Landmarks considers 1911 printing plant

Owners of former engraving plant welcome landmark designation. Landmarks heard testimony on the possible designation of the American Bank Note Company Printing Plant on January 15, 2008. The architects of the plant, Kirby Petit & Green, also designed the American Bank Note Company’s Manhattan offices on Broad Street, which the City designated as a landmark in 1997.

The plant’s design emphasizes security as well as aesthetics, with only one entrance along the over 1,500 feet … <Read More>


Early 20th century rooming house heard

Owner of renaissance-style building willing to accommodate landmark status. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks heard testimony on the Allerton 39th Street House, built between 1916 and 1918 at 145 East 39th Street in the East Side of Manhattan. The building was one of six Allerton Houses in the City, a chain of residences and clubs that served young middle-class men until the mid- 1920s. Arthur Loomis Harmon, who later worked on the Empire State Building, … <Read More>


Landmarks Designates New DUMBO Historic District

Local elected officials behind push for designation. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks voted to designate a portion of the DUMBO area as an historic district. DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, served as a center for American manufacturing beginning in the 19th century. The architecture of its industrial buildings range in materials from brick and timber to reinforced concrete. In the 1970s, young artists began moving to the area and … <Read More>


Council OKs Eberhard Faber Pencil Hist. Dist

Historic district includes buildings from Brooklyn’s bygone industrial age. On January 30, 2008, the City Council voted to approve Landmarks’ designation of the Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Historic District, located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, between West and Kent Streets along Greenpoint Avenue. The factory buildings serve as an example of the German Renaissance Revival style, with some buildings dating as far back as the 1880s. In 2005, the Department of Buildings issued permits … <Read More>


Landmarks designates 19th century school

Designation does not include adjacent lot to accommodate trade group. Landmarks voted on November 20, 2007 to designate the former P.S. 90 building in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The Round-Arch style building dates back to 1878 and was built by John Y Culyer, chief engineer of Prospect Park and designer of the nearby Flatbush Town Hall. Landmarks first held a public hearing on the building back in 1989.

At the September 18th public hearing, representatives from the … <Read More>


Landmarks rejects Mariners’ Family Asylum bldg.

Elected officials saw designation as obstacle to expansion of foster care facility. On November 20, 2007, Landmarks removed the Mariners’ Family Asylum building from its designation calendar, allowing its current owner, New York Foundling Hospital, to move forward with its development plan.

Built in 1852, the Italianate Villa style building was originally known as the Seamens’ Retreat and housed widows and other family members of New York seamen. Progressive in its time, it was entirely … <Read More>