Mark Silberman Brings Legislative and Litigation Experience to Landmarks

Hobbled by a bad back and recently returned from vacation, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s General Counsel Mark Silberman sat down with CityLand to talk about his role at the Commission and Landmarks’ role in the City. He brings a perspective on the broader role of historic preservation nationally and in our culture.

A young environmentalist. Raised in Illinois and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, Silberman began his career in government … <Read More>


Site of proposed mosque near WTC decalendared

45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. Image: CityLand

Owner of 1850s-era building, calendared by Landmarks in 1989, intends to redevelop site into thirteen- story mosque and community center. On August 3, 2010, Landmarks declined to designate as an individual landmark an 1850s-era building at 45 Park Place, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site. The five-story store-and-loft building reflects Italian Renaissance palazzo-style architecture and includes a ground-floor … <Read More>


Attorney Michael T. Sillerman Discusses Current Issues in Land Use

Land use attorney Michael T. Sillerman is often teased by his co-workers that he won’t work on a project unless there is a Pritzker Architecture Prize winner onboard. Although Sillerman doesn’t think that’s entirely true, he admits that his favorite part of being a land use attorney is how it overlaps with his love of architecture. As co-chair of Kramer Levin’s land use department, Sillerman typically spends as much time talking to architects and city … <Read More>


Bluestone-clad, eight-story building approved

In 2008 Landmarks approved for the same NoHo site a similarly sized building that was to be clad in limestone. On May 11, 2010, Landmarks approved DDG Partners’ revised proposal to build an eight-story residential building at 41 Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo Historic District Extension. In 2008 and 2009, the lot’s former owner had obtained a certificate of appropriateness from Landmarks and a use variance from the Board of Standards & Appeals in … <Read More>


West Chelsea rooftop additions approved

Proposed rooftop additions for three former factory buildings at 515 through 521 West 26th Street in Chelsea. Image: Courtesy of Murdock Young Architects.

Commissioners found additions’ visibility appropriate for Chelsea and the nearby High Line. On February 9, 2010, Landmarks approved 513 West 26th Street LLC’s proposal to construct rooftop additions on three, conjoined former factory buildings at 515 through 521 West 26th Street in the West Chelsea Historic District. The brick factory buildings, built … <Read More>


Landmarks rejects extension of Ocean on the Park District

Vacant lot at 185 Ocean Avenue, adjacent to the recently-designated Ocean on the Park Historic District in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Photo: CityLand.

Following the Ocean on the Park Historic District designation vote, Landmarks agreed to consider extending district to include adjacent vacant lot. On December 15, 2009, Landmarks declined to extend Brooklyn’s recently- designated Ocean on the Park Historic District to include an adjacent vacant lot at 185 Ocean Avenue. Landmarks designated the Ocean on the … <Read More>