LPC rule change debated

Rule amendment would expand staff-level approval authority for some types of window and sign alterations. On March 1, 2011, Landmarks held a public hearing on proposed amendments to the rules pertaining to construction work on properties under Landmarks’ jurisdiction. Landmarks proposed the changes to streamline the application review process, codify current practices and policies, and address inconsistencies. Chair Robert B. Tierney stated that the proposal was partially intended to remove from the calendar issues that … <Read More>


Interior of Modernist bank building landmarked

Image: Courtesy LPC

First- and second-floor interiors of four-story Manufacturers Trust Company Building designated. On February 15, 2011, Landmarks designated, as an interior landmark, the first two floors of the Manufacturers Trust Company Building at 510 Fifth Avenue in Midtown, Manhattan. Landmarks designated the former bank building’s fourstory glass and aluminum exterior as an individual City landmark in 1997. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the Modernist structure, which opened as a bank in 1954, … <Read More>


Tribeca hotel considered

87 Chambers Street. Image: Courtesy of Goldstein, Hill & West Architects

Proposed eight-story hotel would replace collapsed building on throughblock lot fronting Chambers and Reade Streets. On February 8, 2011, Landmarks considered Fishman Holdings’ proposal to build a new eight-story hotel on a now-vacant lot at 87 Chambers Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca South Historic District. The through-block lot has frontages on Chambers and Reade Streets and is located between Church Street and Broadway. In … <Read More>


Sandy Ground designations

569 & 565 Bloomingdale Road. Image: Courtesy of LPC.

Four buildings date to 19th century community founded by African- American freedmen. On February 1, 2011, Landmarks celebrated the beginning of Black History Month by designating as landmarks four buildings in the Sandy Ground community of Rossville, Staten Island. Sandy Ground was established in the 19th century as one of the country’s earliest African-American freedmen communities. The community grew when African-American oystermen migrated from the Chesapeake … <Read More>


Addisleigh Park Historic District designated

Addisleigh Park Historic District. Image Courtesy of LPC.

African-American enclave in suburban Queens was home to celebrated musicians, entertainers, and athletes. On February 1, 2011, Landmarks created the Addisleigh Park Historic District in the suburban neighborhood of St. Albans, Queens. The district includes more than 420 buildings built between 1910 and the 1930s and features Tudor Revival, Colonial Revival, and Arts and Crafts architecture.

The area was originally developed as an all-white community; restrictive covenants … <Read More>


Council rejects designation of Queens church building

Courtesy LPC

Opposition by Grace Episcopal Church to the landmarking of its Memorial Hall only emerged after Landmarks approved designation. On January 18, 2011, the City Council rejected Landmarks’ designation of the Grace Episcopal Church Memorial Hall at 155-24 90th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. Grace Episcopal Church was founded in 1702 and is one of the country’s oldest Episcopal parishes. The church’s main building and graveyard were landmarked in 1967, and Landmarks calendared the Memorial … <Read More>