50 Murray Street in Manhattan. Image credit: CityLaw.

Tenants of a Tribeca high rise luxury rental building claimed protection of rent stabilization. Tenants of Tribeca House, a luxury rental residential building located at 50 Murray Street, Manhattan claimed that the owner of the building overcharged the tenants. Tribeca House, a twenty-one-story luxury loft apartment building, has 389 apartments comprised of studio, one, two, and three bedroom units. (more…)

Rendering of 312 to 322 Canal Street in Manhattan. Image: LPC.

Proposal, whose previous iteration was subject to community and commissioner opprobrium, approved after reduction in size and modifications in design and materials. At its meeting on January 23rd, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved a modified proposal to redevelop five properties in the Tribeca East Historic District at 312 to 322 Canal Street with a single new structure. The site is currently occupied by two-story commercial structures dating to the 19th century, but heavily altered and reduced in size from their original four stories. The buildings to be demolished were not identified as having a distinct style in the 1992 designation report, and are thought to retain little, if any, original fabric.        (more…)

Rendering of 312 Canal Street. Image Credit: LPC.

Developers proposed to demolish five heavily altered 19th-century structures to make way for a new 8-story-plus-penthouse residential building with retail base. On June 6, 2017, Landmarks considered an application to redevelop five lots at 312 through 322 Canal Street in the Tribeca East Historic District. The five buildings were originally constructed in the 1820s, at two-and-a-half stories, but saw repeated additions, reductions and alterations throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, and currently stand at two stories. Little, if any, original historic fabric remains on the buildings’ exteriors. The site is located mid-block, near where Mercer Street intersects with Canal Street. (more…)

Before and after diagrams of 121 Chambers Street. Image credit: LPC

As part of a zoning application, both facades of through-block cast-iron building will be restored and maintained. On May 9, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a proposal for the construction additions and facade restoration to 121 Chambers Street in the Tribeca South Historic District. The through-block building also faces 103 Reade Street. The Italianate-style structure dates to 1861, and is characteristic of the cast-iron and masonry store-and-loft buildings that distinguish much of the district. The site was purchased by Hubb NYC Properties in 2016. (more…)

Loew’s 175th Street Theater in Manhattan’s Washington Heights. Image Credit: LPC.

Six designations sent to full Council where they were ratified; three items held over for further deliberation. On February 27, 2017, City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting, and Maritime Uses heard testimony and voted on the items designated at the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s last meeting devoted to the backlog initiative. The designated properties were introduced to the Subcommittee by Landmarks’ Lisa Kersavage and Lauren George. The Subcommittee approved designations for six of the items, but laid over three items for further consideration in instances where the property owners objected to designation. The three items not advanced to the Land Use Committee and full Council were the Lakeman-Cortelyou House, the Loew’s 175th Street Theater, and the Protestant Reformed Dutch Church of Flushing.

Prior to hearing public testimony, Council Member Steven Matteo discussed the designation of the Lakeman-Cortleyou House in New Dorp, Staten Island. The House dates to the 17th century, with the oldest part of the building constructed of fieldstone, and possesses a gambrel roof. Commissioners at Landmarks were advised that designation would likely be overturned at the Council level, but nonetheless awarded the property landmarks status due to its antiquity and rarity. (more…)