Wide Community Support Voiced for Extension to Mount Morris Park HD

276-property proposed extension shares developments history, scale and architecture with existing historic district.  On July 21, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a possible extension to the 1971-designated Mount Morris Park Historic District . The extension is composed of 276 properties and lies east of Lenox Avenue, between 117th and 124th Streets. The extension shares its development history with the existing historic district as one of the first residential areas in Harlem, … <Read More>


Reconstruction of 19th century Fire Lookout Tower Approved

Because individual landmark will be accessible to the public, railings and other safety features will be incorporated into reconstructed tower, as well a stainless steel structural elements. On July 14, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved an application to reconstruct the Watch Tower in Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, an individual City landmark. The four-story octagonal tower, built around 1855, originally served as a fire lookout tower for Northern Manhattan. It is the only … <Read More>


Plan Announced to Address Backlog of Calendared Items

After abandoning plan to de-calendar items that were considered in past years but never brought to a vote, now Landmarks will hold a series of public hearings, with votes on designation scheduled shortly thereafter. At the beginning of July 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced and detailed an initiative to dispose of a backlog of items calendared prior to 2010 which were never voted on. A previous plan to remove the items from its calendar … <Read More>


Commission Designates Stonewall Inn as an Individual Landmark Immediately After Hearing

After acclaim from many quarters to recognize important site in the history of the LGBT-rights movement as a City landmark, Chair Srinivasan stated, “The people have spoken.” On June 23, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential designation of the Stonewall Inn, at 51 Christopher Street. In an unusual step, immediately following the hearing, Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan moved that the Commission proceed directly to a vote on designation. As with … <Read More>


New 12-story Building will Retain Facade of Previously Demolished Tenement

Commission asked applicants to integrate fragment of building that was otherwise demolished for 1980s enlargement. On June 9, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve an application to construct a new building at 807 Park Avenue in the Upper East Side Historic District. It was the commission’s fourth meeting on the matter. The property was originally developed in 1899 as five story Romanesque Revival tenement. The site is owned by Aion Partners, who … <Read More>


Stonewall Inn to be considered as Possible Individual Landmark

Site of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, a catalyzing event in the history of the LGBT-rights movement, originally constructed as stables. On June 2, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to add the Stonewall Inn to its calendar for consideration as a potential individual City landmark, formally starting the designation process. The building stands at 51 and 53 Christopher Street in Manhattan, and lies within the Greenwich Village Historic District.