E-BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL
November 2013, Volume 10, Number 1
TAMMANY HALL HAS BEEN DESIGNATED!!!
The Historic Districts Council, along with the Union Square Community Coalition have been advocating for the designation of Tammany Hall for several years (USCC first asked for its designation in 1984!). Two years ago, the Landmarks Preservation Commission entered into a Stand Still Agreement with the building’s owner – which is a strategy the agency sometimes employs to work towards designation (essentially this is a legal agreement which says, for a proscribed period of time, the LPC agrees not to designate the property and the owner agrees not to demolish it). This past Tuesday October 29, 2013, the LPC voted to designate Tammany Hall an individual landmark (there was no opposition and a representative of the owner indicated that the owner was “not opposing the designation and looked forward to continuing the relationship with the LPC”, so it looks like the stand-still worked).
Tammany Hall has a long history based in New York politics and in its later years, became synonymous with political corruption. The building itself was designed by Thompson Holmes and Converse and Charles B. Meyers, and was the last home of the fabled political club. The Tammany Society essentially ran New York politics from the 1790’s through the 1930’s. This 1929 Colonial Revival building was its final home and the façade decoration reflects the nativist affections of the Society (its leaders were called sachems). The building is now occupied by The New York Film Academy, and The Union Square Theater.
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West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension
(L) 255 to 251 West 70th Street (W. H. W. Youngs, 1885-86)
(R) 232 and 234 West 73rd Street (display address: 236 West 73rd Street) Rutgers Presbyterian Church House and Church (Henry Otis Chapman, 1921-26)
The West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension (the second part of the larger West End Avenue Historic District) was passed by City Council! Unfortunately, at the request of building owners, the Council removed two properties from the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved district; 214 West 72nd Street (a rather altered Queen Anne rowhouse reported to be a childhood home of writer Dorothy Parker) and 232 West 73rd Street (Rutgers Presbyterian Church House). We are very disappointed in this decision as it throws the fate of these properties into uncertainty and opens the door to their possible demolition. It also is indicative of a worrisome trend in our elected officials to side with extreme property rights arguments over the value of landmark preservation for the greater good. To read the LPC designation report click here. To read HDC’s testimony on the designation, click here. The Council’s discussion of the historic district can be found here.
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