Owner of Skidmore House allowed it to fall into state of disrepair. Skidmore House, a 159-yearold Greek revival residence located at 37 East 4th Street, was designated as an individual landmark in 1970. Since acquiring Skidmore House in 1988, the owner, 10-12 Cooper Square, Inc., neglected to maintain it and ignored several requests by Landmarks to repair it. After the roof collapsed in 2002, Landmarks sued the owner to return the landmark to a state of good repair as required by the Administrative Code. Landmarks wanted the owner to make the exterior of the building watertight to prevent deterioration and maintain the interior and the exterior architectural ornamentation. The owner claimed that the building was in good repair, that Landmarks’ interpretation of good repair was unreasonable and, although Landmarks presented minutes from Skidmore House’s August 18, 1970 designation hearing, that the building was not a designated landmark.

Justice Walter Tolub first ruled that Skidmore House was duly designated, finding that, although Landmarks failed to notice the designation vote in the City Record, the owner did not provide sufficient evidence of irregular conduct by Landmarks to diminish the presumption that officials will complete and comply with their legal duty. (read more…)