A vote of 39 to 10 of the full City Council approved the controversial nomination of the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s newest member, Margery H. Perlmutter, a land use attorney with Bryan Cave LLP. Preservationists viewed Perlmutter’s nomination as antithetical to the mission of Landmarks since her law practice, particularly her appearances before BSA, the Planning Commission and Landmarks itself, required Perlmutter to register with the City as a lobbyist. Proponents viewed this experience and Perlmutter’s … <Read More>
Variance for Red Hook condos sent back to BSA
BSA’s reliance on a single-use feasibility study deemed insufficient. In 2003, BSA granted a variance to 160 Imlay Street Real Estate LLC to convert a vacant, 220,000-square-foot Red Hook industrial building into 150 luxury residential condominiums with ground floor retail. When members of the Red Hook- Gowanus Chamber of Commerce filed an article 78 petition challenging the variance, the City asked the court to dismiss the proceeding since the Chamber failed to add Imlay as … <Read More>
Lawsuit alleging cancer advances
Families near Pelham Bay landfill claim infants’ cancers caused by chemicals at dump. Sanitation closed its 81-acre landfill in Pelham Bay, Bronx in 1979 following 16 years of operations and increasing complaints over odors and a yellow mist emanating from the site. In 1983, the state declared the dump an inactive hazardous waste site prompting the City to sue 15 corporations in 1985, alleging that the corporations illegally dumped hazardous chemicals. Later that year, Sanitation … <Read More>
Harlem theater and Staten Island house designated
Photoplays theater built in 1914. The Claremont Theater building, located at 3320-3328 Broadway in Harlem, Manhattan, is one of the oldest structures in New York City constructed specifically for showing motion pictures, originally called “photoplays.” The 1914 theater was designed in the neo-Renaissance style and faced in white terra cotta and white glazed brick by architect Gaetano Ajello, best-known for his apartment buildings on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The building has an unusual arrangement with … <Read More>
Rooftop penthouse approved
Removal of water tower does not alter the historic character of Fifth Avenue building. Landmarks approved an application by Savanna Partners for removal of a water tower and rooftop mechanical equipment at 141 Fifth Avenue in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, Manhattan, in order to allow construction of a new penthouse addition. The approval also permits Savanna to install a new curved storefront, replicate historic columns, and partially remove the rear facade, expanding the building … <Read More>
Landmarks designates civic construction projects
Two WPA projects and firehouse designated. On June 20, 2006, Landmarks unanimously approved the designation of the Bronx’s Orchard Beach Bathhouse, Queen’s Astoria Play Center and a 1904 firehouse in Long Island City, Queens, home to Fire Engine Company No. 258, Ladder Company No. 115.
Both constructed in the midst of the Great Depression under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses and using the Works Progress Administration funds, the Orchard Beach Bathhouse and the Astoria Play Center … <Read More>