United Nations Hotel. Image Credit: LPC

Some speakers testified that landmarked space should be expanded to connect bar and lobby as one designated interior. At its meeting on November 22, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission heard testimony on the potential designation of two interior spaces on the first floor of the United Nations Hotel at 1 United Nations Plaza in East Midtown. The interiors under consideration are the Ambassador Grill and the Hotel Lobby, built as part of a hotel and office complex by the United Nations Development Corporation. Both designed by the firm Kevin Roche Dinkeloo Associates. The grill was completed in 1976, and the Lobby in 1983. Landmarks voted to add the interiors to its calendar on September 20, 2016. (read more…)

Garden Landscape rendering. Image Credit: Gensler.

Alterations part of larger renovations that will see greater handicapped accessibility, non-hierarchical office organization, creation of a visitor center, and space for associated non-profits. On April 19 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved an application for work to the Ford Foundation Building, at 320 East 43rd Street in Manhattan. The 1967 building is an individual City landmark, and its atrium is also a designated interior landmark. The proposed work, which will alter the entrances, windows, and the atrium, was driven by programmatic needs, the necessity of code compliance, and handicapped accessibility. Currently, certain entrances to the building and portions of the garden are not handicapped-accessible. (read more…)

Landmarks Preservation Commission. Credit: LPC.

The proposed designation of the former Yuengling Brewery Site in East Harlem proved contentious, dividing preservationists and those who wished to see site developed.  On November 12, 2015 the Landmarks Preservation Commission held the final of four special hearings organized to address the backlog of items added to the Commission’s calendar before 2001, but never brought to a vote on designation.  The final hearing consisted of items in Manhattan, occupying Community Boards six through twelve.  Landmarks is expected to make determinations on the items in early 2016.

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One Chase Plaza. Image credit: LPC

Project would alter the solid black-granite base to create retail storefronts, and make for a more inviting and accessible plaza. On May 5, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on potential alterations to the individually landmarked One Chase Manhattan Plaza at 16 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan. The designated site consists of a 60-story tower and associated two-and-a-half-acre plaza, designed by the firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. The project was led by partner Gordon Bunschaft, the same team behind other City landmarks, including the Lever House and the Manufacturer’s Trust Building. The project was completed in 1964 as the headquarters for Chase Manhattan Bank, recently formed by a merger of Chase Bank and the Bank of Manhattan. (read more…)

Museum sought to have its own food kiosk; claimed it would reduce concentration of food cart vendors outside main entrance. On October 19, 2010, Landmarks rejected a proposal to build a small, curvilinear food kiosk in front of the land-marked Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The Guggenheim and Restaurant Associates, which manages the museum’s Wright Restaurant and its third-floor cafe, proposed building the free-standing kiosk along the Fifth Avenue facade underneath the museum’s cantilevered overhang. Guggenheim representatives claimed that the kiosk would alleviate the congestion caused by the high number of sidewalk food carts that congregate in front of the museum.

Guggenheim CEO Mark Steglitz testified that the museum wanted to provide patrons and neighbors with high-quality food at a lower price than its indoor options. Steglitz said the kiosk, by limiting demand, would also minimize the “carnival like atmosphere” outside the museum created by street vendors. He also said it would complement the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building, “not compete with it.” (read more…)

Landmarks considered eclectic mix of architectural styles built over the last two hundred years. On June 22, 2010, Landmarks held hearings on eleven potential individual landmarks in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. The buildings under Landmarks’ consideration were all built between 1800 and 1971 and represent a range of architectural styles. The buildings included the Modernist Japan Society Building on the east side of Manhattan, a Spanish Baroque Revival theater on Canal Street, and a Federal- style house in Tribeca. The Japan Society Building at 333 East 47th Street in Manhattan’s Turtle Bay received praise from preservationists. The Junzo Yoshimura-designed building was built in 1971 on land donated by John D. Rockefeller III. Yoshimura, a Tokyo resident, was one of the first prominent Asian architects to see his work built in the City. The building fuses Japanese tradition with modernism and was built using a variety of materials, including bronze and concrete. The building’s black facade is detailed with slatted window screens and latticework along the street.

During the hearing, Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney read a letter submitted by the Japan Society that said it “welcomes official recognition.” A representative of Docomomo, a Modern Movement architectural advocacy group, spoke in support and said the building’s facade “conveys a sleek, elegant image of modern Japan.” (read more…)