ALERT: Meeting to Save West 56th Street Townhouses
Where: Weds., 26 July 2006, Warwick Hotel, West 54 Street + Sixth Avenue
When: 7:00 pm
Why: Our low rise oasis of a neighborhood is being degraded. On West 56 Street, in late June, the ornament on the facades of 31, 33, 35 and 37 West 56 was destroyed. Number 39 has recently been sold to the same developer who intends to put a massive16 story, 47 apartments building in place of these five buildings which they intend to clad in aluminum and glass. Momentarily, they will be given a permit to demolish the buildings, which they have applied for. It is not too late for Landmarks to intervene which they cannot do once the demolition permit has been issued.
Another massive building will soon begin construction in place of 12, 14, 16 and 18 West 55 Street.
The city needs to help us prevent our small special region from being lost. Together, we control more votes than the developers. We are taxpayers and we want attention to be paid to our needs and desires. For almost a year, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has ignored our request for hearings for Landmark status for some buildings and Historic District status for the area we want to protect: the north side of West 54, both sides of West 55 and West 56 Street.
We need your support and we need you to show up at the meeting. Two years from now there will be other construction sites and other massive buildings under construction. Yes, you should have been involved earlier, but you can start now. We know it is summertime and there are lots of distractions, but the developers won’t wait.
We want to invite Scott Stringer the borough president of Manhattan to our next block association meeting on 26 July but need a decent amount of people at the meeting to show him that more than just a few of us care. We also want to discuss with you and him, appropriate development.
In Hungary, where bridges and castles were destroyed and restored like new, the facades of these buildings should be restored by the people who were so eager to destroy them.
Please send an email to Vera Conant, president of the West 54-55 Street Block Association, [email protected] , declaring your intention to come to the meeting. If you do not have email, please call her at 212 581 1895. If you are not on our mailing list and want to be, please also email or call her with your contact information. We need to know in advance how many people to expect so that not only can we invite Scott, we can reserve enough room for those of you who can come.
There will soon be another article in The New York Times City section about our neighborhood.
Veronika A. Conant, President, West 54 – 55 Street Block Association
45 W 54th St, Apt. 7C, New York, NY 10019
(212) 581-1895 [email protected]
July 5, 2006.
Memorandum to Robert Tierney, Chairman, Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Dear Mr. Tierney,
Attached is an article from the New York Times, dated Sunday July 2, 2006 regarding the four distinguished townhouses on West 56th Street that are in the process of being primed to be torn down without regard to the fact that they are distinctive architectural, historical and cultural buildings.
For almost a year the West 54-55 Street Block Association has requested that LPC designate West 54,55 & 56th Streets between 5th and 6th avenues as an historic district in midtown Manhattan an area well known for its architectural, historical and cultural buildings which are landmarks but few of which are landmarked.
Mr. Tierney, we desperately need a white knight in shining armour and you are it.
Your LPC spokeswoman’s quote in the New York Times on July 2 because the work had already begun we decided against giving them further consideratin seems to disregard the true fact that we have been sending you and the LPC staff letters, post cards, telephone messages and supporting materials about these three midtown urban blocks for almost one year and express concern for wrongful development.
It is difficult to believe that this is your intention. Therefore we seek your immediate action to save all of these buildings which are now under siege by wrongful development.
When you visited West 56th Street on June 21 you obviously observed that no irreversible work had already been done. Although covered by scrims and boarded up no real damage has been done yet to these three important historic buildings. We have been monitoring them daily.
We desperately need your help to preserve these buildings and all of the others in what should be designated a small but singular Historic District.
As New Yorkers we applaud energetic and responsible development throughout our city. We also realize that the ambiance and culture of New York, with its many unique diverse neighborhoods define our city and deserve responsible preservation as well as positive development.
Would you consider tearing down St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Rockefeller Center, the University Club, Warwick, Peninsula and St. Regis Hotels, the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, the U. S. Trust and Rockefeller townhouses, all now distinguished midtown icons? These preserved buildings define us as a pedestrian neighborhood of historical resonance and an urban oasis for those who visit, live and work here.
We would be pleased to walk you, as the leader of LPC, around our streets this week or next so you can understand our sense of urgency about the current destructive development you have countenanced here, perhaps unwittingly. It will happen unless you, the Landmark Preservation Commission and Mayor Bloomberg move quickly
According to the same July 2, New York Times article,in 1979, an internal report of the landmarks commission deemed the buildings worthy of designation. This is not an example of “We want to stop this development, so let’s designate these buildings that aren’t worthy,” Andrew Dolkart, renowned authority of historic preservation said. “These are fine buildings that have been known about for a long time.”
How can we help you become truly aware of this unique urban mixed-use neighborhood of pedestrian scale. We have sent information to you and your staff in a timely way. Now come see it for yourself. This issue is a matter of extreme professional concern. We desperately need your immediate positive action.
Visitors and residents know that Midtown’s past is Midtown’s future.
Hopefully you will quickly respond and save these incredible buildings and this neighborhood before it is too late. We remember well Penn Station! High rise development is not necessary mid-block in an area of small businesses, shops, restaurants, townhouses and low-scaled 13 story residential apartment houses, most of architectural and historical significance.
We need your help, today, before it is too late for our city.
There are over 100 people already active in the West 54 – 55 Street Block Association. More join us every day.
Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz,
( citizen, home owner, member of the Preservation Committee
of the West 54 – 55 Street Block Association.)