Historic Districts Council’s annual preservation conference celebrated City history, identified priorities, and looked forward to new battles and a new administration. The Historic Districts Council hosted its 19th Annual Preservation Conference over three days from March 1 to 3, 2013. The conference featured receptions, guest speakers, panel discussions, and walking tours. The American Institute of Architects also provided continuing education credits. New York Law School hosted the conference on Saturday, March 2nd. Participants from various fields spoke on panels regarding preservation campaigns in the public and private sector. Panelists presented individual talks on preservation issues and took questions from the audience and panel moderators. The event attracted people actively engaged in preservation advocacy and sought to strengthen connections between disparate groups pursuing a common cause. In her introduction, HDC President Francoise Bollack called the preservation of historic architecture “a collective endeavor.” Panelists and speakers repeatedly criticized the Bloomberg Administration and City Planning Commission Chair Amanda Burden for their perceived lack of consideration of preservation issues.

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Twelve-story mixed-use building to be partially converted. The owner of a building on West 30th Street in the Garment District received a variance from BSA to convert three-and- a-half floors from commercial/ manufacturing use to residential use. The proposed conversion would add three new residential units and enlarge an existing unit, giving the 26,900-square-foot mixed-use building a total residential floor area of 17,504 sq. ft.

The owner argued that the present commercial/manufacturing zoning was not feasible because of the building’s small floor plates, narrow and awkwardly-shaped entrance, and small elevator. The owner also argued that manufacturing and commercial uses would be incompatible with the building’s legal residential tenants, who are located above and below the proposed conversion. (read more…)