Public Design Commission rejected Comptroller’s recommendation for more efficient design review process.  The New York City Public Design Commission (formerly known as the Art Commission) reviews permanent works of art, architecture, and landscape architecture proposed on or over City-owned property. The Commission is composed of 11 unpaid members, eight of whom are appointed by the mayor, and includes an architect, landscape architect, painter, and sculptor, as well as representatives of the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New York Public Library.

The City agency with jurisdiction over the property on which a proposed project is located must submit its design to the Commission. Prior to submitting a proposal to the Commission, applicants must ensure compliance with the regulations of (more…)

Park Slope Historic District Extension. Image: LPC

New Brooklyn historic district brings another 600 buildings bordering original Park Slope Historic District under Landmarks jurisdiction. On April 17, 2012, Landmarks unanimously approved the creation of the Park Slope Historic District Extension. The extension includes 600 buildings on the southwest border of the 1973-designated Park Slope Historic District. The new district is generally bounded by 7th Street to the north, 15th Street to the south, 8th Avenue to the east, and 7th Avenue to the west. It also includes buildings on 15th Street between Prospect Park West and 8th Avenue lining the northwest side of Bartel-Pritchard Square, as well as a group of buildings facing Prospect Park West between 9th and 10th Streets that were not part of the original Park Slope Historic District.

The extension features rowhouses and apartment buildings representing a variety of architectural styles. According to Landmarks, the earliest row of homes in the district was built between (more…)

The City will renovate and restore 1871 building with eye toward casual restaurant. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks approved the City’s renovation plan for the landmarked Tavern on the Green restaurant on the west side of Central Park near West 65th Street. The Victorian Gothic building was built in 1871 as a sheepfold. It was converted into a restaurant in 1934. In 2009, the restaurant’s license holder filed for bankruptcy protection. The restaurant closed and its equipment and furnishings were auctioned. Tavern on the Green has remained vacant except for a temporary gift shop and public restroom. 

At the public hearing, the Parks Department’s Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Smith explained that the plan would reconfigure the space to make it more “Parkcentric.” Smith said the City was seeking a concessionaire to operate a casual restaurant in the building. Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David Burney noted that the City in 2010 demolished the restaurant’s “Crystal Room,” a glass-enclosed dining area on the park-side of the building built in 1976, and restored the restaurant’s courtyard. Burney said the proposal would reveal the building’s original facade by removing the extraneous additions built over the years. According to Burney, the “wound” left after removing the crystal room would be filled with an all-glass, transparent box facing the terrace. The proposal also included restoring the building’s facades, windows, and dormers to their 1934 conditions. (more…)

Opponents were concerned about how changes to plaza would impact views of the museum. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks issued a favorable advisory report on the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s proposal to redesign its plaza along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The museum is an individual City landmark, while the plaza is considered part of Central Park, which is a scenic landmark. The proposal calls for new lighting and the replacement of fountains, paving, and trees.  (more…)

Kate Ascher

Kate Ascher, head of Happold Consulting’s U.S. practice, has perhaps become better known for her popular books on how cities work. Ascher received her masters and doctorate degrees from the London School of Economics, where she focused on the interface between the public and private sectors. She previously worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the City’s Economic Development Corporation, and Vornado Realty Trust. Currently, Ascher teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation as the Milstein Professor of Urban Development. Ascher explains the complex systems and structures of cities in her books, The Works: Anatomy of a City (Penguin 2005), and the recently published The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper (Penguin 2011). (more…)