December 8, 2009
LPC Docket Number: 102970
Queens, Block: 8036, Lot: 26
344 Grosvenor Street – Douglaston Historic District
A Colonial Revival style house designed by Philip Resnyk and built in 1935. Application is to replace the roof.
HDC Testimony
HDC is opposed to the use of asphalt shingles on this prominent hipped roof in the Douglaston Historic District. Although a house down the street was permitted by the Commission to install asphalt shingles, that was done in 2001. In the more than eight years since then, the Commission has developed a very clear standard on the importance of quality materials in this district. In addition, new forms of faux slate have been created that nicely replicate the original material. We request that if actual slate is not used here, one of the alternative faux materials be explored instead.
LPC Determination: Approved with modifications
LPC Docket Number: 102480
Bronx, Block: 9501, Lot: 12
780 Hewitt Place – Longwood Historic District
A rowhouse designed by Charles S. Clark and built in 1908. Application is to construct a rear yard addition.
HDC Testimony
While filling in of a rear el-extension and adding a story above on an early 20th-century rowhouse is a commonly approved proposal, building deeper into the garden core, as this project does, can be an issue. The isommetric views clearly show how much more massive than its neighbors this addition would be in a row of relatively untouched rear facades. In addition to its size, the addition would be readily visible through a driveway on Dawson Street. We appreciate the design of the addition which references, at times even replicates, the historic fenestration, but the top floor fenestration should be kept more intact. Along the lines of the Commission’s usual rules for rowhouses, the window on the left should not be made shorter, and the other, if it is made a door, should appear more window like.
LPC Determination: Approved with modifications
LPC Docket Number: 103018
Manhattan, Block: 484, Lot: 1
515 Broadway – SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District
A Queen Anne style commercial building designed by Samuel Warner and built in 1884. Application is to install new storefront infill.
HDC Testimony
HDC finds that overall the proposed storefront needs more definition. We do not believe that such large plates of glass would have been used and that rather the 1899 drawing is inaccurate. It would not be unusal for such an image to not be fully detailed, although it is interesting to note that a few transom bars are shown. Transoms should be part of the new design as well as more framing around the doors, something more in keeping with the storefronts which flank this one. HDC asks that a a sympathetic storefront, not an invisible storefront, be designed for 515 Broadway.
LPC Determination: Approved
LPC Docket Number: 101066
Manhattan, Block: 591, Lot: 43
323-325 Bleecker Street – Greenwich Village Historic District
A neo-Renaissance style apartment building designed by George F. Pelham and built in 1902. Application is to legalize the installation of a storefront infill without LPC permits and to replace the cornice removed without LPC permits.
HDC Testimony
It is a shame that the metal cornice has been allowed to detiorate to this point. The replacement cornice should be of sheet metal, not fiber glass, particularly considering that it is on the 6th floor, relatively close to the ground.
The illegal storefront is not something the Commission would have approved had it come forward as a proposal for work. The stick-on transom bar on a storefront is about as appropriate as a snap-on muttin in a residential window. It feels far too flimsy for this building. In addition, it is set too low and instead should line up where it was before.
While not part of the proposal, there is other work that could be done on this storefront including a more detailed storefront cornice and piers on the edges of the building. Rather than simply patching up illegal work, the base of 323-325 Bleecker should be looked at and considered as a whole.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
LPC Docket Number: 103632
Manhattan, Block: 608, Lot: 7505 and 17
144-150 West 13th Street &161-165 W. 12th Street – Greenwich Village Historic District
Eight Greek Revival style rowhouses built in the 1840’s and altered in the twentieth century. Application is to create window openings, and construct rooftop and rear yard additions.
HDC Testimony
HDC’s main concern with this proposal is the large rooftop addition. We find it to be at odds with this group of rowhouses. Besides the issue of visibility, the mansard roof would envelope the eight buildings like a cap, changing their massing. In the past when dealing with rooftop additions that span more than one structure, the Commission has asked for articulation of each building to recall their individual pasts even if they are now used as a whole. HDC asks that a similar approach be taken here.
LPC Determination: Incomplete
LPC Docket Number: 102768
Manhattan, Block: 1405, Lot: 64
120 East 71st Street – Upper East Side Historic District
A rowhouse designed by John Payne, and built in 1879 and altered circa 1946. Application is to alter the façade and install a stoop.
HDC Testimony
While the proposed is a nice design, it has nothing to do with the 1879 rowhouse John Payne designed or the 1946 alterations. The tax photo included in this presentation very clearly shows what was once here and should be used as a starting point for a restoration or reinterpretation. This proposal is neither and instead ignores the history of the building. The Commission should not be swayed by good materials and design; the proposal’s appropriateness should be judged on its authenticity.
LPC Determination: Incomplete