Three individual Manhattan buildings landmarked

Japanese Society Headquarters

Designations span nearly a century of Manhattan history. On March 22, 2011, Landmarks designated the Japan Society Headquarters in Turtle Bay, the Engineers’ Club Building in Midtown, and the Lower East Side’s Neighborhood Playhouse as individual City landmarks. The buildings feature disparate architectural styles and represent distinct periods of the City’s history.

The Japan Society Headquarters at 333 East 47th Street was designed by Junzo Yoshimura and completed in 1971 on land … <Read More>


Council rejects designation of Queens church building

Courtesy LPC

Opposition by Grace Episcopal Church to the landmarking of its Memorial Hall only emerged after Landmarks approved designation. On January 18, 2011, the City Council rejected Landmarks’ designation of the Grace Episcopal Church Memorial Hall at 155-24 90th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Grace Episcopal Church was founded in 1702 and is one of the country’s oldest Episcopal parishes. The church’s main building and graveyard were landmarked in 1967, and Landmarks calendared the Memorial … <Read More>


Rezoning for Culver El housing project modified

Council modified plan in order to retain manufacturing zoning and to prevent residential use on block occupied by department store. On October 13, 2010, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Culver El Proposal in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The proposal rezoned seven blocks historically used for manufacturing and will permit the Southern Brooklyn Community Organization (SBCO) to build a 68-unit affordable housing development on … <Read More>


Remnants of historic free black community heard

Rossville AME Zion Church at 584 Bloomingdale Road in Staten Island. Image : LPC.

Four 19th century buildings in Staten Island’s Sandy Ground, one of the first communities settled by freed slaves, considered. On August 10, 2010, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designations of four buildings located in Staten Island’s Sandy Ground community, one of the country’s oldest communities settled by freed slaves. The buildings date to the 19th century and include the Rossville … <Read More>


Council Member Jessica Lappin on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Site Safety

Council Member Jessica Lappin represents Community District 5 in Manhattan, which includes parts of Midtown and the Upper East Side. She also chairs the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses. A New York native and graduate of Stuyvesant High School and Georgetown University, Lappin was raised in a landmarked house in Gramercy Park. Well-regarded by preservation advocates, she has garnered accolades from the Friends of the Upper East Side and the Historic … <Read More>


Jamaica rezoning approved with modifications

The Jamaica Plan: Proposed Zoning with City Council Modifications, subject to adoption by the City Council by September 19, 2007, used with permission of the New York City Department of City Planning. All rights reserved.

Largest rezoning undertaken by City sent back to Commission for final approval. The City Council approved, with several significant modifications, the Planning Commission’s proposal to rezone 378 blocks in Jamaica, Queens. The Council’s modifications must now go to the Planning … <Read More>