PUBLIC HEARING TESTIMONY
LPC-26-00010
233 Park Lane – Douglaston Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
An Arts and Crafts bungalow style free-standing house designed by David W. Terwilliger and built in 1911. Application is to enclose a porch and modify a stoop.
Architect: Kevin Wolfe Architect, PC
HDC finds this proposal to be appropriate and well designed.
Action: Unanimously approved with modifications- work on detailing and transparency of the porch, and retain the corbelling
LPC-25-12929
113 Noble Street – Greenpoint Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
An Italianate style frame house built c. 1861. Application is to alter the front façade and construct rooftop and rear yard additions.
Architect: The Brooklyn Studio
Brendan Coburn is a member of HDC’s Public Review Committee. He presented this item to the committee but was recused from the discussion.
HDC finds this proposal to be largely appropriate, but we have a couple of comments. Firstly, we wonder if the rooftop railing could be pushed back from the front cornice line.
Secondly, we find the novelty shingles to be an interesting feature from a later alteration, and we think the applicant should consider retaining them.
Action: Unanimously approved with modifications- railing should be pushed back from front cornice line and materiality of stoop should be worked on with staff
LPC-25-03800
62 Cambridge Place – Clinton Hill Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A French Second Empire style house designed by William Rushmore and built c. 1863. Application is to construct an addition above the attached garage and an accessory structure at the rear yard.
Architect: SpaceExploration; Kushner Studios
HDC finds this proposal to be largely appropriate. However, there are a few architectural elements that we find in need of further development and study.
First, we find the way the proposed tea porch sits atop the garage to be tentative and insubstantial – somehow, the base of the tea porch should become more robust.
Secondly, we find the use of the flat arch windows of varying widths on the addition to be in hierarchical conflict with the building’s main facade. Flattening them out in a way similar to the 1940s second-floor addition would likely improve the design.
Action: Unanimously approved- work with staff on the base of the tea porch
LPC-26-03564
33 Joralemon Street – Brooklyn Heights Historic District
MISCELLANEOUS – AMENDMENT
A new building under construction. Application is to amend Certificate of Appropriateness 24-00936 for constructing a new building, to include excavating the rear yard.
Architect: SH
HDC supports the concerns of the Brooklyn Heights Association regarding the excavation and the lack of detailing in the presentation.
Action: Unanimously approved
LPC-25-12524
183 Prospect Place – Prospect Heights Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
An Italianate/Neo-Grec style rowhouse designed by F. B. Lincoln and built c. 1877. Application is to construct rooftop and rear yard additions.
HDC could find this proposal appropriate, but our Committee did not find the documentation of the building’s context to be sufficient to render an accurate point of view. Understanding how this project will interact with its neighbors is key to our being able to support this proposal.
Action: Unanimously approved with modifications- deck should be reduced to align with the neighbor and the dormer should match the neighbor
LPC-26-03266
206 Water Street – Titanic Memorial Lighthouse – South Street Seaport Historic District
BINDING REPORT
A lighthouse structure salvaged from the demolished Seamen’s Church Institute Building in 1968, and reinstated at its current location in 1976. Application is to install signage.
Architect: South Street Seaport Museum
HDC finds the billboard like signage on this recently restored memorial lighthouse to be inappropriate. We recommend placing historically appropriate signage in a location nearby. If signage is to be placed on the lighthouse, we recommend it possess a more artistic and historic character that reads as a mural instead of an advertisement.
Action: Unanimously approved
LPC-26-02451
616 Avenue of the Americas – Ladies’ Mile Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A Beaux-Arts style department store building designed by DeLemos & Cordes and built in 1895-97. Application is to install signage.
Architect: Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, LLC
HDC is not opposed to most reversible signage; however, we could not tell what was proposed vs. existing in this presentation and therefore could not come to a conclusion on its appropriateness.
Action: Unanimously approved
LPC-26-03160
985 Fifth Avenue – Metropolitan Museum Historic District
MISCELLANEOUS – AMENDMENT
An apartment building designed by Wechsler & Schimenti and built in 1969-70. Application is to amend Certificate of Appropriateness 24-05651 for demolishing the existing building and constructing a new building, including enlarging and redesigning certain aspects of the new building.
HDC finds this proposal to be inappropriate. We share and support the concerns of FRIENDS of the UPPER EAST SIDE regarding the enlargement of the Fifth Avenue footprint and the removal of The Castle, Priscilla Kopel’s steel sculpture.
HDC is also deeply concerned about the loss of privately owned public space, which was created in 1969 to allow the developer to build a larger building. This proposal seeks to construct a taller and bulkier building and eliminate a large part of this cherished public space. We find this unacceptable and unnecessary.
Action: Unanimously approved with modifications- work with staff on the detailing of the crown and the fenestration
LPC-26-03037
260 Lenox Avenue – Mount Morris Park Historic District
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS
A rowhouse designed by Charles H. Beer and built in 1885-86. Application is to install storefront infill and construct a rooftop addition.
Architect: Ayon Studio
HDC finds this proposal to be largely appropriate. We would like to see the rooftop addition pushed back 3 feet from the rear façade, and we wonder if the applicant might consider bringing more brick into the base to balance out the glassiness.
Action: Unanimously approved with modifications- work with staff on storefront, and setback the rooftop addition from the rear
