Item 1
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Queens
158355- Block 149, lot 150-
39-38 47th Street – Sunnyside Gardens Historic District
A brick rowhouse with Colonial Revival style details, designed by Clarence Stein, Henry Wright, and Frederick Ackerman and built in 1925. Application is to alter the front porch, stoop, and sidewalk, install a new door at the areaway, and construct a rear yard addition.
In addition to being a character-defining feature of Sunnyside Gardens, the central courtyards here are some of the most intact in the city. For this reason, HDC opposes extensions into the rear yard. On the front of the house, HDC applauds the effort to reference the original design and materials of the front porch. However, since there is a great deal of documentation on the original design of these porches, as well as examples within the district of other porches that have been sensitively renovated, HDC encourages the applicant to take great care to renovate the front porch in an historically accurate manner.
LPC determination: Approved
Item 5
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Brooklyn
154553- Block 261, lot 9-
295-299 Hicks Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District
Three vacant lots. Application is to construct three new buildings.
HDC applauds the proposal for three individual houses on these lots, as well as the overall effort at contextual new construction within the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. However, HDC questions several components of the design. Concerning materials on the front façades, our committee noted that mud brick like that proposed here is not evident on townhouses in this historically high style district. The use of cast stone as a replacement for limestone and brownstone is a fine option, but given that limestone lintels are also not evident on this block, HDC would suggest that the pigment be reconsidered.
While these houses are identical, our committee appreciated the use of bay windows and stoops on the front façades to show that these are three individual houses. However, the flatness of the rear façades does not help to achieve this same effect. The mass of metal and glass all the way across the bottom floors has the effect of visually connecting the three houses in the rear. Perhaps bringing the masonry to the ground would soften the stark transition from masonry to glass, as well as avoid any misreading of these houses as one large mansion.
LPC determination: No Action
Item 6
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Brooklyn
159747- Block 195, lot 28-
182 Dean Street – Boerum Hill Historic District
A modified Italianate style rowhouse built in 1859-60. Application is to construct a rooftop addition.
While the bulk of the rooftop addition is not visible from the street, it would be very visible from the interior of a block that has not suffered other such incursions. HDC asks that in addition to taking a more modest approach, the applicants also reconsider the proposed materials. The use of EIFS with a stucco finish only exacerbates a heavy-handed intervention.
LPC determination: No Action
Item 7
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Brooklyn
158733- Block 326, lot 19-
25 Tompkins Place – Cobble Hill Historic District
A Greek Revival style rowhouse built in the 1840s. Application is to alter front and rear facades, construct rooftop and rear yard additions and excavate the rear yard.
HDC found the rooftop addition to be appropriately scaled, but the added bulk of the rooftop equipment to be too visible. Our committee asks that the equipment be repositioned so that it is on the same level as the addition, rather than on top of it. We found the rear to be appropriate, but would ask the Commission to advise a higher solid to void ratio on the lower floors.
LPC determination: Approved with modifications
Item 8
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
160797- Block 224, lot 32-
456 Greenwich Street – TriBeCa North Historic District
A building built in 1942, and enlarged in 1950. Application is to redesign the building facade, and construct an elevator bulkhead, a garden wall, and canopy.
HDC finds the simple infill of the openings to be an appropriate change, but feels that the bright white paint would be a mistake, as it is not contextual to the district. Cleaning the brick and leaving it unpainted would celebrate the industrial character of both the building and the surrounding area.
LPC determination: No Action
Item 9
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
157022- Block 516, lot 26-
150 Thompson Street – SoHo-Cast Iron Extension Historic District
A neo-Grec style store building, designed by D & J Jardine, and built in 1880-81. Application is to replace ground floor infill and install a marquee.
HDC is happy to see the restoration and extension of the cast iron column included in this proposal, and commends the applicant on this aspect of the project. We would ask, though, that the flush metal panels be reconsidered, as they would create the effect of a walled-in storefront that is very uninviting from the street. HDC would suggest the use of alternative materials, such as frosted glass, black glass, operable shutters or opaque fill windows, in order to achieve privacy and darkness in the interior.
LPC determination: Approved with modifications
Item 10
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
160759- Block 744, lot 20-
333 West 20th Street – Chelsea Historic District
A rowhouse built in 1855, and altered in 1893. Application is to replace doors.
The proposed solid doors with a horizontal glass transom are foreign to the composition of this rowhouse. HDC would suggest that the applicant consider security glazing, such as riot glass, if safety is the issue here, or the use of frosted glass if privacy is the end goal.
LPC determination: Approved
Item 12
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
158949- Block 819, lot 14-
38-42 West 18th Street – Ladies’ Mile Historic District
A building originally built in 1858 and redesigned in 1898 in a commercial style by John R. Hutchinson; an early 20th century commercial style store and loft building designed by George A. Crawley and built in 190708; and a vacant lot. Application is to construct a new building; and to restore the facades and replace windows and storefront infill at 40 and 42 West 18th Street.
Item 13
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
158948- Block 819, lot 14-
38-42 West 18th Street – Ladies’ Mile Historic District
A building originally built in 1858 and redesigned in 1898 in a commercial style by John R. Hutchinson; an early 20th century commercial style store and loft building designed by George A. Crawley and built in 1907-08; and a vacant lot. Application is to request that the Landmarks Preservation Commission issue a report to the City Planning Commission relating to an application for Special Permit pursuant to Section 74-711 of the Zoning Resolution for a Modification of Use.
HDC celebrates the restoration of 45 West 17th Street and 40 and 42 West 18th Street, three fine, low-rise commercial structures that characterize the Ladies’ Mile Historic District. Our committee generally found the new building’s West 18th Street façade to be an honest, contemporary design for the district, but questioned the abrupt glass base. We would suggest that some further study be undertaken to extend the rhythm of the upper stories down to the base.
The West 17th Street façade raised much bigger concerns for our committee. The concept of a stainless steel mesh screen that simulates the intricacy of masonry is an interesting gesture toward the historic district’s architectural vocabulary, but we worry that such a literal replication would end up appearing too contrived. Referencing the rhythms employed on historic structures found in the area would be a good way to fit into the district, but this screen reminds one of a theater set putting on a performance of historical accuracy – or perhaps the increasingly popular construction netting covering a building’s façades that is printed with a representation of said façades in order to be more pleasing to the passerby. In Beaux-Arts buildings, as this one seems to be referencing, the use of varied depths and materials underscored the importance of solids to voids in creating a rich overall composition. On this building, the stainless steel mesh is meant to act as a solid, yet the mesh’s transparency is its ultimate trickery, leaving the viewer hanging. While the screen seems to step forward somewhat from the glass and metal frame, the overall effect is a fairly uniform and flat surface rather than one of interesting depths and massing. The building, thus, lies somewhere between a glass curtain wall skyscraper and a Beaux-Arts style commercial building, yet can be called neither.
LPC determination: No Action
Item 16
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
156310- Block 1387, lot 45-
48 East 73rd Street – Upper East Side Historic District
A rowhouse originally built in 1885-86, altered in the neo-Federal style by S. Edson Gage in 1916, and again in 1979. Application is to alter the primary facade, demolish a rear addition, construct a new rear facade, construct rooftop additions, and excavate the cellar and rear yard.
HDC is glad to see that elements of the front façade of this rowhouse will be restored. As described in the applicant’s drawing of the streetscape in its 2013 condition, the clerestory and sunroom, added in 1979, included “incongruous” window treatments. In the proposed top story, our committee felt that the sliding doors do not improve the sensitivity of the top story to the overall style of this 1916 façade. On the rooftop, we would ask that the staircase bulkhead be lowered to decrease its visibility. The rear façade represents a dramatic intervention that our committee felt would be more appropriate for a beach house than for a townhouse. The use of excessive glazing and folding screens would be alien to its context.
LPC determination: No Action
Item 18
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
153181- Block 1907, lot 32-
249 Lenox Avenue – Mount Morris Park Historic District
A rowhouse designed by Charles H. Beer and built in 1885-1886. Application is to replace storefront infill and install signage.
Our committee had difficulty deciphering the drawings for this proposal. Specifically, we had trouble figuring out whether or not the masonry pier between the proposed doors would be removed. In the case of its removal, the committee would like to ask for strong scrutiny from the Commission, as such an intervention would be aesthetically jarring and would require the guidance of a structural engineer.
LPC determination: Approved