NEWS: "If you actually like something that exists in New York, you should do everything that you can to protect it long before you think you should"
From the Queens Chronicle
Building Lost Is Lesson Learned In Hunters Point
by Jennifer Manley , Assistant Editor
The Long Island City building that once served as Borough Hall is being taken down and carted away now that community efforts to save it have failed.
Earlier this month, the city determined that the circa 1885 triangular structure known as the Hackett building “did not rise” to the level of an individual New York City landmark.
On Jan. 2, the Department of Buildings issued a demolition permit and as of this week, the building at 10 63 Jackson Ave., on the corner of 49th Avenue, is surrounded by scaffolding and crews have been working to tear it down.
The demolition comes over the objections of some residents and historians who implored the Landmarks Preservation Commission to look into saving the building by declaring it a city landmark.
According to a commission spokeswoman, the review of the building found that “with the exception of the 20 years it housed the offices of Queens County government in the early 20th century, the building has been used for commercial purposes for most of its history. In addition, the building’s architectural integrity has been significantly compromised by major storefront alterations.”
The building had once been home to a department store, O. Demarest & Company and served as Queens Borough Hall between 1898 and 1916.
Most Hunters Point residents, however, know it as the former home of Ten 63, a cafe owned by Talitha Whidbee. She conceded to move her business out of the building with the assurance that it would be preserved.
The owners plan to turn it into luxury condominiums that will, according to the architect’s Web site, “help improve the neighborhood from its original industrial, desolate areas to a new, friendly, residential neighborhood.”
The description and renderings of the new building prompted colorful reactions when posted on Curbed.com, a Web site dedicated to city real estate. Posters to the site commented that the design looked like a “Presbyterian mega church” and was “dull as dishwater.”
The old building was noted for its large windows and high ceilings. Whidbee commented that its position on the corner makes for great light inside. Before it was cleared of tenants, artists made their studios on the upper floors.
For Whidbee, it is a battle lost and a lesson learned. “You can’t just assume in New York that if something is nice and it adds character to a neighborhood that it will exist for any length of time,” she said.
In retrospect, she thinks she should have spoken up sooner.
“If you actually like something that exists in New York, you should do everything that you can to protect it long before you think you should,” she said.
The owner of the building, listed in city records as Perry Fine, was unavailable for comment.