DAKOTA STABLE EMERGENCY: UPDATE AND ACTION STEPS
All seems quiet - for now - at the corner of 77th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where the Dakota Stable building stands open to the elements but still significantly intact after a demolition crew ripped out most of its elegant, century-old wood windows on Wednesday night. A Stop-Work Order remains in effect, we're told, while the Department of Buildings reviews the situation.
Flashback to 1985: The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) scheduled a designation hearing for the Normandy Apartments, the famous Art Moderne building designed by Emery Roth at 140 Riverside Drive. Days before that hearing, tenants who opposed the designation began removing the building's original steel windows. The LPC turned on a dime and designated the Normandy almost immediately. Today, one can hardly imagine Riverside Drive without this landmark.
It was a brave moment for the LPC. The current facts are almost identical. On Tuesday (9/19/06), the LPC calendared the Dakota Stable, but no public hearing date has been set. The LPC has the power to take swift action when a building is in jeopardy. All eyes are on the LPC to do it again. Whether you live on the West Side, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx or Brooklyn, please contact LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney today, applaud the calendaring of the Dakota Stable, and urge him to schedule an "emergency hearing" ASAP! Any delay could be fatal for this irreplaceable building. Act now!
Email/fax/call:
Hon. Robert B. Tierney
comments@nyc.lpc.gov
Fax: 212-669-7955
Phone: 212-669-7888
Send cc's of your emails to:
City Council Member Gale A. Brewer
gale.brewer@council.nyc.ny.us
landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org
Preserving the best of the Upper West Side's neighborhood character and architectural heritage.
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