Rendering of the interior of the Museum. Image Credit: LPC.

Approved addition, occupying a quarter acre of parkland, will increase connections for better museum circulation, provide additional space to store collection materials, and allow visitors to watch scientists at work. At its meeting on October 11, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to issue a binding report for the construction of an addition, and associated demolition, to the American Museum of Natural History, an individual landmark on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The addition, to be named the Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, will be the first significant intervention on the museum campus since the completion of the Rose Center for Earth and Space in 2000. The addition would be sited on the western side of the museum, and would create new Columbus Avenue public entrance. (read more…)

Architect’s rendering of the site as it appears now (left), and of the site with the planned development (right). Image credit: LPC

Plan that will replace heavily altered three-story 1894 structure close to being approved; Commissioners asked to see some revisions. On July 19, 2016, Landmarks considered a proposal to redevelop a lot at 466 Columbus Avenue in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District.  The site is occupied by a commercial building constructed in 1894. The building was altered in 1961, and a third story added. Further alterations designed by Gruzen Samton were approved by Landmarks in 2006. The applicants proposed to demolish the existing building and erect a new residential structure with a commercial base. The Roe Corporation owns the site and will be the developers.

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Key kiosk features. Image Credit: LinkNYC.

Proposed rule change would change text governing installation of public pay phones in landmarked area to allow for installation of Public Design Commission-approved public communications structures with digital advertising. On March 3, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a proposed amendment to agency rules governing the installation phone booths. The proposed rule changes would update the agency rules pertaining to public pay phones. The updated rules responds to the de Blasio administration’s initiative to replace public pay phones with new public communications structures providing phone service and free Wi-Fi, with a tablet that accesses emergency services, and charging stations for cellphones and other electronic devices. (read more…)

Architect rendering of the proposed West End Collegiate development. Image credit: CFA

Demolition of existing building and construction of new residential tower generally supported by community and preservationist organizations. On December 8 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve two applications submitted by West End Collegiate Church for the redevelopment of adjoining properties. The sites are currently occupied by the Collegiate School, from whom the church repurchased the property when the school made a decision to relocate. The plan calls for the demolition of the existing building at 260 West 78th Street, called Platten Hall, and to replace it with a new residential tower. The second application entailed the construction of rooftop addition to 378 West End Avenue, with other alterations to the building. The sites to be redeveloped lie within the West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension. Restoration work to the historic church and school, an individual landmark, was not included in the application, and will be handled at staff level. (read more…)

Thirty-three properties were removed from district between hearing and designation, mostly along Broadway. On June 23, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Riverside/West End Historic District Extension II. The original Riverside/West End Historic District was designated by Landmarks in 1989, and the first extension was designated in 2012.  The designated area stretches between 89th and 109th Streets, and is bounded by Broadway and Riverside Drive to the east and west.

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The City will renovate and restore 1871 building with eye toward casual restaurant. On February 21, 2012, Landmarks approved the City’s renovation plan for the landmarked Tavern on the Green restaurant on the west side of Central Park near West 65th Street. The Victorian Gothic building was built in 1871 as a sheepfold. It was converted into a restaurant in 1934. In 2009, the restaurant’s license holder filed for bankruptcy protection. The restaurant closed and its equipment and furnishings were auctioned. Tavern on the Green has remained vacant except for a temporary gift shop and public restroom. 

At the public hearing, the Parks Department’s Assistant Commissioner Elizabeth Smith explained that the plan would reconfigure the space to make it more “Parkcentric.” Smith said the City was seeking a concessionaire to operate a casual restaurant in the building. Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David Burney noted that the City in 2010 demolished the restaurant’s “Crystal Room,” a glass-enclosed dining area on the park-side of the building built in 1976, and restored the restaurant’s courtyard. Burney said the proposal would reveal the building’s original facade by removing the extraneous additions built over the years. According to Burney, the “wound” left after removing the crystal room would be filled with an all-glass, transparent box facing the terrace. The proposal also included restoring the building’s facades, windows, and dormers to their 1934 conditions. (read more…)