Council rebuffs request to alter designation report. On July 19, 2006, the City Council approved the Weehawken Street Historic District and the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension, which together extended the Landmarks Law’s protections to an additional 59 buildings in the West Village. Landmarks had unanimously designated both districts on May 2, 2006. 3 CityLand 78 (June 15, 2006).

At the public hearing before the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses, the resident and owner of 689 Washington Street, a house constructed in 1980 that emulates the neo-Georgian facades of surrounding historic homes, requested that her property be carved out of the district’s proposed boundaries. Alternatively, the owner asked that the designation report denote its modern construction date in order to allow Landmarks or other land use agencies some leeway in approving alterations. (read more…)

Landmarks simultaneously designated two adjacent areas in the Far West Village. On May 2, 2006, in front of a jubilant public audience, Landmarks completed the final step in designating the Weehawken Street Historic District and the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension.

The waterfront Weehawken Street Historic District comprises 14 buildings, built between 1830 and 1938. The district is on the former site of Newgate Prison. When the prison was closed in 1829, an open-air public market was built on the site, some sections of which exist today as houses. The area flourished in the post-Civil War era, as the Hudson River became an important thoroughfare. Drawn to the picturesque waterfront and architecture, artists began occupying the tenement-style buildings in the late 19th Century. (read more…)

Supporters urged more inclusive designation. On October 18, 2005, Landmarks held a hearing on the proposed expansion of the Greenwich Village Historic District and creation of a new historic district along Weehawken and West Streets in Manhattan. As proposed, the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension would add 36 buildings within the threeblock area bounded by Perry, Washington, Christopher and Greenwich Streets. The newly proposed Weehawken Street Historic District would encompass 14 commercial and residential buildings along the block bounded by Weehawken, West, Christopher and West 10th Streets.

At the Landmarks hearing, Assemblywoman Deborah J. Glick spoke in support of the designations, but requested the expansion of the districts to include more structures on Charles Street and the Superior Ink factory at 70 Bethune Street. Glick emphasized that Landmarks should act quickly to halt the “gold rush” into the West Village by developers. (read more…)