Owner denied access lift, sidewalk excavation and a new passageway. The owner of 313 315 West 91 st Street, two Renaissance- style rowhouses designed by Charles True and built in 1897, sought a permit to excavate the sidewalk along the western end of 315 West 91 st Street to create a passageway. The buildings, two of a series of seven historic mansions, are located within the Riverside Drive-West End Historic District designated by Landmarks in 1989. Within the passageway, the owner proposed to build a new stairway, an access lift and a glass and cement mortar stairway railing.

Landmarks denied the application, finding that a passageway was not a historic feature present in any of the mansions comprising the historic district and the proposed access-lift design would detract from the integrity and architectural character of 315 West 91 st’s b owed- frontage. In making the determination, Landmarks . stated that the West 91 st rowhouses were comprised of four distinct designs that varied in a unique pattern down the street. The subject buildings differed in design, with 315 West 91 st having a full bow-fronted facade, while 313 West 91 st has a projecting bay. The owner’s proposed changes to the full bow-fronted facade at 315 West 91 st were too significant to approve. (read more…)