Finding of Appropriateness Granted for Seventh Avenue South Development

Following criticism of earlier design from preservationists and the local Council member, applicants revised design to better integrate with district and reconcile two distinct facades. On October 7, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve an application to demolish an existing one-story building and construct a new five-story development at 192 Seventh Avenue South in the Greenwich Village Historic District at the corner of 11th Street. The building will be residential, with ground-floor retail.… <Read More>


Redevelopment of Former Indigent Farm Community Proposed

Plan for former Farm Colony would entail the demolition five out of eleven historic structures in the district, create senior housing. On September 30, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application for the redevelopment of the New York City Farm Colony-Seaview Hospital Historic District, located in Staten Island in the Castleton area. The 45-acre property, which housed indigent and disabled New Yorkers in exchange for labor, operated roughly from 1898 to 1975, and … <Read More>


LPC Approval of Town House Addition Followed a Transparent Public Process

In a recent CityLand commentary, Noel Weekes from the Committee for the Preservation of the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District incorrectly states that the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a non-compliant addition at 280 Convent Avenue. The article claims that the proposed addition violates “at least five of the Landmarks Commission’s nine requirements for rear yard additions or enlargements to row houses in historic districts.” While applications for additions can be complicated and sometimes controversial, … <Read More>


New Glass-Faced Structure on Vacant SoHo Lot Approved after Modifications

In approval of new structure from the architects of the Apple stores, Commissioners included language that would maintain transparency of the facade should the building be repurposed in the future. On September 16, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the construction of a new building at the corner of Spring and Wooster Streets in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The site has been occupied by a 20-by-80-foot vacant lot for approximately 70 years, … <Read More>


CityLand Recognizes New York City’s Labor History

Labor Day commemorates the history of the labor movement and the social and economic gains of workers in the United States.   New York City has been a location for many significant milestones of labor history.  We here at CityLand document the changes in New York City land use, but we would be remiss to ignore that behind every land use change is the hard labor of American workers, from demolition to construction and all points … <Read More>


Community Opposition Voiced Against Lucerne-Adjacent Development

Consensus by Commissioners that proposed sixteen-story building is too tall for site currently hosting four-story structure.  On July 22, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered a project at 203 West 79th Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District.  The proposal called for the demolition of the existing building at the site, where four 19th-century rowhouses were combined into one building with a contemporary facade in the 1970s.  The new building would rise … <Read More>