MAS Offers Six Alternative Plans for Admiral's Row Buildings

August 20, 2008 Melissa Baldock

The Municipal Art Society today presented to the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau six different alternative plans, each demonstrating that it is possible to retain the historic buildings on the Admiral’s Row site while also allowing for the construction of a much-needed supermarket and new retail and industrial space. In addition, the MAS plans showed that reconfiguring the planned new buildings could allow for additional green space, pedestrian accommodation, and community uses instead of a suburban-style sea of parking.

To read the full press release Continue reading...

SAVED! - The LPC Budget

July 17, 2008 By Melissa Baldock

For the third year in a row, the Landmark’s Preservation Commission budget will include $300,000 to fund six positions to survey NYC’s neighborhoods for potential landmarks and assist with other critical LPC duties.

In past years, this funding was instrumental in enabling the LPC to give many unprotected historic neighborhoods the attention they deserve. It was because of this funding that the LPC was able to survey and begin the process this week of designating the Prospect Heights neighborhood, a project MAS had urged them to take on. Continue reading...

MAS Maps Make History in Prospect Heights

July 16, 2008 By Juan Camilo Osorio

MAS and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation (PHNDC) recently partnered to advocate for a new historic district in Prospect Heights. This hands-on collaborative experience resulted in LPC’s consideration of 750 contributing buildings, and the decision to move forward with the designation a new historic district in Prospect Heights. The partnership revolved around a community mapping initiative that produced a unique tool that anchored discussion among multiple stakeholders and helped mark the boundaries of the district proposed to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Continue reading...

A Hard Look at Hardship

July 15, 2008 By Melissa Baldock

MAS joined hundreds of others today in testifying before the Landmarks Preservation Commission regarding St. Vincent’s hardship application. To be sure, the hardship application is one of the most challenging and complicated issues that have come before the LPC in recent decades. St. Vincent’s must prove that maintaining the 1961 O’Toole building “prevents or seriously interferes with carrying out the [hospital’s] charitable purpose.” MAS believes that more alternatives need to be thoroughly scrutinized before the LPC can make the determination of hardship. Continue reading...

Prospect Heights on Path to Become One of Brooklyn's Biggest Historic Districts

July 14, 2008 By Lisa Kersavage

On Tuesday, July 15 the Landmarks Preservation Commission will “calendar” the Prospect Heights Historic District, the first step to protect one of Brooklyn’s finest – and most endangered – historic neighborhoods.

see Prospect Heights Flickr page here

"MAS applauds the Landmarks Preservation Commission for moving to protect this very special and threatened neighborhood," said Lisa Kersavage. "The process by which the historic district was created is a model of civic partnership coupled with cutting-edge technology." Continue reading...

St. Vincent's Hospital Pleads Hardship

June 05, 2008

For the first time in nearly twenty years, an owner of a New York City landmark has invoked the hardship provision of the Landmarks Law. In May, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected the proposal by St. Vincent’s Hospital to demolish the 1961 O’Toole building, located in the heart of the Greenwich Village Historic District, in order to construct a new hospital facility. St. Vincent’s responded by applying for the right to proceed under hardship with the demolition of the building. The MAS is urging the LPC to rigorously review this hardship application to ensure that the process examines all possible alternatives to the building’s demolition. To learn more about the hardship provision and MAS’s stance, click here.

Preserve Your City: Support Funding the Landmarks Commission

May 23, 2008

To ensure that the success of the past two years in increasing the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and improving its ability to protect the city's most important historic buildings continues in fiscal year 2009, join MAS, Council Members, and other preservation groups this Wednesday, May 28, at 2:00 p.m., on the steps of City Hall to rally for adequate funding for the LPC. Bring a sign or prop illustrating your favorite undesignated neighborhood or building so that the Council and the public can see all of the various sites across the city that require the LPC's attention. If you can't be there, e-mail your Council Member and ask them to support the the renewal of $300,000 for the LPC's budget for the coming fiscal year, and watch the new movie above explaining why this additional funding is so important.

Week 69: Jacques Marchais Museum - Unique Collection of Tibetan Art

May 13, 2008

Sitting on Lighthouse Hill -- one of the highest points on the eastern seaboard -- the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art has been a beacon for Staten Island's cultural life since 1948.

In the early 1940s, former actress and successful gallery owner Jacques Marchais built a special home for her unique collection of Tibetan art. Sadly, only months after completing her Center for Tibetan art, library and garden, Ms. Marchais died. However, the endowment left by her husband and the caretaking efforts of family friends and volunteers kept the collection and building sufficiently intact to survive. Continue reading...

LPC Gives St. Vincent's Buildings "Own Day In Court"

May 12, 2008 By Lisa Kersavage

Last week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)held another hearing on the St. Vincent’s Hospital redevelopment plans and their proposal to demolish of nine buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District. At the hearing, the LPC took a strong stance to protect the integrity of the city’s historic districts and ultimately the Landmarks Law.

In its testimony, MAS had urged the Commission to determine the appropriateness of demolition for each individual building before considering the planned development, which is exactly what the commission did. MAS had written, “each of these buildings deserves their own day in court,” and last Tuesday, the Commission gave them that day. Continue reading...

Place Matters Celebrates Ten Years

May 01, 2008

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Place Matters, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has adopted the Place Matters theme for its annual Preservation Month this May. Join MAS and City Lore — sponsors of Place Matters — at a party in June to celebrate this anniversary, salute the people that make these places possible, and honor 10 places that matter selected by a panel of place enthusiasts from the more than 650 places nominated by the public. See the back cover of this newsletter for details, and visit www.placematters.net to add the places that matter to you to the census. Continue reading...

Good News for the Prospect Heights Historic District

April 14, 2008 By Lisa Kersavage

On Wednesday, April 9, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a community forum on the district and shared their proposed boundaries for a 700-building district. The Commission may move as soon as this year to calendar the district, the first step in the designation process.

MAS applauds the Landmarks Preservation Commission for moving so rapidly to protect this very special neighborhood. Continue reading...

St. Vincent's Demolition Application Could Set Dangerous Precedent

March 31, 2008

MAS recently wrote to Chairman Tierney of the Landmarks Preservation Commission to express our concern about the application to demolish historic buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District for the redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital. As far as we know, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 43 years of watching over our city’s heritage, has not permitted the demolition of a building that contributes to the historic district under a Certificate of Appropriateness and we see no reason for the Commission to do so now.

To watch a slideshow of the threatened buildings, click here. Please note that the building descriptions contained in the captions to the slideshow were taken from the designation report. For more detailed information about these buildings from the report, click here. And, for some more images of the threatened buildings, click here.

Join us at the LPC hearing tomorrow!

Continue reading...

Saarinen Terminal to Reopen, But Future of "Trumpet" in Doubt

March 29, 2008

The Port Authority recently announced it plans to reopen the historic TWA, or Saarinen, Terminal at Kennedy Airport this fall allowing passengers to pass through the landmark structure on their way to the new JetBlue Airlines terminal that wraps around it. MAS is delighted that the original building will continue to be used, but remains concerned that the trumpet-shaped departure lounge that was cut apart from the rest of the structure last year will not be rehabilitated. Read more.

MAS Aids in Legal Victory Against Speculative Dorm Developer

March 28, 2008

On March 25, the New York State Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that an East Village developer could not build a 19 story dormitory without a commitment from an educational institution. The decision dealt a major blow to unscrupulous developers and signaled a major step forward in the protection of a New York City-designated landmark school building. MAS filed an amicus brief in support of the Department of Building’s requirement that a developer show a connection with an educational institution sufficient to persuade it that the building, when built, really would be a dormitory. Continue reading...

MAS to Developer: Rethink Domino Alterations

February 15, 2008 By Lisa Kersavage

After applauding the Landmarks Preservation Commission for designating three of the Domino Sugar Refinery buildings, MAS expressed deep concern with a proposed glass box proposed addition that was heard before the Commission in mid-February, and urged that future development assimilate the memory of Brooklyn’s industrial heritage into its new life.

For 148 years, ships delivered sugar cane from as far away as India to the Domino Sugar plant (originally American Sugar Refining Company) on the East River. In the massive factory buildings workers processed the cane into granulated sugar and packaged it for distribution. The Brooklyn plant was one of the largest refineries in the world, and by 1870 more than half of the sugar consumed in the entire country was refined here. Continue reading...

MAS Files Supporting Brief Over P.S. 64

February 01, 2008

Late last year, the City denied a work permit for the development of a community dormitory facility at P.S. 64 in the East Village. The proposed building would be almost twice the size of other residential buildings in the zoning district. MAS recently filed an Amicus Brief supporting the City's decision to demand that the applicant provide satisfactory evidence that the building will be owned by, or leased to, an educational institution prior to receiving permission to begin construction. Read brief.

For more information about P.S. 64, click here.

MAS Says No to Madison Avenue Demo

January 24, 2008

On January 22, 2008, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on a potentially precedent-setting application to demolish the two-story building at 746 Madison Avenue (aka La Gouloue building), a contributing building in the Upper East Side Historic District, and to construct a new fourteen-story building in its place.

At the hearing the Municipal Art Society joined the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts and the Society for the Architecture of the City in opposition to this application (Click here to read our testimony and here to read the testimony from Friends of the Upper East Side). Continue reading...

DUMBO, Eberhard Faber Among Industrial Sites on LPC Agenda This Week

October 29, 2007

Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront is the focus of a major designation day at the Landmarks Preservation Commission next week. On Tuesday, October 30, the Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed DUMBO Historic District and vote on the designation of the Eberhard Pencil Factory Historic District. Both sites were highlighted in the MAS’s successful nomination of the Brooklyn industrial waterfront heritage to the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places for 2007. The Commission’s action on DUMBO and Eberhard Faber follows the designation of the Domino Sugar Factory in September. Continue reading...

Place that Matters of the Week

From local bakeries and hidden gardens to neighborhood sandlots and historic churches, New York City is filled with places that matter to its residents. The MAS highlights a different Place that Matters each week. Continue reading...

A Brooklyn Waterfront That Works

By Lisa Kersavage

Update, August 2007

While MAS’ lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful in its attempt to require a Section 106 review that would examine the advisability of paving over the historic working graving dock, the MAS urges you to Send a letter to IKEA and ask them to be a good corporate neighbor. They should share the history of this important site by providing boat tours and space to exhibit the history of the shipyards. Ask them to not sever the piers from the shore and provide landing rights for ships and barges. And make sure they live up to their obligations to hire local residents to work in the store and as contractors, and to provide a ferry dock with universal landing, at which many different designs of ferries and boats can dock.

IKEA's mailing address is:
IKEA Customer Relations
9930 Franklin Square Drive
Baltimore, MD 21236

A Civil War-era graving dock, along with associated high-wage jobs, are threatened on Brooklyn's waterfront if current plans for an Ikea store proceed. But alternative plans commissioned by the Municipal Art Society show that the new development can coexist with the historic structures and the working waterfront. (Click here to learn more about a related MAS lawsuit.)

This story was originally published on November 21, 2006. To read the original story in full, Continue reading...

City Begins Environmental Review for Domino Site

August 21, 2007

The developer CPC Resources proposes to redevelop the former Domino Sugar Refinery site on the Brooklyn waterfront and an upland parcel by constructing new residential buildings containing 2200 apartments (of which 660 would be affordable) while adaptively reusing the main refinery buildings. The City Planning Commission recently held a hearing for the scope of the forthcoming environmental review, and the MAS submitted comments focusing on the need to explore reusing more of the historic resources on the site, building shorter and less dense buildings, retaining industrial jobs in the surrounding area, greater use of sustainability strategies in light of the Mayor's PlaNYC initiative, and maximizing the public quality of the open space and waterfront access in the proposal while maintaining the commitment to the project’s affordable housing component. Click here to read the MAS comments and here for more details about the Domino Sugar Refinery site.

Brooklyn's Industrial Heritage: Now Less Endangered

August 20, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage

On June 14, 2007 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the industrial heritage of the Brooklyn waterfront to its annual list of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places, based on a nomination made by the Municipal Art Society. Since that announcement, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has taken action to protect some of the most significant places on the waterfron and have held hearings on three of the sites highlighted in the MAS nomination. Continue reading...

Brooklyn's Industrial Waterfront Buildings Listed Among Most Endangered Places

June 19, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage

Responding to the destruction of some of Brooklyn’s most important historic industrial buildings and sites, and the threats others face, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has named the industrial heritage of the Brooklyn waterfront to its annual list of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Places. The announcement was made at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and in DUMBO, Brooklyn, in mid-June. Since 1988, the National Trust has identified nearly 200 threatened historic sites and buildings in this way to promote action to save America’s most important treasures Continue reading...

Once Again, City Increases Funding for Landmarks Commission

June 19, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage

Responding to a sustained MAS advocacy campaign, the City Council has increased the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the second year in a row. Funding will grow by $300,000 for the new fiscal year. Last year, the council boosted funding by an additional $250,000. The increase will allow the commission to add staff, and increase both the rate of designations and the efficiency with which permits are processed. Mayor Bloomberg, the City Council and especially Council Member Jessica Lappin deserve our thanks. Learn more

Landmarks Commission Deserves $1 Million Budget Increase

May 09, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage

The MAS and nearly 70 other civic and community groups have joined forces in asking the City Council to increase the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission by $1 million for the coming fiscal year. We need your help in advocating for this sorely needed increase. To learn more about the critical need to increase the commission’s budget, and how you can help Continue reading...

ACTION ALERT: Historic Prospect Heights Needs Your Help

April 05, 2007
MAS and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation recently submitted a survey of the historic architecture of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, to the Landmarks Preservation Commission because it is threatened by development pressures from the adjacent Atlantic Yards site. The survey, and an accompanying request for the area to be studied for designation as a historic district, is only the first step. Continue reading...

Brooklyn is Booming

April 06, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage
The city’s Department of Buildings issued 1,740 permits for new buildings and 1,924 permits for demolition in Brooklyn in 2005 — a rate of 4 and 5 per day, respectively. By mapping the permit addresses, MAS found some correlation between the areas experiencing the highest rates of demolition, recent rezoning, and the location of architecturally significant but unprotected buildings. Continue reading...

A Home for Survivors Stairway?

April 09, 2007 By Frank E. Sanchis III
Thanks to the hard work of Governor Spitzer, the Empire State Development Corporation and the Port Authority, a temporary home for the only remaining above-ground remnant of the World Trade Center has been identified nearby. A long-term solution for preserving it is yet to be determined, but progress is being made that will allow redevelopment plans for Lower Manhattan to proceed. Click here to send notes of support and encouragement, and here to read an article from the Daily News.

A Landmark Success

March 12, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage

Q: What happens when an under-funded city agency gets a budget increase?
A: It produces more work!

In response to a 2006 MAS advocacy campaign, the City Council increased the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission by $250,000 for the current fiscal year. Council Members Jessica Lappin, Tony Avella and Diana Reyna were instrumental in securing the funding. To build on this success, the MAS is advocating for a larger and permanent budget increase. Continue reading...

Looking Up Miss Brooklyn's Skirt

March 12, 2007 By Lisa Kersavage
Walk along the brownstone-lined streets of Prospect Heights in Brooklyn and you will be forgiven for thinking that you are in a historic district. Located just north of Prospect Park, the neighborhood is filled with Neo-Grec and Italianate style row houses built in the late 19th century. While the neighborhood has seen few changes since it was first developed, a major transformation is coming in the form of the Atlantic Yards project. Continue reading...

Living in a Sugar Factory

October 26, 2006 By Lisa Kersavage What do a casket factory, a glass factory and a high-tech laboratory have in common? All are former industrial buildings that have been transformed into high-quality housing for low-income people.

While some developers say that to build affordable housing we must sacrifice historic buildings and significant neighborhoods, history demonstrates clearly that we can have both. New York City has a long record of readapting historic buildings for many uses, including affordable housing.

To sign a petition supporting the preservation of the Domino Sugar Factory as a New York City landmark, click here. Continue reading...

Sweet Future for an East River Icon?

September 20, 2006 By Lisa Kersavage The Domino Sugar Refinery buildings in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — one of the most prominent industrial heritage sites on the East River — is endangered by a major residential development proposal, but help may be on the way. The MAS has requested that the Landmarks Preservation Commission designate the 13-building complex as a city landmark so that it can be preserved and reused, and to ensure that any buildings added to the site will fit with the site's historic character.

To sign a petition supporting the preservation of the Domino Sugar Factory as a New York City landmark, click here. Continue reading...

Vanishing East River Industrial Heritage

In November 2005, the Municipal Art Society mounted an exhibit titled Preservation on the Edge: Our Threatened East River Heritage, which highlighted six of the waterfront's most significant industrial buildings and presented ways in which they could be protected and reused. In the six months following that exhibit, half of the buildings were destroyed. Continue reading...

Map Reveals Landmarking Disparity

Using GIS software and drawing on data from the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the Department of City Planning, the MAS Planning Center produced a map showing all the designated buildings and sites within each New York City Council district. Continue reading...

MAS Works to Preserve Buildings in Downtown Brooklyn

By Lisa Kersavage The Municipal Art Society's Preservation Committee, working with the Brooklyn Heights Association, has identified 28 buildings in the Downtown Brooklyn rezoning area that are worthy of designation as New York City landmarks. Continue reading...

Significant Historic Resources in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg Rezoning Area

When the city brought forward a proposal to rezone large sections of Greenpoint and Williamsburg, we became concerned that the historic buildings in those areas would be negatively impacted if steps were not taken to protect them. Greenpoint and Williamsburg have a long and venerable past, and there remains a wealth of buildings related to their history. Continue reading...

30 Under 30: The Watch List of Future Landmarks

When, many years from now, we look back at the close of the 20th century, which buildings will we select to tell our story? An independent jury appointed by the Municipal Art Society of New York has just released a list of 30 contemporary buildings that it believes to be potential future landmarks. Continue reading...