Following the Ocean on the Park Historic District designation vote, Landmarks agreed to consider extending district to include adjacent vacant lot. On December 15, 2009, Landmarks declined to extend Brooklyn’s recently- designated Ocean on the Park Historic District to include an adjacent vacant lot at 185 Ocean Avenue. Landmarks designated the Ocean on the Park Historic District in October 2009, and it comprises twelve attached rowhouses located at 189 through 211 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn. The free-standing brick house that formerly occupied an adjacent lot at 185 Ocean Avenue was developed in conjunction with the twelve other buildings, and the lot shares a driveway and a garage with 189 Ocean Avenue. In 2008, the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue demolished the house in order to build an eight-story condominium with a cantilevered portion over the shared driveway of 189 Ocean Avenue. The owner completed the condominium’s foundation before his building permits expired in September 2009.

Landmarks agreed to consider extending the historic district to cover the building site after hearing testimony at the October designation hearing from Fern Bernich, the owner of 189 Ocean Avenue. Bernich testified that the proposed building at 185 Ocean Avenue would negatively impact her property if Landmarks did not include the lot in the district. After Landmarks calendared the lot for consideration, Landmarks counsel Mark Silberman explained that Landmarks could remove it from its calendar if it determined that the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue had valid building permits. 6 CityLand 160 (Nov. 15, 2009). (more…)

Chase Manhattan Plaza and NYU’s Silver Towers considered as City Landmarks. On June 24, 2008, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designation of two iconic modernist sites, 1 Chase Manhattan Plaza in Lower Manhattan, and University Village in Greenwich Village.

Chase Plaza includes a tower office building, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore Owings and Merrill, and a plaza, featuring a sunken Japanese rock garden and a sculpture by Jean Dubuffet. The entire complex occupies two-and-a half-acres and necessitated the demapping of a portion of Cedar Street. Built between 1957 and 1961 in the International Style, the 60- floor glass and aluminum tower is a result of David Rockefeller’s commitment to Lower Manhattan when financial firms were migrating to Midtown. A representative from JP Morgan Chase, which still owns the property, stated that the company was proud that Landmarks was considering the property. (more…)

Day of hearings on Staten Island properties proved controversial. On April 10, 2007, Landmarks held hearings on the possible designations of eight properties on Staten Island. While some property owners were positive about possible designation, others adamantly opposed. Owners feared that designation would mean reduced property values and restrictive government control of the use and possible modification of their homes.

Among the properties was 5466 Arthur Kill Road in Tottenville, built for an oysterman in the mid- 19th century. The house features an amalgamation of Greek revival, Gothic and Italianate styles with a symmetrically planned center hall and gables. It remains remarkably intact with its original chimney, lintels, sills and shutters. Douglas Ford, the building’s owner, spoke in opposition. “I don’t want big government telling me my rights as a homeowner,” said Ford, a Staten Island native. Ford claimed “preservationist perverts” had been trespassing on his property since Landmarks publicized the potential designation, and that Landmarks should study the security impact of its designations. Ford added that he was willing to negotiate a deal for the house’s preservation as long he avoided the onus of landmarking. (more…)

Emergency hearing held on East Village horse stable and auction house. On September 7, 2006, less than one month after calendaring, Landmarks held a hearing on the possible designation of the Van Kearney and Van Tassel Horse Auction Mart at 126 East 13th Street in the East Village. The 1903 Beaux-Arts building, which has also served as an automobile showroom, a women’s assembly-line training center during the second World War, and the studio of painter Frank Stella, was recently purchased by a developer who received a building permit to construct a seven-story building on the site, but had yet to receive demolition permits. In response to community petitioning, Landmarks calendared the building, which halted the issuance of demolition permits by Buildings. 3 CityLand 126 (Sept. 15, 2006).

Numerous public figures spoke in favor of designation or sent representatives to the hearing, including State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Member Rosie Mendez, and State Senator David Chang. Mendez spoke of her community’s recent struggles to protect P.S. 64 and St. Brigid’s Church, and asked that Landmarks work more closely with Buildings to avoid the destruction of important historic buildings. (more…)

New York’s oldest known piano factory begins landmarking process. On April 11, 2006, Landmarks held a public hearing on the Estey Piano Factory, located at 112 Lincoln Avenue in the Mott Haven area of the Bronx. The factory was built between 1885 and 1886 by the firm of A. D. Ogden and Sons. An addition was added in 1890, and further additions were built between 1895 and 1919. Though not as renowned as Astoria for Steinway Pianos’ factory, Mott Haven was once a center of piano manufacturing in the United States with more than 50 firms with factories in the area.

Currently housing artists’ studios, the Estey Piano factory is the oldest such factory in New York, and a focal point of the Mott Haven neighborhood. Its signature seven and one-half-story clock tower is visible from the waterfront and the Harlem River, and the brick facade building is a well-preserved example of late 19th-century industrial architecture in the American round arch tradition. (more…)