Tomorrow, the City Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed rezoning of the 3rd and 4th Avenue corridors, between 13th and 9th Streets. The rezoning proposal comes after years of efforts by GVSHP, neighbors, Community Board 3, and Councilmember Rosie Mendez to change the outdated and inadequate zoning for the area which encourages enormously out-of-scale hotel and dorm development, such as NYU’s 26-story dorm on East 12th Street. After the city refused to include a change in the zoning for these blocks in the 2008 East Village rezoning, late last year they relented and agreed to include this area in a separate zoning action, which will be heard tomorrow.

Though the proposed rezoning does not go as far as GVSHP and neighbors had urged, it is an improvement. While the current zoning has no height limits, the new zoning would impose an absolute height cap of 120 feet (less than half the height of the NYU dorm). The current zoning strongly encourages dorm and hotel development, while the new zoning will encourage residential development. The current zoning encourages tall, setback towers behind dead plazas, while the new zoning will not allow plazas and will instead require new construction to follow neighborhood context and come out to the streetwall. The new zoning also provides incentives for the retention and creation of affordable housing.

If the City Planning Commission approves the rezoning following tomorrow’s hearing, it then goes to the City Council. If approved there, the rezoning takes immediate effect, and more 26-story dorms would never again be allowed as-of-right. Given that the NYU 2031 expansion plan calls for the university to add up to 1.5 million square feet of space OUTSIDE of the Washington Square Park area in the East Village, Village, and Union Square, it is more important than ever that stricter zoning be put in place in areas such as this where we have seen so much overdevelopment by NYU and other universities in recent years.

HOW TO HELP:

• Send a letter to City Planning Chair Amanda Burden RIGHT AWAY urging passage of the proposed rezoning > >

Testify in favor of the rezoning at tomorrow’s hearing — Come to the City Planning Commission at 22 Reade Street (btw. Centre & B’way), Spector Hall (ground floor) at 10:30 am. Bring 12 copies of your testimony (no more than 3 minutes) and photo ID to enter the building.  If planning to attend, please respond to this e-mail for additional details.

Thursday, August 26@ 7pm

Sacred Sites

Lower East Side Walking Tour

Find sanctuary in the city.

Visit synagogues, churches and temples encompassing 200 years of religious life in America, from early structures built by wealthy English landowners to houses of worship encompassing the Jewish, African American, Italian, Hispanic and Chinese immigrant experience. This event is the last of our Twilight Thursday walking tours for the season.

Want to stay in the loop? Check our Facebook Page and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates.

Visit www.eldridgestreet.org for other great events.

$15 per person. Reservations are required. Email ncohen@eldridgestreet.org or call 212.219.0302 x 7.

Location:

Museum at Eldridge Street
12 Eldridge Street between Canal and Division Streets
Visit the Directions Page of our website.

Last week, the New York Daily News debuted a new series on Queens history: Queens Heritage Quest

Check out the first installment on the RCA Exhibit Building from the 1939 World’s Fair.

RCA Exhibit Building

Miss Television Wants Historic Signage

No Shortage of RCA Artifacts for Potential Exhibits

Photo Gallery: RCA Exhibit Building

Today, the second installment came out, on the ghost signs of Queens:

Calls for Queens ghost sign trail
Classic ads aid tourism, advocates say
Borough President hails Daily News series
Photo Gallery: Ghost Signs of Queens

The series is written by DN journalist Nicholas Hirshon, HDC’s 2010 Friend in High Places Grassroots Preservation Award winner.

If you have any thoughts on these stories or would like to suggest sites for future installments, please consider sending a letter to the editor to QueensNews@nydailynews.com.

Be a Part of Architecture, Design, History and NYC’s Unique Built-Environment! 
Sign up to become an openhousenewyork (OHNY) Weekend volunteer! 

Register online at: http://www.ohny.org/volunteers/volunteer.cfm 

We welcome all interested in NYC’s built-environment to help volunteer at OHNY’s 200 sites and 150 programs in all five boroughs at the 8th Annual OHNY Weekend,  Saturday & Sunday, October 9 & 10, 2010. 

OHNY Weekend celebrates New York City’s architecture and design through an annual program of public access to significant buildings and sites in all five boroughs. 

OHNY’s mission 
* promotes a greater appreciation of New York City’s built-environment; 
* broadens public awareness by exposing a diverse audience to distinctive examples of architecture, engineering and design; 
* educates and provokes discussion of issues of excellence in design, planning and preservation; 
* showcases outstanding new work as well as buildings and structures of historic merit. 

What You Need To Know Before Signing Up As an OHNY Volunteer 

Benefits of being an OHNY Weekend Volunteer 
* meet New Yorkers and visitors who share your interest in architecture, design, history, and NYC’s unique built-environment 
* receive a signature OHNY T-Shirt and button that allows front-of-the-line access at non-reservation sites and programs during the Weekend 
* celebrate at the wrap party for OHNY Volunteers on Sunday evening 

Volunteer Responsibilities 
* volunteer for at least one four-hour shift on either Saturday and/or Sunday during the OHNY Weekend 
* manage OHNY signup sheets, meet and greet visitors, manage lines 
* work with Program and Site Sponsors (the owners and managers of the buildings and sites) to ensure that visitors are welcomed and follow any necessary building requirements 

* optional: help fundraise and promote donations via donation box, pledge and/or raffles for OHNY

Training 
* mandatory attendance at two-hour training session prior to OHNY Weekend (Tuesday, September 21 at 6-8 pm / Saturday, September 25 at 9-11 am) 
* receive your site/program assignment and learn about what is expected of you as an OHNY Volunteer 
* hear more about openhousenewyork and why our volunteers make OHNY Weekend a success 
* pick up the OHNY button that all volunteers wear during the Weekend

For more information contact: 

Erika Burling

Volunteer Coordinator
email: volunteer@ohny.org 
telephone: (212) 991-6470 
fax: (212) 620-9982

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has updated and revamped its Rowhouse Manual, a handbook that assists owners of the buildings that lie within New York City’s 116 historic districts and extensions maintain their special properties. It also offers step-by-step instructions on how to work successfully and efficiently with the Commission throughout the permit process.

 New York City’s character stems not only from its towering, 20^th-and -21^st-century skyline, but also from the 19^th-century low-scale brownstone, limestone, brick and wood clapboard rowhouses that line many of its streets and avenues. Preserving and protecting their character is truly a partnership between the Commission and property owners, and the latest version of the manual  is designed to reflect our commitment to this collaboration.  Please click on this link for a PDF of the manual: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/lp_rhmanual.pdf

While one city agency is  looking to preserve historic buildings on Staten Island, another wants to demolish them. As we reported earlier, the Parks Department is refusing to renew the lease for the Cedar Grove Beach Club in New Dorp and intends to demolish the majority of the historic buildings to supposedly convert the property into a public park. We use the word “supposedly” because Parks has not released any plans for the site, nor has the agency specified where the funding for these capital improvements might come from.  HDC has requested information from the Parks Department in mid-July through a Freedom of Information Law request although we have not received any response to date. The New York Times recently covered the story and extensively quoted Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe’s defense of the eviction of the tenants and demolition of the buildings as a return of the property to public use. Commissioner Benepe is quoted as saying “There aren’t any other parks in New York City with private residences on them, especially on prime waterfront,” which is a debatable distinction when one considers the controversial towers that have been developed as part of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The important fact remains that Parks has not revealed a public plan for the site, has not revealed how the city intends to develop the site and has not, to our knowledge, even begun to do an environmental assessment of what development is allowable on the site and what kind of environmental mitigations might need to be done (Cedar Grove Beach Club has been determined eligible for listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places). Especially considering the sweeping bi-partisan support from elected officials on the local, state and federal level, it would seem obvious that this is a premature scheme and the sensible thing for the Parks Department to do would be to enter into an open public process with the community while allowing the people who have been responsible, paying stewards of this site for 50 years to continue their tenancy.

August seems to be the month for hearings for proposed landmarks in Staten Island.  Last August, the Landmarks Preservation Commission heard testimony on nine sites.  The Queen Anne, Shingle-style Vanderzee-Harper House and the four houses of Horton’s Row built between 1880 and 1882 were designated by the end of the 2009, while the Greek-revival Mary and David Burgher House and the 1844 Reformed Church on Staten Island, along with its 1898 Sunday School and cemetery which dates back to 1704, were landmarked earlier this year.  On Tuesday the two remaining items from last year’s “Staten Island Day”, Christ Church and the Headquarters Troop 51^st Calvary Brigade Armory, joined the growing ranks of the borough’s individual landmarks. 

Having finished that batch, the LPC heard eight more Staten Island buildings.  Four of them, the Rossville A.M.E. Zion Church, 565 and 569 Bloomingdale Road Houses, and the Reverend Isaac and Rebecca Gray Coleman House, are part of Sandy Ground, the community founded by African-American oystermen and their families in the mid-19^th century.  The potential landmarks met with largely positive testimony including that of Yvonne Taylor, a descendant of Rebecca Gray Coleman and member of the Sandy Ground Historical Society.    The Lakeman House, a stone Dutch Colonial style farmhouse that underwent extensive restorative work in 2001-02 and possibly the last 17^th-century building on Staten Island to remain un-landmarked, moved a step closer to designation with a favorable hearing as did the Abraham L. Merrill House, described as a rare saltbox farmhouse constructed c.1848.  W.T. Garner Mansion, a grand 1860 brownstone Second Empire-style house that was later home to the St. Austin’s Military Academy and St. Vincent’s Hospital, was one of the first buildings on Staten Island considered for landmarking back in 1966.  While Staten Island preservationists, and HDC, spoke out in favor of the distinctive building rich with history, the owners, the Richmond University Medical Center, seemed reluctant and requested that the hearing remain open until mid-September, a request that was granted.

 The Commission took a look at Brooklyn too with a hearing for the Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building, a piece of the long hoped-for Brooklyn Borough Hall-Skyscraper Historic District, and the calendaring of the proposed Park Slope Historic District Extension, joining Wallabout and Park Place as recently calendared historic districts in that borough.

DOCOMOMO New York/Tri-State’s first website is a click away:
docomomo-nytri.org

Sometimes, you must throw caution to the wind. Or at least the notion of “done.” Websites flout it. But what we have done, we’re excited about. It has good structure—the functionality to serve up timely, contextual information—and an initial load of content—some standard, some curious.

There are many people to thank. First and foremost Brent Harris, whose unsolicited, but wonderfully fortuitous gift made the project possible. Brent has long championed the preservation and restoration of Modern architecture on both coasts. MAKEPRETEND, a New York based creative bureau, provided the design and programming—and patience—that got us to this launch. Board members John Arbuckle and Kathleen Randall spearheaded the project planning with plenty of valuable input from fellow board members. Kathleen coordinated the build out and content posting with tireless assistance from Kate Tuohy. Many wrote, edited and reviewed. Details on the credits page.

Not-to-miss:

• One stop browsing for programs and tours related to Modern

architecture in the tri-state area.
Events calendar
(we’ll be filling up Fall soon)

• Profiles and advocacy status updates for some of the most interesting
Modern movement buildings around. Maps, links and images too.
Advocacy
(a big work in progress.)

• News shorts on the verge of a blog.
News

Enjoy the site while we expand and improve it.

docomomo-nytri.org

 PO Box 250532, New York, NY 10025

 info@docomomo-nytri.org

Bowery Historic District effort gets $10,000 grant from National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Kudos to Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, which is co-sponsoring this effort and wrote the grant!  HDC wrote in support of this proposal, as well as 4 others, most of which were awarded.

Two letters just went to City Planning endorsing the East Bowery Preservation Plan:

The East Village Community Coalition was one of major forces behind the recent East Village/Lower East Side Rezoning Plan, and is a prominent voice in landmark/preservation issues.

Peter Quinn is a novelist/editor/essayist, who has written about the Bowery, and is familiar to anyone who has seen Ric Burns’ masterfully eloquent New York, New York: A Documentary. His novel Banished Children of Eve, is set in the Bowery.

HDC sent in a letter of support a few months ago.

Cabaret star Poor Baby Bree has just recorded a powerful rendition of “The Bowery”, the rousing late 1800s hit that manages to be both cautionary tale and celebratory anthem. She is graciously making this available for our website. Watch for her at LaMama in October. To hear it and read lyrics: http://www.boweryalliance.org/listen_to_poor_baby_bree_sing_the_bowery

Landmarking: At last month’s hearing on two federal style bldgs from the early 1800s, 135 and 206 Bowery, supporters filled the room and testimonies were submitted from historians, preservationists (including HDC), etc. Special thanks to Margaret Chin’s office! No decision yet.

An East Bowery Preservation Plan powerpoint is now available at: www.boweryalliance.org

The Amato Opera building to get renewed life as a theater:

News comes that this beloved building, one of the last in a long line of Bowery performance spaces is to yet again become a theater! Exact details are not yet known….

The Film Forum will show On the Bowery, the restored classic 1957 Lionel Rogosin documentary for a week in September. It’s one of the first documentaries voted into the National Film Registry.

 The Lower East Side History Project and Bowery Alliance of Neighbors will be creating an exhibit celebrating the history & cultural coolness of the Bowery at Whole Foods Market gallery in the Fall.

 Historic Bowery monument – the Sullivan Fountain – awaits restoration and relocation on the Bowery. Kent Barwick alerted us to the existence of this monument which once stood at Bowery and Delancey, and served as watering hole for the city’s hardworking horses The NYC Parks Commission’s Art and Antiquities director, Jonathon Kuhn, kindly supplied us with a wealth of documentation, including then and now photos, and an assessment of the monument’s prospects for rebirth. Named for Tammany Hall figure “Big Tim” Sullivan, who was known as “King of the Bowery,” the fountain has generated a significant amount of interest, including that of two writers who have written about Sullivan, Peter Quinn and Sullivan biographer Richard Welch (King of the Bowery, 2008). Welch has promised to contact some of Sullivan’s descendants.

Watch for Bowery events at Dixon Place and the Tenement Museum later in the year!

Vaudeville historian/showman Trav S.D. (Travis Stewart) will be curating a Bowery vaudeville later in the year.

Stoop, Synagogue, Soapbox

Lower East Side Walking Tour

Thursday, August 12 @ 7pm

Get ready to rumble.

Enter the ring of the early 20th-century Lower East Side politics, when pious Jews, secular firebrands, capitalist businessmen and impoverished peddlers faced of in the crowded work spaces, residences and cafés of this densely populated area.

Feminist. Free-thinker. Philosopher. To learn more about Emma Goldman, visit our blog.

Visit www.eldridgestreet.org for other great events.

$15 per person. Reservations are required. Email ncohen@eldridgestreet.org or call 212.219.0302 x 7.