Renovation of Fifth Avenue landmark blocked

Preliminary injunction issued after preservationists claim renovations exceeded proposal approved by Landmarks. In April 2011, Landmarks approved Vornado Realty Trust’s proposal to renovate the Manufacturers Trust Company Building at 510 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Landmarks designated the Skidmore, Owens & Merrill-designed, glass and metal building as an individual City landmark in 1997. In February 2011, Landmarks designated the building’s first two floors as an interior landmark.

Shortly after the interior landmarking, Vornado proposed … <Read More>


Midtown’s East 54th Street bathhouse designated

342 East 54th Street in Midtown, Manhattan.

East 54th Street building provided public bathing facilities to tenement residents. On May 10, 2011, Landmarks designated the East 54th Street Bath and Gymnasium at 342-348 East 54th Street in Manhattan as an individual City landmark. Werner & Windolph completed the three-story, Classical Revival building for the City in 1911. The redbrick building features a large stone cornice, tripartite arched openings, and four Doric columns featuring capitals adorned … <Read More>


Three Manhattan buildings individually designated

The Eleventh Street Methodist Episcopal Chapel in the East village. Image: LPC

Landmarks unanimously voted to protect a five-story building on Bowery, a Canal Street theater, and an East Village church. On September 7, 2010, Landmarks designated three Manhattan buildings as individual City landmarks. Landmarks unanimously approved a five-story cast-iron building at 97 Bowery, the terra cotta-adorned Loew’s Canal Street Theatre, and the Gothic-Revival style Eleventh Street Methodist Episcopal Chapel.

The Lower East Side’s 97 … <Read More>


BSA legalizes sixth floor, but not penthouse

BSA had previously revoked permit for buildings’ existing two-story addition. In 2007, the owner of two pre-1948 five-story buildings at 514 and 516 East 6th Street in Manhattan obtained an alteration permit and enlarged the buildings by two stories. The enlarged buildings did not comply with the Multiple Dwelling Law’s fire safety requirements, but Buildings permitted the owner to provide alternative fire safety upgrades. A tenant appealed the decision to BSA, claiming that Buildings was … <Read More>


Addition to Battery Maritime Building modified

Proposed three-story and penthouse addition reduced by two stories. On July 27, 2010, Landmarks approved the City’s Economic Development Corporation and the Dermot Company’s application to reduce a previously approved rooftop addition for the landmarked Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street along Lower Manhattan’s waterfront. The original proposal called for a three-story glass addition plus a penthouse. It was approved by Landmarks in February 2008 and the City Council in March 2009. 6 CityLand <Read More>


Grand Concourse Historic District considered

Elected officials,residents,and preservationists supported Landmarks protection for proposed district’s 73 properties. On June 22, 2010, Landmarks heard testimony on the designation of the Bronx’s Grand Concourse Historic District. The district would encompass 73 properties along the Grand Concourse between 153rd and 167th Streets and portions of Walton and Gerard Avenues. The “Grand Boulevard and Concourse” was designed by French engineer Louis Reiss and completed in 1909 to connect Manhattan residents to the Bronx. The area … <Read More>