Alterations to rowhouses near High Line considered

Landmarks considers proposed rooftop addition and renovations to four rowhouses at 21 – 27 Ninth Ave. in Manhattan. Photo: CityLand.

Community board and preservation groups supported rowhouses’ facade alterations but not the proposed rooftop addition. On November 10, 2009, Landmarks heard testimony on Aurora Capital Associates’ redevelopment proposal for four, three-story Greek Revival rowhouses at 21 through 27 Ninth Avenue in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The proposal included restoring the 19th century buildings’ red-brick … <Read More>


Much-reduced Parke-Bernet addition approved

 

980 Madison avenue

Proposed addition approved almost three years after initial proposal. On October 13, 2009, Landmarks voted to approve Aby Rosen and RFR Holdings LLC’s proposal to build a four-story addition to the former Parke- Bernet Galleries building at 980 Madison Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side Historic District. The application had changed dramatically since January 2007 when Landmarks rejected architect Norman Foster’s proposal calling for a 26- story tower on top of … <Read More>


New MoMA tower, reduced by 200 feet, approved

Commission expressed doubts about whether Jean Nouvel-designed tower should equal Empire State Building. On September 9, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved a modified version of Hines Interests’ proposal to build an 85-story, 1,250-foot tall mixed-used building, which would reach the Empire State Building’s height below its antenna, adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art complex at 53 West 53rd Street in Midtown, Manhattan. The 19,615 sq.ft. through-block site is located in the Special Midtown … <Read More>


Joshua Benson on DOT’s Bicycle Program

Joshua Benson, the 33-year-old Acting Director of Bicycle & Pedestrian Programs for the New York City Department of Transportation, admits to being particularly fond of the basket sitting at the front of his simple single-speed bike, noting how it allows him to carry anything from groceries to his laptop and projector on the bike. Benson started riding a bike as a student at NYU and now commutes to Downtown Manhattan every weekday from his home … <Read More>


Demolition of Leaning SoHo Building Approved

Owner will store cast-iron facade after damaged building is demolished. On September 22, 2009, Landmarks approved SoHo Equities Inc.’s application to demolish a George DaCunha-designed five-story loft building at 74 Grand Street, in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. According to Landmarks Deputy Counsel John Weiss, for many decades 74 Grand Street’s five-story building leaned approximately 10 inches to the west. In 2004, as a result of excavation and construction work at the neighboring site at … <Read More>


Hotel expansion approved

Proposed building, left, as part of the Cosmopolitan Hotel’s approved expansion plan at 125 Chambers Street. Image: Courtesy Franke, Gottsegen, Cox Architects.

Commissioners approved design changes to the top and ground floors of Cosmopolitan Hotel’s proposed building. On September 15, 2009, Landmarks approved the revised expansion proposal for the Cosmopolitan Hotel located on the corner of West Broadway and Chambers Street in the Tribeca South Historic District. The applicants will demolish the two-story, 1967 building … <Read More>