NEWS: Flushing Landmark teetering on the brink of diaster
From the Times Ledger
Dateline : Thursday, December 21, 2006
CB7: Mansion a Mess
By Shane Miller
Queens preservationists thought they had saved one of the last remaining mansions from Flushing’s historic heyday, but a recent inspection by members of Community Board 7 has some worried that the grand home may be deteriorating from the inside out.
Late last year, the Fitzgerald/Ginsberg mansion located at 145-15 Bayside Avenue was designated a landmark by the Landmark Preservation Commission. Earlier this month, a tour of the house led by CB7 Landmarks chair Chuck Apelian revealed that the inside of the house far from matches its stately outward appearance.
“There was asbestos in the basement, and water was seeping into the house from two large holes in the roof,” recalled Apelian of the December 1st tour by phone this past Monday afternoon. “There was one room that was completely blocked off, and on the door was a big official looking sticker that read ‘Contaminated.'”
Apelian said that there are currently two people living in the house, which has no heat. He said the two residents have been burning wood to keep warm.
“They were living like refugees,” he said.
The tour was organized after a proposal came before the board to construct an addition to the house. The plans, which were prepared by architect He Gin Lee on behalf of Grace Lamb Presbyterian Church, called for adding a boxy addition to the rear of the Tudor-style home.
“It didn’t match the existing skyline, and the architectural details were absolutely horrible,” said Apelian.
CB7 representatives called the LPC to report the conditions inside the home, and according to Apelian an inspector was sent to the house. LPC spokesperson Lisi De Bourbon confirmed that an inspector was sent to the house a few weeks ago. She said that the house was not found to be deteriorating, but admitted that the agency doesn’t regulate the inside of landmarks, just the exterior.
“We are working with the owner’s architect, though, because we are concerned that water damage on the interior could damage the exterior,” said De Bourbon.
Apelian readily admits that LPC isn’t charged with overseeing the interior of the mansion, but doesn’t agree with the policy.
“If you ask me, Landmarks has it all wrong,” he said.
The mansion has been on the market for years, and was listed at over $2 million throughout the 18-month landmarking process. Apelian said that representatives for the church, which has not submitted a bid on the house and is not in contract to purchase it, predicted that it would cost approximately $400,000 to renovate the home for their uses.
“We are further convinced that the applicants renovation cost estimates are extremely low,” wrote Apelian in his report to the board, “and we now believe renovation costs will be between $1 and $1.5 million.”
This is not the first time that Apelian has been inside the home. He used to visit with a past resident who was a member of the Karelitz family, which owned the home for many years. Just before the Landmarking last year, Apelian admitted that the inside was in need of a modern update, but his description was far from the disaster outlined in his report.
The Fitzgerald/Ginsberg Mansion was originally built in 1924. It sat at the edge of the old Flushing country club, which has long since vanished. It was built at the behest of Charles and Florence Fitzgerald, who sold it to Ethel and Morris Ginsberg in 1926. If it is indeed allowed to deteriorate on the inside, it will join the ranks of other Flushing landmarks that have met similar fates.
“I have not seen such desecration since the last days of Flushing Town Hall (before New York City took it over) and The RKO Keiths,” wrote Apelian in his report.