Columbia University Demolishes Historic Morningside Heights Houses
From the Committee to Preserve the Morningside Brownstones
Contact: Harry Schwartz, 212-666-2248, [email protected]
Nancy Nereo, 917-952-6064, [email protected]
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY DEMOLISHES HISTORIC BUILDINGS IN THE FACE OF UNITED OPPOSITION
June 25, 2010. Impervious to the repeated requests of elected officials, community organizations and preservation groups, Columbia University is presently demolishing three important historic brownstones—numbers 408, 410 and 412 West 115th Street—in Morningside Heights. Columbia University has declined requests by neighborhood residents, preservation groups and elected officials to retain the brownstones and to release its studies of the feasibility of renovating them.
The New York State Historic Preservation Office had previously designated the brownstones as significant and worthy of preservation. This designation was endorsed by three concerned preservation organizations: Landmark West!, The Committee to Protect the Upper West Side, the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council. Preservation of the brownstones was also supported by Borough President Scott Stringer, State Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell, State Senator Bill Perkins, City Council Member/Majority Whip Inez E. Dickens and Representative Charles Rangel. Hundreds of residents signed a petition favoring preservation of the brownstones and Community Board 9 overwhelmingly passed a resolution calling upon Columbia to rehabilitate them for housing. In 1996, Columbia’s own graduate Historic Preservation Program singled out the brownstones as exemplary and worthy of protection.
There was no reason to destroy the brownstones. Columbia admits that it does not have any plans for using the cleared site. The University contends that they were demolished to prevent their further deterioration. However, it was the University’s neglect of the brownstones after they were acquired in the 1990s that accelerated the deterioration.
The brownstones, which were built in 1898, were the oldest residential buildings in Morningside Heights. Their destruction will severely disrupt the appearance of the residential street of which they are a part, and will mark the permanent loss of a historic part of the neighborhood. The State’s Historic Preservation Office described them as a “distinctive row of three, five-story Renaissance Revival residences with brownstone facades,” with an “unusual design with undulating bays at the first and second stories, reminiscent of low-scale row house design, but with three upper floors and cornice above.” The brownstones were just steps from Morningside Park, designed by renowned park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, and recently designated a scenic landmark in its own right; and as such, enhanced the context of this historic park. Their demise is a severe blow to the Morningside Heights community and all those concerned with the preservation of historic buildings.
Historic photographs of the brownstones are available.
The Committee to Preserve the Morningside Brownstones was formed by residents of Morningside Heights to save the row of historic brownstones on West 115th Street from being demolished by Columbia University.
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