Howard Goldman testifies before the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image Credit: BSA.

The proposed redevelopment plan has been approved by Landmarks and has been modified slightly to comply with federal regulations, due to the site’s close proximity to LaGuardia Airport. On October 27, 2015, the Board of Standards and Appeals approved with conditions a request by Flushing Square, LLC., for a special permit to re-develop the RKO Keith’s Theatre, located at 135-35 Northern Boulevard in the downtown Flushing neighborhood of Queens, into a 16-story mixed use commercial and residential building with community facilities. The RKO Keith’s Theatre is a vacant building containing an interior landmark. The proposed development would exceed the height limitations established for the site’s area, which is a “designated flight obstruction” area due to its close proximity to LaGuardia Airport. (read more…)

Commissioners deeply divided in their responses to proposed new hospital. In the most recent chapter of St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center’s process to gain approval for a consolidated, modern hospital, Landmarks met on December 16, 2008, to discuss the proposed new building. A month earlier, Landmarks had approved the demolition of the 1964 O’Toole building on Seventh Avenue between West 12th and West 13th Streets, clearing the way for construction of a new hospital on the site. 5 CityLand 158 (Nov. 15, 2008).

Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney allowed St. Vincent’s the opportunity to summarize the proposal, describe the process by which it reached its current design, and respond to public testimony from the previous hearing. Attorney Shelly Friedman testified that the new building would “truly be a hospital of the future” and would not require a new structure after 30 years.  Bernadette Kingham-Bez, senior vice-president of St. Vincent’s, claimed the new hospital would be built to “evolve with the health care needs of the future.” (read more…)

NYU’s development plans for remaining portion of the site unaddressed. On November 18, 2008, Landmarks voted to collectively designate University Village, also known as the Silver Towers, as an individual City landmark. Designed by James Freed and I.M. Pei, of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP, the landmark consists of a central plaza and three 30-story towers with concrete facades and recessed windows in a “brutalist” style influenced by le Corbusier. Built between 1964 and 1967 as part of a Robert Moses-sponsored urban renewal plan, the towers are arranged in a pinwheel configuration around the plaza which features a sculptural interpretation of Picasso’s “Portrait of Sylvette.” Two of the towers are used by NYU for student and faculty housing, while the third houses a cooperative.

At the June 24, 2008 hearing, representatives of NYU presented a plan to add a fourth tower. While supporting designation, NYU’s agents claimed a fourth tower would complement the existing buildings and “complete the pinwheel.” In response, preservationists called for Landmarks to designate the entire superblock, not just the towers and plaza. 5 CityLand 94 (July 15, 2008). (read more…)