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>
Landmarks Preservation Commission
Landmarks Applies Double Standard for Townhouse Addition
A recent decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve a non-compliant addition to a building within an historic district has enraged residents who are held to stricter standards, and preservationists who see the floodgates opening to the deterioration of the historic districts on a broader scale.
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>
LPC Community Outreach is Good Government
I would like to respond to a recent CityLand guest commentary by Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) that suggested that the Landmarks Preservation Commission practice of notifying property owners prior to “calendaring” a property is detrimental to the landmarks process. The Commission’s successful record can be directly attributed to our efforts to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of, and help build support for, landmark designations in their neighborhoods.
Mayor de Blasio’s Land Use Appointments Carousel Continues
Mayor de Blasio has re-structured the City’s land use administrative hierarchy to further his affordable housing agenda. On July 22, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated Margery Perlmutter to serve as Chair of the Board of Standards and Appeals. This was the Mayor’s latest appointment to City land-use positions, all of which will bear heavily on the Mayor’s expansive affordable housing agenda, a ten-year plan designed to preserve some 200,000 units of affordable housing.