LPC-26-01951
277 Canal Street, aka 277-289 Canal Street, and 418-422 Broadway – SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District Extension
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A Renaissance Revival style theater, store, and loft building designed by David M. Oltarsh and built 1927-28. Application is to construct a vertical enlargement and establish a master plan governing the installation of storefront infill and signage.
Architect: Morris Adjmi Architects
The Historic Districts Council finds the proposed enlargement excessive in height and scale. While we appreciate the effort to create an architecturally expressive addition, the proposal is substantially larger than earlier approved iterations and risks overwhelming both the historic building and its neighbors. We urge the applicant to reduce the overall height of the addition to achieve a more contextually appropriate building for this historic district.
Action: No action. Applicant must return to the Commission with either more rationale for the current height, or a design that reduces the height and scale of the vertical extension.
LPC-26-10002
1181 Broadway – Madison Square North Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A Classical Revival style office building designed by Alfred Zucker and built in 1896 and later altered in 1973. Application is to modify the ground floor and install storefront infill and a canopy, create new masonry openings, and construct courtyard and rooftop additions and install rooftop mechanical equipment.
Architect: bench architecture
The Historic Districts Council finds the ground-floor work appropriate and an improvement.
However, we are concerned that the proposed rooftop addition competes with the building’s most distinctive architectural features: the prominent corner temple and the triangular pediment. As proposed, the new construction diminishes the visual prominence of these defining elements, altering the building’s silhouette. We thus urge the applicant to either reduce the height of the rooftop addition, or refine its design to be more deferential to these significant architectural features.
Action: No action. Applicant must return to the Commission with a rooftop addition that does not compete so significantly with the historic corner temple.
LPC-26-06258
313 West 77th Street – West End-Collegiate Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A Romanesque/English Renaissance Revival style rowhouse designed by Van Campen Taylor and built in 1890-92. Application is to alter the areaway, legalize dormer alterations done without Landmarks Preservation Commission permits, and modify the top floor of the rear façade.
Architect: The Turett Collaborative
The Historic Districts Council has concerns about the areaway alterations. While we can support the kneewall extension, we find the proposed ironwork inappropriate.
The fencing is not characteristic of the block, where the surrounding rowhouses largely retain their low masonry enclosures without additional ironwork. Its placement atop decorative carved masonry elements creates an awkward relationship with the historic fabric that distracts from these ornamental features. We encourage the applicant to eliminate the proposed ironwork entirely.
Action: Denial of the legalization of dormer, approved of rear facade window and areaway alterations.
LPC-26-10943
Central Park – Kerbs Memorial Boathouse – Scenic Landmark
BINDING REPORT
A boathouse, designed by Aymar Embury II and built in 1954, within an English Romantic style public park designed in 1857-58 by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Application is to construct additions, modify masonry openings, and install a canopy and security gates.
Architect: Ennead Architects
The Historic Districts Council supports much of the restorative work proposed for the existing building.
Our only concern is in regards to the ribbon-window treatment proposed for the additions. While we recognize that these additions will have limited public visibility, we believe they introduce a contemporary design vocabulary that is not in keeping with the character of the historic boathouse. Rather than continuous ribbon windows, the additions should incorporate punched windows that draw from the existing south wing’s east elevation.
Action: Approved.
LPC-26-11219
98 Montague Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A hotel building designed by Frank Helmle and built in 1909. Application is to construct rooftop and courtyard additions and install rooftop mechanical equipment and install a new window assembly in a blind opening.
Architect: SLCE Architects
The Historic Districts Council finds the scale and overall massing of the proposed addition generally acceptable. However, we are concerned that the design lacks sufficient architectural articulation.
The treatment of the cornice line and the three-story addition above read as overly simplified and do little to complement the character of the historic building below. We encourage the applicant to further refine these elements and introduce greater articulation to the design.
Action: No action. Applicant directed to revise the rooftop additions and reconsider the railing materials before returning.
LPC-26-08562
184 Lincoln Place – Park Slope Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A neo-Grec style rowhouse designed by William Flanagan and built in 1882. Application is to construct a rooftop addition and trellis.
Architect: A + C
The Historic Districts Council appreciates the proposed trellis and finds it an appropriate rooftop feature.
However, we are concerned that the rooftop addition is overly visible and reads primarily as a large bulkhead. We encourage the applicant to further reduce its visibility by increasing the setback from the front façade and exploring ways to lower or slope the front portion of the bulkhead. Such modifications would help the addition remain more subordinate to the historic rowhouse.
Action: Approved.
LPC-25-12172
37-25 78th Street – Jackson Heights Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
An Anglo-American Garden Home style attached house designed by Benjamin Dreisler, Jr. and built in 1926-27. Application is to legalize the replacement of windows and the installation of an areaway wall and fence without Landmarks Preservation Commission permit(s).
The Historic Districts Council generally does not support legalizations undertaken without Landmarks Preservation Commission approval. In this case, we particularly question the appropriateness of the replacement windows, which do not appear to match the character and material quality typically associated with the district’s historic garden apartment houses.
We also ask LPC to clarify whether the wire mesh attached to the areaway fence is regulated by the agency. If so, we recommend its removal. While the fence itself may be appropriate, the addition of wire mesh creates an unnecessarily hostile appearance that is uncharacteristic of this residential historic district.
Action: Approved.