HDC@LPC – December 9, 2014

Proposed Central Ridgewood Historic District

 

PROPOSED FOR DESIGNATION
Nine hundred and ninety buildings with various styles and various architects built in the early
20th century.

HDC is pleased to note that the Landmarks Commission has scheduled a vote on the very large Central Ridgewood Historic District at tomorrow’s Public Hearing. The proposed 990-building historic district will be Queen’s newest and largest locally-designated historic district and is part of one of the largest National Register Historic Districts in New York State.

At the 2011 public hearing, HDC spoke in support of the LPC designation saying, “It is interesting to reflect that the same years these buildings were being constructed, there were still spectacular mansions being built along Fifth Avenue for New York’s moneyed class. Ironically, most of those buildings are now gone, demolished in the race to the next new thing, and Ridgewood remains both with us and viable.” 

We are very appreciative that the Landmarks Commission is bringing this forward for a vote – and we look forward to the LPC’s continued survey and designation activity.

LPC determination: Unanimously approved

A neo-French Renaissance style garden apartment building designed by Andrew J. Thomas and built in 1922-23. Application is to install ironwork, awning and lighting.HDC feels that adding an awning is a mistake. It will cover up the primary entrance and its distinguished gothic archway, the focal point of the building. As an alternative, the Committee suggests moving the new gate and intercom inside of the tunnel, eliminating the need for the canopy completely. Also, the Committee found the use of metal mesh applied on both of the new gates entries excessive. If anything, making a fence more opaque is antithetical to security concerns, and we ask that this material be concentrated near the gate handles if absolutely necessary.

154647- Block 2382, lot 13-28 Fillmore Place – Fillmore Place Historic DistrictAn Italianate style flats building built in 1854. Application is to reconstruct the primary façade.HDC asks that the treatment of the base of the building be re-examined: it appears to be brownstone, not brick in the tax photograph. As the entire façade is to be reconstructed, it is best to be reassembled correctly. We ask that LPC staff work carefully on this project with the applicant so that as much original material is reused as possible, as 1850s brick are an increasingly rare commodity in New York City.

LPC determination: Approved

162115- Block 1103, lot 16-454 14th Street – Park Slope Historic DistrictA late Romanesque Revival style rowhouse built in 1894-95. Application is to replace windows.The Committee appreciates the applicant’s pursuit of returning this window back to its original configuration. We ask that the Commission look closely to the tax photo, which reveals what appears to be a single hung window with a fixed transom, which at first glance appears to be a double hung cut directly in the middle.

Item 7

CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS

BOROUGH OF Manhattan

163954- Block 474, lot 26-

38 Greene Street – SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District

A store and warehouse building with French and Italianate style elements designed by Griffith Thomas and built in 1867. Application is to construct a rooftop addition.

One of the defining features of the Soho-Cast Iron Historic District is the culmination of cast-iron into fabulous pressed metal cornices. These monumental terminations sculpt the SoHo street experience into a cornice skyline, and this over-scaled addition would effectively erase these defining edges from no. 38 as well as its neighbors. HDC feels that this addition is large enough to be its own building, and its reflective materiality will call attention to itself. In short, it will be visible from everywhere. If an addition is to be built that is permitted to be visible, it should establish a working relationship to the building it occupies and embrace the context it sits within.

HDC finds this proposal an improvement to the existing door entries, notably the selection of statuary bronze, a quality material. After examining the applicant’s boards, the Committee noticed that an adjacent, original doorway remains on this building. HDC suggests working from this design: the proportions work better, and wood is more cost-effective than statuary bronze.

LPC determination: Approved

Items 10-11

CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS

BOROUGH OF Manhattan

163760- Block 1216, lot 6-

159-161 West 85th Street – Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District

A pair of altered combined rowhouses originally built in the Queen Anne style, designed by John G. Prague and built in 1890-91. Application is to construct a rear yard addition.

HDC found that this rear façade appeared too much like a front façade, especially with its eye-catching champagne anodized aluminum panels. The Committee suggests employing a historic material that is found in the district and also one that will weather well. Copper or zinc-coated copper are two suggestions. This two-story extension reaches all the way to the corbelled cornice and crowds it. The Committee suggests eliminating the fourth story extension, which seems like an excessive addition to two adjoined rowhouses.

LPC determination: No Action