Former Piano Showroom City’s Newest Interior Landmark

Reception room and hallway of ornate Steinway & Sons piano showroom, designed by Warren & Wetmore, date to 1925. On September 10, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the hallway and reception room of the former Steinway & Sons retail space at 109 West 57th Street as an interior City landmark. The interior is housed in a 16-story building designed by the firm of Warren & Wetmore, the architects behind other prominent City … <Read More>


Council Approved Bed-Stuy HD Expansion

Council’s subcommittee heard numerous voices urging ratification of historic district expansion. At its stated meeting on August 22, 2013, the City Council voted unanimously to approve the Landmark designation of the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. The designation covers approximately 825 buildings.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the expanded district in April of 2013, after a well-attended January hearing. The expansion drew strong support from area residents and preservationists. However, a few … <Read More>


Jacques Ely Kahn-Designed Manufacturing Building City’s Newest Individual Landmark

Modern classical structure, completed in 1930, was built as part of an industrial development of the area following the opening of the Holland Tunnel. On August 6, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Holland Plaza Building, at 75 Varick Street in Manhattan, as an individual landmark. The 1930 building was designed by Jacques Ely Kahn, a prolific New York-based architect who was also responsible for the Municipal Asphalt Plant, and … <Read More>


Willets Point Proposal Heard at City Planning Commission

23-acre proposal will include environmental cleanup, expressway ramps, affordable housing, and retail and entertainment complex. The City Planning Commission held a public hearing on land use actions to facilitate Phase 1 of the Willets Point Development Project on July 10, 2013. The application was submitted by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the Queens Development Group, LLC, a joint venture of Sterling Equities and Related Companies. Phase 1, to be split into … <Read More>


San Gimignano and New York City

In the fourteenth century wealthy Tuscan families in San Gimignano built narrow, overly tall towers as a show of economic power and to defend themselves during the wars between the Guelfs and Ghibellines. Today tourists see the towers as curious, oversized stone steles. Were the descendants of those San Gimignano families to tour New York City they would feel at home in some of the new residential towers being built in Manhattan.


BAM South Cultural and Residential Tower Approved by Council

Local Council Member Letitia James reaches agreements with developers and City to increase affordable housing, preserve nearby public library. 22 Lafayette LLC and the NYC Economic Development Corporation proposed to develop a cultural space and residential tower and plaza at 113 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. The site for development is a triangular lot bounded by Flatbush and Lafayette Avenues and Ashland Place. The lot was previously the subject of a 2007 request for proposals<Read More>