Proposed Rendering of Tammany Hall Addition. Image Credit: LPC

Applicants argued that addition would echo the domes of classical architecture, pay homage to the Lenape who once occupied Manhattan. On November 25, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application to construct an addition to a building that housed the Tammany political machine at 44 Union Square East, an individual City landmark. The building was the third Tammany Hall constructed, and the only one extant. Designated in 2013, the neo-Georgian 1929 building was later utilized as a union hall, theater, and film school. The building is substantially intact, though storefronts have been created at the ground level facing Union Square Park. (read more…)

Townhouse and 22-story residential tower approved. Developers of a through lot at 39-41 West 23rd Street within the Ladies’ Mile Historic District received permits for a 22-story residential building to front West 23rd and a five-story glass and metal townhouse facing West 24th Street. The West 23rd Street side will have a five-story base below a 17- story tower, which will be cantilevered over the adjacent lot at 35 West 23rd Street.

Community Board 5 and Jack Taylor from the Drive to Protect the Ladies’ Mile District opposed the project at Landmarks first hearing; the Municipal Art Society testified that its committee divided on the vote. The opposition argued that the building, although exciting, was not right for the location and midblock buildings should not rise to the heights usually seen on corner lots. (read more…)