Laurie Silberfeld on Hudson River Park

As Vice President and General Counsel at Hudson River Park Trust (the Trust), Laurie Silberfeld has played an important role in shaping Hudson River Park. Silberfeld talked with CityLand about her career and the progress of Manhattan’s waterfront park. role in shaping Hudson River Park. Silberfeld talked with CityLand about her career and the progress of Manhattan’s waterfront park.

Silberfeld, a former Regional Attorney with the State’s Department of Environmental Conservation, joined the Trust in … <Read More>


Hotel expansion stalled

Cosmopolitan Hotel’s expansion plan heard. Photo:Nicole Nahas

Expansion plan calls for demolition of neighboring building. On June 2, 2009, Landmarks considered the expansion plans for the Cosmopolitan Hotel located at the corner of West Broadway and Chambers Street within the Tribeca South Historic District. The applicants planned to demolish the two-story 1967 building adjacent to the hotel, home to Mary Ann’s Mexican restaurant, replacing it with a six-story, brick-face building with an aluminum marquee and … <Read More>


Appropriateness disputed despite praise of design

LPC rejects plans for 172 Duane. Photo: Jesse Denno.

Four-story addition opposite Duane Park sent back to drawing board. On June 10, 2008, Landmarks heard testimony on the construction of a four-story addition and penthouse to 172 Duane Street, a two-story building within the Tribeca West Historic District. Built in 1871 as a store-and-loft building, the owners extensively renovated it in 1991 prior to the historic district’s designation. The widely-praised renovation, overseen by architect … <Read More>


Trinity Real Estate’s Carl Weisbrod Reflects on Revitalizing Urban Areas

Carl Weisbrod’s office at One Hudson Square is emblematic of the changes Trinity Real Estate is bringing to Hudson Square—a neighborhood on the west side of Manhattan nestled between SoHo, Tribeca, and the West Village. A modern office space with advanced technological amenities, the building was actually designed in 1930 to accommodate printing companies. Much like the building, Mr. Weisbrod, as President of Trinity Real Estate—the real estate development arm of Trinity Church, one of … <Read More>


To David West, the Increased Sophistication of the Land Use Process Leads to Better Design

When architect David West joined Costas Kondylis and Parteners LLP in 1995, its founder suggested that he become the firm’s expert on the City’s zoning resolution. West, now a partner, shepherds the firm’s zoning analyses, responding to nearly 300 yearly requests regarding what a site’s zoning will allow and handling the firm’s appearances before BSA, Landmarks and the Planning Commission. In the past few years, he worked on the Plaza Hotel’s complicated conversion, the complex … <Read More>


Two small buildings near City Hall Ave. designated

Nineteenth-century dry-goods warehouses approved as individual landmarks. On March 13, 2007, Landmarks designated 23 and 25 Park Place, cast-iron buildings built between 1856 and 1857 in lower Manhattan, as individual landmarks. Architect Samuel Adams Warner designed both buildings, which also have Murray Street entrances and share a party wall and facade, for the dry-goods firm Lathrop Ludington and Company. Warner designed several buildings in the SoHo-Cast Iron and Tribeca Historic Districts, as well as the … <Read More>