Wide Community Opposition Voiced in Hearing on Three-Dwelling Development

Applicants sought to subdivide lot with existing home to construct to new buildings, and also build another dwelling on adjoining site. On February 17, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered an application to develop three new free-standing homes in the Fieldston Historic District. The site is composed of two lots at 4680 Fieldston Road, with one lot, to be subdivided, currently occupied by a 1918 one-family home. According to the New York Times, … <Read More>


Preserving the Past While Looking to the Future: LPC Executive Director Kate Daly on Community Outreach and Partnership, and her Career and Goals at Landmarks

 

Kate Daly, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s Executive Director oversees all of the agency’s operations, including its budget and personnel. She plays an important role in shepherding properties through the landmarking process, from the initial stages through designation. She is pivotal in the outreach process to communities and property owners, meeting with and educating people about the responsibilities and benefits of landmarking.

Daly came to Landmarks in 2002 after completing her graduate degree in historic … <Read More>


HDC Defends NYC Landmark Preservation

Last week CityLand published a Guest Commentary from Steven Spinola, President of REBNY.  Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council submitted this commentary in response. 

In his recent editorial in CityLand, Steven Spinola, the longtime President of the Real Estate Board of New York, suggested a number of ways which the Landmarks Law needs to be reformed to adhere to its “spirit.”  This is a curious statement that warrants further examination.  … <Read More>


New Six-Story Building Approved for Site Where Hotel Once Stood

Residents and representatives from the Judd Foundation oppose demolition of two-story structure for the development of a new six-story building due to loss of light and air space. On September 17 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing, and voted to approve a proposal for the demolition of an existing building, as well as the plans for new structure located at 529 Broadway in the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. The building will be … <Read More>


HDC: Proposed Legislation Would Undermine the Landmarks Preservation Commission

Since its adoption in 1965, the New York City Landmarks Law has been amended several times. In 1973, the Landmarks Preservation Commission was allowed to designate landmarks as part of its regular schedule rather than having to wait three years between designation hearings, as had previously been the case, and also gained the ability to designate publicly owned parks and publicly accessible interiors as landmarks. In 1997, the agency gained the ability to enforce the … <Read More>


Paul Goldberger discusses design, projects, and people

Paul Goldberger, the New Yorker’s architectural critic, previously spent 25 years as the architecture critic for the New York Times. Goldberger received a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for distinguished criticism, and has authored several books, most recently Up From Zero, an examination of the process of developing the former World Trade Center site.

Originally an English student at Yale, Goldberger felt himself continually drawn to architecture, journeying all night to see le Corbusier buildings and … <Read More>