Designations include Lord & Taylor store and Eberhard Faber Pencil Co. complex. On October 30, 2007, Landmarks voted unanimously to designate seven individual buildings and one new historic district.
In Manhattan, Landmarks designated the Lord & Taylor flagship store in Midtown, the Manhattan House in the Upper East Side, and two federal-era rowhouses in the Lower East Side. The Lord & Taylor store dates back to 1914 and is an example of the Italian Renaissance Revival style. 4 CityLand 111 (Aug. 15, 2007). At the hearing, Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney referred to it as “another landmark hidden in plain sight.” Commissioner Margery Perlmutter enthusiastically supported designation of the Manhattan House, a white-brick apartment building on East 66th Street, stating that the International-Style building set the standard for contemporary architecture. Landmarks also designated two federal-era rowhouses at 511 and 513 Grand Street in the Lower East Side. (more…)
- Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden. Image: LPC.
1891 house currently serves as a museum and bird sanctuary. On September 18, 2007, Landmarks held a hearing on the potential designation of the Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary, and Victorian Garden in the Murray Hill section of Flushing. The museum consists of a house and garden built in 1891 by shopkeeper James Bouton. Conrad Voelker, a German-language newspaper publisher, purchased the property in 1899, which remained in his family until Elisabetha Orth passed away in 1993. In her will, Orth requested that the property be turned into a museum and nature sanctuary, and provided funds for its upkeep. Before opening as a museum, curators restored the house to its 1909 condition. It is one of the few 19th-century residences remaining in the Flushing area.
At the hearing, Voelker-Orth Museum president Roland Wade testified to the importance of the property’s preservation, stating that it would have been “destroyed 100 times” already if not for Elisabetha Orth’s vision. Ed Kirkland, from the Historic Districts Council, also testified on behalf of landmarking, but expressed concern about the regulation of the garden, given its constant change. Landmarks Chair Robert E. Tierney closed the hearing without further comments from any commissioners. (more…)
