HDC Testimony for LPC Hearing on September 22, 2015

HDC commends the applicant for the façade restoration and the use of the 1940s tax photograph. This house has been through some rough times and was in dire need of this work to return the residence to its former allure.  Because of this house’s history, and it is the only surviving example of its kind in the area, HDC strongly disagrees with the glass enclosures flanking the house. This would effectively eliminate this house’s appearance and appellation as “free-standing.” The Committee found the concept creative, but does not believe that an individual landmark is a place to experiment with such a radical design. A house of this grandeur sells itself, there is no need to entice with glass, which prospective tenants will discover a no shortage of on its rear façade.

The Committee felt some of the glazing in the rear could be reduced and preserve the historic wood frame fabric, and also eliminate the skylights on the street façade entirely, as the building’s original attic windows could provide that light. In general, the design on such a landmark could go a little further, and be fantastic, not just approvable. This restoration has been a long time coming, and the design should be nothing short of inspiring, just like this building’s storied past.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 4
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Brooklyn
174184- Block 5038, lot 76-
211 Fenimore Street – Prospect-Lefferts Gardens Historic District

A Colonial Revival style house built in 1906 by Axel Hedman. Application is to alter the façade and reconstruct the garage.

At the last LPC public hearing, on September 8, the Commission reviewed a proposal of a house which had an enclosed porch, which resulted in a compromised façade after several alterations. HDC would like to see this porch remain open, and for the paired columns discernible in the tax photo to be restored, as they were a distinguished feature of this home. HDC suggests a different type of siding, such as the original cedar shingles present in the photo, which would offer better respiration to this wooden house and reinstate an integral part of the original design.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 5
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
174913- Block 97, lot 7502-
130 Beekman Street – South Street Seaport Historic District

A complex of three buildings built in 1798, 1801, and 1827. Application is to replace the entry door and install a canopy.

HDC found this door an odd choice for this 200 year old building and district. Its asymmetry clashes with the other symmetrical window and door openings, and needs some further thought.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 6
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
161442- Block 97, lot 2-
115 South Street – South Street Seaport Historic District 

A Greek Revival style building built in 1840 and altered in the 1880s. Application is to construct rooftop additions and install a fire escape at the rear façade.

The case for an argument against this proposal was made by showing the historic black and white photo of South Street, and realizing how little this row of ancient dwellings have changed over so many years. This row of structures facing the water are the most visible in the district from the Brooklyn Bridge and approach to Manhattan, lending a view and a feeling that something special–a distinct enclave– is peeking out from beneath the skyscrapers of downtown. HDC feels that this proposed addition would taint this experience, and destroy the intact roofscape of this row, which serves collectively as a type of wall, or container for the historic district. This addition is so massive, it also looms over Peck Slip and calls attention from the bridge, and the FDR.  The addition is too assertive, it awkwardly sits atop the historic building as if it is an inconvenience, rather than augment it and create a complementary design.

LPC determination: NO ACTION

Item 7
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
173138- Block 144, lot 40-
60 Hudson Street – Individual Landmark and Interior Landmark

A Dutch and German Expressionist/Art Deco style communications building designed by Voorhees, Gmelin, and Walker and built in 1928-30. Application is to amend Certificate of Appropriateness 06-5630 governing the future installation of mechanical equipment and louvers, and window replacement.

HDC has serious reservations about this application. We have asked before for a master plan of this building, but we are still being presented with piecemeal applications.  Some members of our Committee have begun to wonder if the lack of the requested master plan is being used as a way to incrementally encroach upon this prominent individual landmark.  We ask the Commission to ensure that this alteration be made as invisible as possible, and that a master plan for future alterations to this building is created. The wedding cake set backs are a quintessential feature of this building, style, and era. What good are they if they are being erased with painted generators?

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 10
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
166612- Block 149, lot 29-
287 Broadway – Individual Landmark

An Italianate and French Second Empire style building designed by John B. Snook and built in 1871-72. Application is to alter the facades, install new storefronts and construct rooftop bulkheads.

This building was structurally compromised in 2008 after a construction for a 20-story condo went up next door, and has been leaning ever since.  HDC commends the applicant for restoring this irreplaceable individual landmark, especially going the extra mile and crowning this building with its original cresting, a long-lost feature.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 12
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
172190- Block 578, lot 64-
32 Dominick Street – Individual Landmark

A Federal style rowhouse built c. 1826. Application is to construct a rear yard addition and alter a dormer.

This Federal house is lucky to be with us today, as the construction of the Holland Tunnel swallowed everything in its path, only feet from this home. What’s more is that this individual landmark has remained miraculously unchanged in footprint and detail for nearly two centuries.  It is widely accepted that this building type is the most precious and the rarest surviving in New York, which in itself is a commodity. Why anyone would want to alter a dormer on a Federal style rowhouse should consider buying another piece of property. The proposed rear alteration to this relic of history turns a coveted treasure into a suburban condo. Plenty of this taste and square footage can be found just across the Hudson River, through the tunnel.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 16
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
170663- Block 1129, lot 55-
44 West 77th Street – Central Park West – West 76th Street Historic District

A neo-Gothic style studio building designed by Harde & Short and built in 1907-09. Application is to replace windows.

No detail was spared on this building, even on a secondary façade, the ornate window configuration a testament to this.  HDC does not support the removal of these special windows. Care should be taken to restore them, in turn preserving some memory of the original grandeur of this building.

LPC determination: APPROVED

Item 17
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
164279- Block 1129, lot 9-
41 West 76th Street – Central Park West – West 76th Street Historic District

A Romanesque Revival style rowhouse designed by G. A. Schillinger and built in 1891-93. Application is to construct a rooftop addition and modify the rear façade and rear ell, alter the areaway and paint the façade.

 As with so many Upper West Side applications, HDC asks, what is really left of these old buildings after these rears are altered?  The current proposal has a fish-bowl appearance, and the proportions are not relative to the building, or each other. Assuming that this trend of completely re-building the rears of townhouses one day becomes undesirable, we ask the Commission to ensure that enough historic fabric remains on these facades to prevent a situation where historic districts in wealthy areas of the city have been reduced to pure facadism.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 18
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
171185- Block 1892, lot 60-
324-326 West 108th Street – Riverside – West End Extension II Historic District

Two Renaissance Revval style rowhouses designed by Janes & Leo and built in 1898-99. Application is to construct rooftop and rear yard additions and bulkheads, replace windows, doors and ironwork, and alter openings.

We ask the Commissioners today to review this application with a fresh pair of eyes, and determine appropriateness by a historic district standard, not by what the neighbor did next door. The neighbor is an example of the type work that transpired while this block was heard, but not designated from 2011 until this past summer. This is too much, and like the previous application and the one after this one, is essentially building a brand new building. It should be noted, too, that the rooftop bulk is indeed visible, as documented by neighbors.

LPC determination: APPROVED w/mods

Item 19
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
174002- Block 1889, lot 28-
320 West 101st Street – Riverside – West End Extension II Historic District

A Beaux Arts style rowhouse designed by George F. Pelham and built in 1900-01. Application is to construct a rear yard addition and rooftop bulkhead, and modify masonry openings.

(Echoing previous West Side applications…)This intact rear yard of townhouses has their historic window openings and els in situ. We ask the Commission to deny this full-width townhouse expansion, and preserve some memory of the historic fabric.

LPC determination: APPROVED