Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Six Auxiliary Buildings Collectively Designated an Individual Landmark

Unfinished cathedral, the largest in the world, designated a landmark for second time. On February 21, 2017, Landmarks commissioners voted to designate the St. John the Divine Cathedral and Close an individual City landmark. The cathedral, the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, is the largest church in the United States, and the largest cathedral in the world. It stands at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood.

The Landmarks … <Read More>


Two Adjoining Bank Buildings Designated as Individual Landmarks

“Bank Row” buildings represent two eras of 20th-century economic expansion. Landmarks voted to designate two bank buildings in Brooklyn as individual City landmarks at its meeting on January 24, 2017. The elder of the two landmarks, the People’s Trust Company Building, stands at 181 Montague Street, and the second item, the National Title Guaranty Building, adjoins it at 185 Montague Street. The buildings are the only unprotected historic structures on what is known … <Read More>


City’s Newest Landmark also its Youngest

Late 1970s and early 1980s hotel interiors are a rare preserved exemplar of late Modern and early Postmodern design. Landmarks voted to designate as an interior City landmark the hotel lobby and Ambassador Grill of the United Nations Hotel at its meeting on January 17, 2017. The hotel, at 1 United Nations Plaza was built as part of a larger complex by the United Nations Development Corporation. The two interior spaces were completed seven … <Read More>


Commissioners Find Application Much Improved After Revisions, but Still in Need of Further Refinement

Changes made to controversial Jane Street development included the replacement of glass and cast stone with red brick and concrete panels. On January 17, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a revised proposal to replace a 1921 garage building at 11 Jane Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District with a new residential structure. The applicants proposed to replace the two-story garage with a building rising to five stories at the streetwall, with a … <Read More>


Landmarks Leaves Only One Backlog Item Remaining After Last Meeting of 2016

Ten of thirteen items brought to a final disposition were designated by Landmarks and will proceed to City Council for ratification. On December 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission made its final dispositive votes on items prioritized for designation in the commission’s Backlog Initiative, with one exception. The initiative, began in 2015, sought to address the backlog of designation items that had been added to the commission’s calendar before 2001 but never brought to … <Read More>


Wide Support for Landmarking of St. John the Divine Complex

Landmark site would include six associated buildings, as well as massive Episcopal cathedral. Landmarks held a hearing on the potential designation of St. John the Divine and the Cathedral Close at its meeting on December 6, 2016. Landmarks previously designated the Cathedral an individual City landmark in 2003, but the designation was overturned by the City Council. Council Members wished to see a designation that included surrounding properties, rather than just the footprint of the … <Read More>