Late-19th-Century Residential Area to be Considered as Historic District

Proposed 164-property historic district constructed in late 19th century for upper-middle-class housing; served important role in Harlem and history. On December 12, 2017, Landmarks voted to add the Central Harlem West 130-132nd Street Historic District to its calendar for possible designation. The proposed district consists of the interiors of three blocks on 130th, 131st, and 132nd Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Lenox Avenue. Landmarks staff identified the potential historic district while surveying … <Read More>


Proponents of Meat Market Plan Prevail

Landmarks Commission approved redevelopment of five buildings in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. On June 7, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the redevelopment of a block face of the Gansevoort Market Historic District between Greenwich and Washington Streets in Manhattan. The work, spanning five buildings, entailed the addition of three additional stories on a two-story building at 60-68 Gansevoort Street, a new 82-foot-high building  at the corner of Washington Street replacing a bus … <Read More>


New York Public Library Main Reading Room Officially Enters Designation Process [UPDATE: Designation Approved]

UPDATELandmarks voted to designate the interior at its meeting August 8, 2017. Commissioner Adi Shamir-Baron spoke of the “rare condition of two block’s worth of interior space,” with 50-foor ceilings. She said the interiors remind us of the meaning of civic space, as a place that “honors and elevates the spirit of the individual and the collective.”

Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan stated that designation as an imperative step in Landmarks’ mission, that would preserve <Read More>


Landmarks Denies Plan to Reinstate Pre-Designation Building Permit for Rooftop Addition

Despite reductions in addition’s scale and visibility, and promises to install a diorama commemorating escape of abolitionists from Draft Riots mob, Commissioners determined that any rooftop interventions were inappropriate. At its meeting on May 23, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission disposed of an application for facade alterations and rear and roof additions to 339 West 29th Street in the Lamartine Place Historic District. In the 19th century, the building was home to prominent abolitionists … <Read More>


Waldorf-Astoria Interiors Designated Ahead of Residential Conversion

Interior landmark is composed of contiguous spaces over three floors, including the Main Lobby and Grand Ballroom. The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Interiors at its meeting on March 7, 2017. The exterior of the Hotel, at 301 Park Avenue in Manhattan, has been an individual City landmark since 1993. The hotel was purchased by Chinese investment firm Anbang in 2014. Anbang has closed the hotel for renovation, and intends … <Read More>


Morningside Heights-Notable for Early 20th Century Architecture Designated

District is composed of 115 buildings between West 109th and West 199th Streets. On February 21, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Morningside Heights Historic District, in Manhattan’s Morningside Heights neighborhood. Made up of 115 buildings, the district is characterized by its residential architecture, developed within a relatively short period of time in the early 20th century, for middle and upper class tenants. The district is bounded by West 109th Street … <Read More>