BSA denies challenge to NYU East Village dorm

City’s zoning laws do not restrict transfers of air rights from federally-owned sites. On June 12, 2007, BSA denied a challenge by several East Village residents to the 26-story New York University dormitory currently under construction on East 12th Street in Manhattan. The residents, who objected to the 26-story height as out-of-character with surrounding walk-ups, first sought an injunction to halt construction while they filed an appeal with BSA, which a court denied in 2006. … <Read More>


Hearing approved for Domino Sugar building

Refinery buildings, just north of Williamsburg Bridge, were completed in 1884. On May 22, 2007, Landmarks voted to consider designation of the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Under consideration are three connected structures, the Pan House, Finishing House, and Filter House, which is the largest structure in the complex, standing 13 stories above the East River. Landmarks’ action did not include the nearby 1960s building hosting the yellow neon “Domino Sugar” sign.… <Read More>


Nassau Street cast-iron building designated

Early cast-iron structure attributed to pioneer of the technique. At a vote attended by preservation advocate Margot Gayle, Landmarks unanimously designated 63 Nassau Street, an 1844 cast-iron building in lower Manhattan attributed to cast-iron pioneer James Bogardus, who was among the first to use cast iron in building facades.

Renovations to 63 Nassau Street had stripped several details from the building, leaving a question as to Bogardus’s involvement and prompting the current owner’s claim at … <Read More>


New district for Manhattan’s Upper West Side

Manhattan Avenue historic district to encompass 40 buildings. Landmarks unanimously designated the Manhattan Avenue Historic District, a 40-building district that encompasses several sets of row houses built between 1886 and 1889 on West 105th and West 106th Streets and Manhattan Avenue. Included among the buildings are row houses designed by Charles Pierrepont Gilbert, who is also noted for designs of 20 houses within the Park Slope Historic District and a mansion for F.W. Woolworth. The … <Read More>


Designation of individual sites opposed by owners

Day of hearings on Staten Island properties proved controversial. On April 10, 2007, Landmarks held hearings on the possible designations of eight properties on Staten Island. While some property owners were positive about possible designation, others adamantly opposed. Owners feared that designation would mean reduced property values and restrictive government control of the use and possible modification of their homes.

Among the properties was 5466 Arthur Kill Road in Tottenville, built for an oysterman in … <Read More>


Art Wall to Return to Broadway/Houston Building

Compromise calls for SoHo art to coexist with advertising.

On April 24, 2007, Landmarks approved a plan that will allow The Wall, a sculpture by Forrest Myers, to be re-affixed to the Houston Street exterior of the building at 599 Broadway. The location will be 18 feet, four inches above the place that it occupied from 1973 until 2002. Separated by a 15-foot “buffer zone,” as the building’s owner described it, four … <Read More>