Rendering of 312 to 322 Canal Street in Manhattan. Image: LPC.

Proposal, whose previous iteration was subject to community and commissioner opprobrium, approved after reduction in size and modifications in design and materials. At its meeting on January 23rd, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved a modified proposal to redevelop five properties in the Tribeca East Historic District at 312 to 322 Canal Street with a single new structure. The site is currently occupied by two-story commercial structures dating to the 19th century, but heavily altered and reduced in size from their original four stories. The buildings to be demolished were not identified as having a distinct style in the 1992 designation report, and are thought to retain little, if any, original fabric.        (more…)

Previous and modified proposals for 339 West 29th Street. Image credit: LPC

Despite reductions in addition’s scale and visibility, and promises to install a diorama commemorating escape of abolitionists from Draft Riots mob, Commissioners determined that any rooftop interventions were inappropriate. At its meeting on May 23, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission disposed of an application for facade alterations and rear and roof additions to 339 West 29th Street in the Lamartine Place Historic District. In the 19th century, the building was home to prominent abolitionists Abigail and James Sloan Gibbons, and is the only documented stop on the Underground Railroad in New York City. During the Draft Riots that engulfed the City in 1863, a mob attacked and set fire to the building, and the occupants escaped via rooftops to a nearby relative’s home. (more…)

Rendering of 311 Vanderbilt Avenue. Image Credit: LPC.

Sculptural dwelling takes cues from arched bays of carriages houses common to Clinton Hill’s Vanderbilt Avenue. On February 7, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved an application to construct a new building on a vacant lot at 311 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill Historic District. The site, currently used for parking, is on a through-block lot, with an existing 1890 townhouse facing Clinton Avenue. The planned building will rise to four stories, with the top floor set back from the main facade. (more…)

Rendering of 363 Lafayette Street in Manhattan. Image Credit: LPC.

Applicants rescinded proposed double-height rectangular form for a more subtle series of setbacks, and reduced size of windows to bring it into a scale more contextual with the neighborhood. On August 2, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved a revised proposal to construct a new ten-story building at 363 Lafayette Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension. The through-block lot also faces Bond and Great Jones Streets. The lot is currently vacant, and adjoins a new building in construction along Great Jones Street and a residential building facing Bond Street. (more…)

9 DeKalb Avenue. Project Rendering. Image Credit: JDS Development and the Chetrit Group.

Designated bank lobby will be converted to retail space, while new tower will accommodate residential use. On April 19, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve work impacting the individually designated Dime Savings Bank, as well as its lobby, an interior Landmark. The site lies at 9 Dekalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, on an irregularly shaped block bounded by Dekalb and Flatbush Avenues and Fulton Street. The proposed tower will displace the Williamsburgh Savings Bank as the borough’s tallest building. The work entails the demolition of a portion of the 1930s addition, the creation of a new entrance on Flatbush Avenue, and alterations to the lobby to adapt it to retail use. The new tower will be partially sited within the landmarked lot. The plan includes extensive restoration work to the bank building. (more…)