Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue at the time of designation./Image Credit: LPC

The former landmarked synagogue was home to the country’s oldest Russian Orthodox Jewish congregation. On May 19, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar a decision to rescind the individual landmark designation of a vacant lot, located at 60 Norfolk Street, Manhattan. The lot was formerly the site of the Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue, which was fully demolished in 2019 after a fire destroyed most of the building.

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Public School 31 in 2014 before its demolition./Image Credit: Google Maps

The landmarked building featured many late Gothic details. On December 10, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to rescind the individual landmark designation of a vacant lot, located at 425 Grand Concourse, Bronx. The lot was formerly the location of Public School 31, which was demolished in 2015.

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Gansevoort Market Development Rendering. Image credit: BKSK.

Preservationists renewed challenge to LPC permit for redevelopment of 5-building blockface in Gansevoort Market Historic District. In June of 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to award Certificates of Appropriateness to developer 60-74 Gansevoort Street to redevelop five buildings in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. The work planned encompasses an entire blockfront composed of three tax lots between Greenwich and Washington Streets. The project entails the construction of new 82-foot-tall building replacing a former bus depot, a four story building replacing a former market structures, the construction of an addition to an existing building,  the restoration of a historic Moderne market building, as well as the preservation of historic facades. (more…)

Blockfront on Gansevoort Street in Meatpacking District. Image credit: GoogleMaps

Landmarks Commission approved redevelopment of five buildings in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. On June 7, 2016, the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted, in a divided decision, to award Certificates of Appropriateness to redevelop a block face in the Gansevoort Market Historic District between Greenwich and Washington Streets in Manhattan. The work, spanning five buildings and three tax lots, entailed the construction of three additional stories onto a two-story building at 60-68 Gansevoort Street, a new 82-foot-high building  at the corner of Washington Street replacing  a bus depot, and a new four-story building replacing a former market structure at 50 Gansevoort Street. The project also included the restoration of a Moderne-style market building, and the retention of historic facades. The developer lowered the height of one building and altered facade arrangements to better integrate with historic architecture, after comments by commissioner after the initial hearing. (more…)

Previous and modified proposals for 339 West 29th Street. Image credit: LPC

Despite reductions in addition’s scale and visibility, and promises to install a diorama commemorating escape of abolitionists from Draft Riots mob, Commissioners determined that any rooftop interventions were inappropriate. At its meeting on May 23, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission disposed of an application for facade alterations and rear and roof additions to 339 West 29th Street in the Lamartine Place Historic District. In the 19th century, the building was home to prominent abolitionists Abigail and James Sloan Gibbons, and is the only documented stop on the Underground Railroad in New York City. During the Draft Riots that engulfed the City in 1863, a mob attacked and set fire to the building, and the occupants escaped via rooftops to a nearby relative’s home. (more…)