Nine Queen Anne style homes on Perry Avenue in the Bronx designated as a historic district. On December 15, 2009, Landmarks designated a row of Queen Anne style houses at 2971 to 2987 Perry Avenue in the Bronx as the Perry Avenue Historic District. The historic district, which is the City’s 100th, consists of nine three-story, wood-frame houses built between 1910 and 1912. Following the extension of the IRT and the Third Avenue elevated line to areas north of Fordham Road, developer George D. Kingston acquired the properties and hired Bronx-based architect Charles S. Clark to design the homes.

The houses feature alternating orange and red brick facades and small yards enclosed by fieldstone walls. The houses at 2971 through 2977 feature three-sided porches, and the remaining five homes have projecting porticos supported on columns. From the 1920s through the 1950s, large multi-family apartment buildings began replacing many of the area’s single-family rowhouses. Despite the area’s change in character, the Perry Avenue houses remained intact. (more…)

Council finds no support for discrimination allegation. The full Council approved Landmark’s designation of the Fieldston Historic District in the Bronx on April 26, 2006 after members of the Land Use Committee rejected allegations of discrimination surrounding the designation. 3 CityLand 12 (Feb. 15, 2006).

At the April 11th vote of the Land Use Committee, Council Member Simcha Felder stated that during the designation process some opponents claimed that the designation was “being used to prevent people from moving into the neighborhood, and in this case Orthodox Jewish families.” Felder went on to say that numerous times he asked the opponents to prove the discrimination existed and added “there was not one occasion where anyone was able to come to me and prove to me that this was the case.” Felder noted that the allegation of anti-Semitism was being frivolously used and he found it extremely offensive. (more…)

Many in community testified in opposition to landmarking of Bronx neighborhood. On March 28, 2006, the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee held a hearing on the designation of the Fieldston Historic District, located in the northwestern portion of the Bronx. The 97-year-old community’s historic significance lies in its winding roads and eclectic mix of Medieval, English, Tudor, Dutch, and Mediterranean architecture. Fieldston was unanimously designated by Landmarks in January, 2006, despite strong opposition from many property owners. 3 CityLand 12 (Feb. 15, 2006).

At the hearing, Bronx Council Member Oliver Koppell spoke in favor of the designation. Residents argued in opposition that designation would take control away from property owners and dissuade young families from moving into the neighborhood. The Subcommittee is scheduled to vote on the designation on April 7, 2006. If approved, the Council’s Land Use Subcommittee could vote on April 11, 2006. (more…)

Planned 1909 Bronx suburb designated. At a January 10, 2006 Landmarks meeting, the Commission unanimously voted to designate the Fieldston community in the Bronx as a historic district. Fieldston is an example of an early twentieth-century planned community that evolved to incorporate modern design as well as Medieval, English, Tudor, Dutch, and Mediterranean architecture. Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney hailed the designation as part of the Commission’s “goal to designate landmarks and historic districts throughout the city,” especially outside of Manhattan. Commissioner Stephen Byrns stated that he had long supported the project as an important preservation for both the city and the nation.

The Fieldston district was originally conceived by developers in 1909 as “a private park devoted exclusively to country homes,” and was landscaped in the romantic style, featuring winding roads following the natural topography. The houses were built in an eclectic blend of styles, drawn from a list of approved architects, including Frank J. Forster and Julius Gregory. In the 1950s, Fieldston’s property owners’ association relaxed its guidelines, allowing a number of architecturally significant modern homes to be built. At the designation vote, Commissioner Joan Gerner pointed out that the city has few districts with single-family homes. (more…)

The Immaculate Conception Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Image Credit: LPC.

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 a vote. The Commission identified 30 of the 95 items as priorities, and removed the rest of the items from its calendar by no-action letter. A series of public hearings were held, and throughout 2016 Landmarks voted to designate the majority of the items. Landmarks voted to design ten of the final 13 backlog items, with two removed from its calendar, and one to be voted on at a later date. (more…)