Rendering of 536 Halsey Street. Image Credit: LPC.
Commissioners asked for revisions to proposal, which would see two garage buildings converted− one to an apartment building and the other into two townhouses. On March 28, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a proposal for two adjoining lots at 536 Halsey Street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. The midblock site is occupied by two early-20th-century utilitarian buildings; a three-story Queen Anne-style structure built in 1904 and a one-story building. Both were used as parking garages until recently, when they were acquired by Brookland Capital. Brookland intends to redevelop the properties for residential use. (read more…)
Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. Image Credit: LPC.
Council’s subcommittee heard numerous voices urging ratification of historic district expansion. At its stated meeting on August 22, 2013, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the Landmark designation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. The designation covers approximately 825 buildings.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the expanded district in April of 2013, after a well-attended January hearing. The expansion drew strong support from area residents and preservationists. However, a few property owners and the pastor of St. Paul Community Baptist Church spoke in opposition. According to Landmarks’ designation report, the district is significant for its late 19th-century residential architecture, as well as some commercial and institutional structures. The district’s social history has the one of the best known African-American communities in the nation. The designation was the result of a decades-long process, which started with a 1992 survey of the area, with Landmarks hearings held in 1993 and 2011.
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Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. Image Credit: LPC.
Landmarks staff recommended removal of two properties from the district, but Commission voted to designate the district as proposed. On April 16, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. The district is generally bounded by Halsey and Macon Streets to the north, Fulton Street to the South, Malcolm X Boulevard to the east, and Tompkins Avenue to the west. The new district surrounds the 1971-designated Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, and is comprised of approximately 825 buildings.
The residential area was developed primarily within the period between 1880 and 1920, though some mid-19th-century wood-frame houses still stand in the district. The area is largely characterized by speculatively built rowhouses, in the Queen Anne, neo-Grec, Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival styles. The 1890s also saw the construction of several four- and five-story apartment buildings known as “French flats.” Significant institutional buildings in the district include the Bethany Baptist Church and the former Sumner Avenue Baptist Church.
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New district would include 825 buildings primarily built at the turn of the 20th century. On August 2, 2011, Landmarks heard testimony on the proposed Bedford-Stuyvesant/ Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. The proposed district is generally bounded by Halsey and Macon Streets to the north, Fulton Street to the south, Malcolm X Boulevard to the east, and Tompkins Avenue to the west, and would surround the 1971-designated Stuyvesant Heights Historic District. The new district would encompass 825 buildings that were primarily developed between 1880 and 1910. The district is primarily characterized by rowhouses and small apartment buildings, with attendant commercial structures and institutional buildings. The buildings represent several architectural styles including Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Neo Grec.
The earliest extant buildings in the neighborhood are wood-framed houses dating to the mid-19th century that are thought to have been occupied by freed slaves. Arrivals from New England, as well as German and Irish immigrants, moved to the area in the late 19th century. After the first World War, African Americans and ethnic groups facing discrimination in Manhattan began moving into Bedford- Stuyvesant. The neighborhood became a residential counterpoint to Harlem, the center of black cultural life in the City.
Landmarks initially considered the proposed district in the early 1990s. It held a public hearing in September 1993, but no action was taken. (read more…)
