Germania Bank Building designated

Landmarks designates building over owner’s objection. On March 29, 2005, Landmarks designated the Germania Bank Building, the 1898 Beaux Art Bank located at the intersection of Bowery and Spring Street, as an individual landmark over the current owner’s objection. Considered one of the most important designs of Robert Maynicke, the six-story, granite and brick facade building has large arched openings on the ground and fifth floor with voussoirs topped with a detailed cornice.

At the … <Read More>


Psychic business ruled an accessory use

Fortune teller advertised psychic consulting business with large neon sign and awning over her first-floor apartment window. Louis and Laura Wanko leased a first-floor apartment at 333 East 52nd Street in an Upper East Side neighborhood zoned for residential uses – an R813 district. A month after moving in, Louis installed several signs without permits, announcing his wife’s fortune telling business. A neon sign, three-feet tall by two-feet wide, reading “Laura’s Psychic Vision” was bolted … <Read More>


Yeshiva to expand facilities

Queens school sought to build additional floors and play area to accommodate increased enrollment. The Jewish Center of Torath Emeth sought a variance for a proposed expansion of Yeshiva Ketana of Queens, a boys school located at 78- 15 Parsons Boulevard in a R3-2 zoning district of Kew Garden Hills. The lot contains a two-story 21,142 sq.ft. school and a one-story synagogue. The expansion included an 8,500 sq.ft. two-story addition to house additional classrooms, offices, … <Read More>


John Jay College wins major expansion approval

John Jay faced the largest space deficit in the CUNY system. On January 5, 2005, the Planning Commission approved the 513,500 sq.ft. expansion plan for John Jay College of Criminal Justice, which, with its link to John Jay’s Haaren Hall along Tenth Avenue between West 58th and West 59th Streets, will create a unified urban campus occupying the full city block from Tenth to Eleventh Avenues between West 58th and West 59th Streets.

In addition … <Read More>


SoHo ad must come down

Vinyl wall advertisement installed without approval. In response to a June 2, 2004 warning letter, the owner of 600 Broadway, an 1883 loft building located in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, sought to legalize the installation of a Steve Madden vinyl wall advertisement installed on the buildings’ north wall without Landmarks’ approval. Landmarks issued permits to 600 Broadway in the past for wall advertisements including a 47’ x 55’ sign at the east end of … <Read More>


Changes to 1897 rowhouse denied

Owner denied access lift, sidewalk excavation and a new passageway. The owner of 313 315 West 91 st Street, two Renaissance- style rowhouses designed by Charles True and built in 1897, sought a permit to excavate the sidewalk along the western end of 315 West 91 st Street to create a passageway. The buildings, two of a series of seven historic mansions, are located within the Riverside Drive-West End Historic District designated by Landmarks in … <Read More>