No Opposition to South Village Designation Proposal

Proposed historic district would encompass approximately 250 buildings south of Washington Square Park. On June 25, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposed South Village Historic District. The proposed district is roughly bounded by Washington Square to the north and Houston Street to the south, between Sixth Avenue and LaGuardia Place. The proposed district is comprised of approximately 250 buildings, primarily residential, though also includes commercial and institutional structures.… <Read More>


Sidewalk Cafe Legislation Calls for Earlier Hours, Efficient Application Process [UPDATE: Brunch Bill Approved]

Community boards fight City Council on shortened sidewalk cafe review period. On May 7, 2013, the City Council’s Committee on Consumer Affairs held a joint hearing with the Land Use Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee to discuss proposed amendments to sidewalk cafe regulations. Introductions 875-2012, 876-A-2012, and 1039-2013 seek to expand sidewalk cafe hours and streamline the sidewalk cafe licensing and registration process.

Sidewalk cafes are licensed and monitored by the City’s Department of Consumer Affairs<Read More>


Author Ralph Ellison’s Former Riverside Apartment Complex Considered for Landmarking [UPDATE: Beaumont Designated]

See below for update.

Residents, local cultural organizations, and preservationists testified in support of designation of ornate Arts & Crafts-style apartment building; owners deny any architectural significance. On June 18, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential individual landmark designation of the Beaumont Apartments, at 730 Riverside Drive at the corner of 150th Street, in Harlem. The building was constructed in 1912-1913 to the designs of George and Edward Blum, … <Read More>


Wide Support Voiced for Designation of Carnegie Library [UPDATE: Seward Park Library Designated]

See below for update.

Testimony supporting designation of 1909 library focused on institution’s importance to generations of Lower East Side’s immigrant communities. On April 2, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the potential landmark designation of the Seward Park branch of the New York Public Library. The branch, located at 192 East Broadway, is a Renaissance Revival building that was completed in 1909 to designs from the firm of Babb, … <Read More>


Second Hearing for Marine Midland Bank Designation [UPDATE: Bank Designation OK’d]

See below for update.

Preservationists turned out to support designation of mid-century modern bank building. On April 2, 2013 and May 14, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission heard testimony on the potential designation of the Marine Midland Bank building at 140 Broadway in Manhattan’s Financial District. The building was designed by the Gordon Bunshaft-helmed firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and exemplifies mid-century modernism in its unadorned curtain walls of black aluminum and bronze-tinted … <Read More>


Turn-of-the-Century Carousel Considered as City Landmark [UPDATE: Carousel Designated as a “compelling artifact of an earlier era”]

See below for update.

Forest Park Carousel is one of two remaining examples of the work of German immigrant wood-carver. On June 11, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential designation of the Forest Park Carousel in Queens’ Forest Park as an individual City landmark. The original carousel at the site burned in 1966. The current carousel, built in 1903, was located and purchased from a Connecticut architect in 1971. … <Read More>