-story structure that was permitted before the designation process for the extension began. … <Read More>


Commissioners Ask Developers to Rethink Design of Seventh Avenue South Project

Commissioners found the demolition of an existing one-story taxpayer building on the triangular site appropriate. On September 17, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission met to consider an application for the demolition of an existing one-story building at 130 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District, and the construction of a new seven-story building on the site. The property consists of triangular lot created by the extension of Seventh Avenue southward in the … <Read More>