Courthouse and bank in Queens designated

Queens General Court

Supporters claimed that buildings needed protection after City approved Jamaica rezoning in 2007. On October 26, 2010, Landmarks designated the Jamaica Savings Bank and the Queens General Courthouse as individual landmarks. Both buildings were subjects of public hearings on February 9, 2010, and received broad support from the community and preservationists, who argued that the area’s historic buildings needed protection after the City rezoned the area in 2007.

Constructed in 1939, … <Read More>


After-the-fact, illegal restaurant facade considered

47 West 8th Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District

Restaurant owner replaced stucco, altered windows, and installed fake ivy without obtaining Landmarks’ approval. On October 19, 2010, Landmarks considered a proposal to legalize facade alterations to the storefront of a Greek Revival townhouse at 47 West 8th Street in the Greenwich Village Historic District. The four-story townhouse was built in 1845, and the first two stories of its facade were altered in the early … <Read More>


Ridgewood South Historic District approved

New district in southern Queens provided high-quality housing to largely immigrant community in the early 20th century. On October 26, 2010, Landmarks approved the creation of the Ridgewood South Historic District in Ridgewood, Queens. The district comprises more than 200 buildings, and is generally bounded by Woodward Avenue, a line midway between Onderdonk and Seneca Avenues, and Catalpa Avenue and Woodbine Street near Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood. The action follows the designation of the Ridgewood North … <Read More>


Three new Brooklyn historic districts considered

Image: Courtesy LPC

Broad support voiced for extending Park Slope district, creating new district in Wallabout neighborhood, and protecting row of buildings in Crown Heights. On October 26, 2010, Landmarks considered designating three new Brooklyn historic districts. Landmarks held separate hearings on the proposed Park Slope Historic District Extension, the Wallabout Historic District, and the Park Place Historic District.

The proposed Park Slope extension would encompass 582 buildings located southwest of the original Park Slope … <Read More>


Guggenheim’s sidewalk food kiosk rejected

Museum sought to have its own food kiosk; claimed it would reduce concentration of food cart vendors outside main entrance. On October 19, 2010, Landmarks rejected a proposal to build a small, curvilinear food kiosk in front of the land-marked Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The Guggenheim and Restaurant Associates, which manages the museum’s Wright Restaurant and its third-floor cafe, proposed building the free-standing kiosk along the Fifth Avenue facade underneath … <Read More>


Sanitation withdraws garage lease applications

Proposal to negotiate long-term leases for existing garage serving neighboring community district faced local opposition. On October 13, 2010, the Department of Sanitation withdrew a proposal that would have allowed Sanitation to negotiate long-term leases for two privately owned lots that it uses as a maintenance facility in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Sanitation has occupied a one-story garage at 525 Johnson Avenue since 1954 and an open parking lot across the street at 145 Randolph Street … <Read More>