Search Results for: Harlem, Manhattan

43-story Art Deco skyscraper designated

275 Madison Ave. Image: LPC.

1931 building among Texas architect’s diverse body of works. Landmarks voted unanimously to designate 275 Madison Avenue as an individual City landmark on January 13, 2009. The 43-story tower was designed by architect Kenneth Franzheim for Houston banker Jesse H. Jones. Though he made his fortune in banking and real estate development, Jones also served as Chairman of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation and as Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin … <Read More>

Commission modifies 125th Street rezoning plan

Building heights and densities reduced along Harlem’s primary thoroughfare. In an effort to preserve the scale and character of Harlem’s 125th Street, the City Planning Commission approved a text amendment on October 7, 2008 that lowers building heights and reduces densities for residential, commercial, and community facility uses. The affected area is located on the north side of West 125th Street between Frederick Douglass Boulevard and a point 545 ft. east of Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X … <Read More>

Court upholds City’s approval of Columbia’s plan

Mini-storage owners unsuccessfully challenged FEIS. Columbia University proposed an expansion plan that would allow it to construct a new 17- acre campus in the Manhattanville neighborhood of West Harlem. The plan would create academic building space, university housing, as well as a contiguous below-grade facility, or “bathtub,” to support campus functions. After the City Planning Commission determined that Columbia’s plan might have a significant impact on the environment, Columbia prepared a final environmental impact statement … <Read More>

ESDC loses FOIL case on Columbia project’s files

Community groups gain access to withheld documents since Columbia University and ESDC hired same consultant. Columbia University hired AKRF, a prominent planning firm, to help gain agency approvals for its controversial expansion into Manhattanville. Two months later, the Empire State Development Corporation hired AKRF to conduct a blight study needed to determine if the use of eminent domain as part of Columbia’s plan was appropriate. Columbia paid AKRF’s consulting fees for preparing the blight study … <Read More>

Morningside Park designated a City landmark

Morningside Park will be City’s tenth scenic landmark. On July 15, 2008, Landmarks voted to designate Morningside Park a scenic landmark, the first since 1983. Designed by Central Park architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the park consists primarily of a stone cliff between 110th and 123rd Streets, separating the neighborhoods of Morningside Heights and Harlem. Built between 1867 and 1895, the 30-acre park also features curvilinear walks, a buttressed stone retaining wall, a … <Read More>

Landmarks devotes meeting to potential designations

Landmarks provides forum for accord and controversy during numerous hearings. On June 24, 2008, Landmarks heard testimony on eight potential City landmarks, as well as one historic district extension. According to spokesperson Lisi de Bourbon, Landmarks grouped the designation hearings on one day to demonstrate certain themes and priorities like post-war architecture, public libraries, and the Commission’s recent review of architecture in the West Village.

The proposed extension of Queens’ Douglaston Historic to encompass 22 … <Read More>