N-Y Historical Society Scales Back

New-York Historical Society: Back from the Drawing Board with a Scaled-Back Plan...But the Worst is Still to Come

Over the past few months, the New-York Historical Society has learned a hard lesson in "you can't always get what you want." (Whether they actually NEED what they're getting is another thing entirely.) What is clear is that the Society's ambitions will change one of New York's most significant and beloved landmarks forever -- with the blessing of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Bloomberg Administration. Remember, the real deal is a 280-foot tower. Scroll down to see the rendering published in the New York Times last November. We've come a long way...but not far enough.

Yesterday, the LPC gave the Society the final go-ahead to proceed with plans to alter the Central Park West and West 77th Street facades of its "Triple Landmark." The revised design is a far cry from what the Society presented to crowds numbering in the hundreds at community meetings in January, February and March. Overwhelming public opposition pressured the Society and the LPC to overhaul the design, eliminating sidewalk-eating ramps at the Central Park West entrance and significantly reducing the amount of historic fabric that will be disturbed. But disturbed it will be.

The LPC was under clear political pressure to give the Historical Society something, if not everything they wanted. The fix was in, and still is. Now that it has gained a toehold for redeveloping its landmark site, the Society will soon be back with its plan for a tower (potentially 280-feet, or 28 stories in height). Not in a matter of years, but months. The developers are in the wings. No wonder the New-York Historical Society--despite a pummeling in the court of public opinion--is still smiling.

Stay tuned for next steps.

"The Society's tactics remind me of the card shark in my home state of Texas who looks across the table at his mark and say, 'Now play the cards fair, Reuben, I know what I dealt you.'"

~ Bill Moyers, 3/15/07 letter to LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney

Premium Tickets to Tristan Project at Lincoln Center

Email Auction for Tickets to An Extraordinary Landmark Event

LANDMARK WEST! is thrilled to auction two premium tickets to a sold-out performance of The Tristan Project on Wednesday, May 2, 2007, thanks to this generous donation from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

“It could well be a very long time before something this great comes our way again,” writes the Los Angeles Times. Acclaimed video artist Bill Viola joins forces with Peter Sellars, Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and a cast of outstanding singers to create a provocative and deeply moving presentation of Tristan un Isolde, Richard Wagner's testament to love. This landmark collaboration weaves together extraordinary imagery and poetic musical expression to create a transcendent and timeless interpretation of this musical masterwork (text from www.lincolncenter.org, more information available by searching "Tristan").

Auction Details

Bids for two prime orchestra section tickets (offered as a pair) begin at $1,000 ($500 per ticket), to be considered as a donation to LANDMARK WEST! and tax-deductible for the amount above the face value of $275 per ticket. The auction will be conducted in two phases. The first round of bids is due by Wednesday, April 25, at 5:00 PM. Email bid to landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. Bidders will be notified of the highest bid and asked to submit second bids by Friday, April 27, at 5:00 PM. The highest bidder from the second round wins the tickets and will be notified by Monday, April 30.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime treat for a great preservation cause, and the seats were handpicked to be among the best for this unique performance. Please be generous! Payment will be accepted via check or credit card.

The May 2 performance of the Tristan Project begins at 6:00 PM in Avery Fisher Hall. Three acts are separated by two 30-minute intermissions, for a total duration of five hours. Your ticket stub also provides admission to a Tristan Project Discussion on Friday, May 4, 2007, at 7:00 PM, in the Stanley H. Kaplan Penthouse. Speakers include Esa-Pekka Salonen, Bill Viola, and Kira Perov, moderated by John Schaefer. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

LANDMARK WEST! is an award-winning, community-based nonprofit organization devoted to preserving the architectural heritage of the Upper West Side of Manhattan between 59th and 110th Streets, Central Park to Riverside Park. Please visit us at www.landmarkwest.org.

TUESDAY, 4/24, 3:00 PM - NYHS BACK AT LPC

More Changes, One More Chance

The New-York Historical Society has revised its plans (yet again) to alter its Central Park West "Triple Crown" Landmark. The Landmarks Preservation Commission will consider these changes at a public meeting on Tuesday, April 24, starting at 3:00 PM. This could be “the vote.” You have one more chance to stop it.

The large community presence at the public meeting earlier this week gave a clear message to the Landmarks Commissioners, who sent the Society back to the drawing board. But the Society's quick turnaround suggests they are on a fast track towards getting approval for some, as-yet-undisclosed version of their plan. And, remember, we're not talking about minor changes to a facade -- we're talking about extensive changes to one of New York's most significant public buildings, changes that are clearly part of a much more intrusive scheme to build a 280-foot tower in the front yard of the Upper West Side, piercing the Central Park West skyline.

See you on Tuesday at 3:00 PM at the Landmarks Preservation Commission (

1 Centre Street

, 9th Floor of the Municipal Building located just northeast of City Hall - bring photo ID).

LANDMARK WEST! Award-In Good Company

By Land, By Sea, and By Any Ways & Means Necessary!

This is our cute (though perhaps too much of a stretch?) way of letting you know that, on Sunday, April 29, 2007, Three Parks Independent Democrats will honor LANDMARK WEST! with its Jesse Crawford Community Service Award, with special mention for our efforts to preserve the West Side between 97th and 110th Streets through rezoning and landmark designation, including the recently landmarked former Horn & Hardart Automat on Broadway at 104th Street.

We are delighted by this recognition from one of the Upper West Side's most vocal political leaders, not least because it gives us the privilege of sharing the stage with two legendary advocates also receiving awards from Three Parks: Lisa Rainwater of Riverkeeper ("sea" - get it?) and Congressman Charles Rangel (new Chairman of the Ways & Means Committee). What a thrill!

Click here for the invitation and here for the RSVP card. We hope you will be able to celebrate with us on April 29. Take note that by joining Three Parks Independent Democrats as a member (only $20 per year), you may reserve tickets at the special Member rate of just $60.

NY Historical Society Plans Sent Back

No Vote, But Landmarks Commission Sends Historical Society Back to the Drawing Board

At its public meeting this morning, April 17, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (that is, the 7 out of 11 commissioners who have not had to recuse themselves due to conflicts of interest) sent the New-York Historical Society back to the drawing board, but with clear encouragement to move ahead with plans to alter the Central Park West and 77th Street facades of the Society's "Triple Crown Landmark." The official votes haven't yet been cast, and Glenn Collins's blog (“Tea Leaves, Ink Blots, Entrails”) on the New York Times website suggests a few different readings of the tea leaves. Some say "the fix is in" - it's up to the Commission to prove us wrong. Email comments@lpc.nyc.gov and LMirrer@nyhistory.org (and carbon copy: landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org). Keep the pressure on.

The commissioners peppered the Society with many specific questions about doors and windows, access and egress. They carefully avoided asking about the 280-foot tower (click to see image) that the Society has advertised as part of a grand, windfall scheme to seal its future. Indeed, Chair Tierney gave Society President Louise Mirrer an easy softball pitch to restate her mantra that the facade changes are completely separate from any future project.

Divorced from the larger redevelopment scheme, the Society's destructive tweaking of its facade makes little sense…And all the sense in the world. This is just the first round in a much longer fight to prevent the New-York Historical Society from selling out its Landmark to its developer aspirations. Our city's history is at stake. It's a fight we must not lose.

APRIL 17, 9:15 AM-LPC MEETING FOR NYHS

***9:15 AM, TUESDAY, APRIL 17***

LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING FOR NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY PROPOSAL

This could be “the vote” on N-YHS’s application to alter the façade of their triple landmark building, paving the way for a 280’ glass tower. You have one more chance to stop it. Show up on Tuesday, April 17 at 9:15 a.m. at the Landmarks Preservation Commission public meeting

Attached is a flyer to get the word out about Tuesday's LPC meeting and possible vote. Please post in your buildings, on the block and in community spots throughout the neighborhood. Email the flyer to your co-op boards, neighbors and friends.

Meeting Location: Landmarks Preservation Commission, The Municipal Building, 1 Centre Street, 9^th Floor. The Municipal Building is northeast of City Hall.

The New-York Historical Society Plays a Real-Estate Shell Game...and the Landmarks Preservation Commission Plays Along

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is determined to hear only testimony from the New-York Historical Society at its public meeting on Tuesday, April 17 at 9:15 am, despite our requests to keep the process even-handed and shed as much light as possible on a project that continues to be a moving target. Your attendance at this meeting is all the more important! When the public is denied the opportunity to speak, our physical presence in numbers too great to ignore and our constant vigilance must speak louder than words. Remember, this could very well be "the vote" on the façade alterations, and LPC has the final say.

The Historical Society and the LPC make up their own rules and expect the community to fall in line. But this is a "Triple Crown" Landmark, in the heart of two Upper West Side historic districts, on the edge of Central Park. This is no game. And yet, time after time, it seems that "the fix is in." The late Peter Jennings used this phrase in a 2003 letter to the LPC on a parallel matter, Congregation Shearith Israel's application to build a commuity facility/luxury apartment building adjacent to its Individual Landmark on 70th Street and Central Park West (also in the historic district). Treat yourself and click here to read Jennings' letter; its continuing import is self-evident. Earlier this week Landmark West! filed a lawsuit calling the City's hand on its refusal to disclose public documents concerning the Congregation Shearith Israel development project. See the article in today's New York Sun ( http://www.nysun.com/article/52328). Memo to Mayor Bloomberg, his LPC and friends at the Historical Society: The public is not willing to play along.

New-York Historical Society Shell Game

The New-York Historical Society Plays a Real-Estate Shell Game...and the Landmarks Preservation Commission Plays Along

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is determined to hear only testimony from the New-York Historical Society at its public meeting on Tuesday, April 17 (still no time announced), despite our requests to keep the process even-handed and shed as much light as possible on a project that continues to be a moving target. Your attendance at this meeting is all the more important! When the public is denied the opportunity to speak, our physical presence in numbers too great to ignore and our constant vigilance must speak louder than words. Remember, this could very well be "the vote" on the façade alterations, and LPC has the final say.

The Historical Society and the LPC make up their own rules and expect the community to fall in line. But this is a "Triple Crown" Landmark, in the heart of two Upper West Side historic districts, on the edge of Central Park. This is no game. And yet, time after time, it seems that "the fix is in." The late Peter Jennings used this phrase in a 2003 letter to the LPC on a parallel matter, Congregation Shearith Israel's application to build a community facility/luxury apartment building adjacent to its Individual Landmark on 70th Street and Central Park West (also in the historic district). Treat yourself and click here to read Jennings’ letter; its continuing import is self-evident. Earlier this week Landmark West! filed a lawsuit calling the City's hand on its refusal to disclose public documents concerning the Congregation Shearith Israel development project. See the article in today's New York Sun (http://www.nysun.com/article/52328). Memo to Mayor Bloomberg, his LPC and friends at the Historical Society: The public is not willing to play along.

Preservationists Take Aim in Court At Open Records Law

By MATTHEW CHAYES
The New York Sun
Special to the Sun
April 12, 2007

Preservationists battling a 350-year-old Upper West Side synagogue's expansion efforts added a new wrinkle to their fight yesterday, asking a state judge to overturn what they say is a citywide ban put into place after September 11, 2001, on releasing blueprints of "sensitive" locations without written permission from property owners.

Landmark West, a 22-year-old nonprofit group, says building plans filed with the city help rally community opposition to projects like Congregation Shearith Israel's petitions to landmark and zoning boards to put up a school and a condominium behind the landmark sanctuary in a brownstone neighborhood on West 70th Street.

"Transparency is supposed to be a hallmark of the Bloomberg administration, and to respond to a community organization's request for public documents by saying that we may be terrorists — I mean, it isn't sound public policy," the group's executive director, Kate Wood, said yesterday.

The city calls the non-disclosure of some building plans the "sensitive building policy." The preservation group filed a lawsuit this week in Manhattan Supreme Court calling the security policy "absurd" and challenging whether the city can deem properties like religious institutions as "sensitive" and restrict access to public records.

"Due to the 9/11 tragedy, the records for the block and lot or address listed in your request are considered ‘sensitive'," according to a letter from a records clerk excerpted in the suit. "In order to obtain agency clearance to release these records, please forward a letter from the owner/managing agent (on record) authorizing you to have access."

A spokeswoman for the Buildings Department, Kate Lindquist, confirmed that the city maintains such a policy but declined to elaborate, citing another city policy of not commenting on pending litigation.

In the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, federal and state agencies have also more strictly limited which documents they will release under open-records laws.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the Spanish and Portuguese synagogue's project last year, and a petition for a variance to city zoning laws is pending now. A message seeking comment left yesterday on Shearith Israel's office answering machine wasn't immediately returned.

Seminar on Green Building and Historic Preservation

LANDMARK WEST! invites you to attend a seminar on

Green Building, Energy Efficiency and

Historic Preservation

April 25, 2007

NYS Real Estate License Continuing Education Credits for Real Estate Brokers offered

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 from 8:45 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

American Bible Society 1865 Broadway at 61st Street, New York, NY

(click here for flyer)

This day-long seminar will explore the links between historic preservation and “green” design. Old buildings offer an incredibly rich and profound record of human experience in dealing with our environment. Today, “sustainability” and “energy efficiency” have become watchwords in the real-estate industry. But what do they mean when it comes to dealing with existing structures? Subtopics of this workshop will include: inherent “green” qualities of traditional materials and design (myths and realities), using modern technology to improve energy efficiency and building performance (without compromising historic integrity), applying LEED standards to existing buildings, and case studies highlighting issues of architectural appropriateness, durability, safety, comfort and affordability. Speakers include:

Andrew Padian , a building scientist at Steven Winter Associates, (an architectural and engineering firm specializing in assessing building performance)
Francoise Bollack, AIA, award-winning architect and
Mosette Broderick, MA, NYU design professor architectural historian.

To register, call (212) 496-1714 to charge your credit card or send a check for $75 to: LANDMARK WEST!, 45 West 67th Street, New York, NY 10023. Call LW! at 212-496-1714 or email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org for more information.

New-York Historical Society: 4/17 Public Meeting Scheduled

NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY UPDATE: Landmarks Preservation Commission Public Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 17 (time tba).

This could be The Vote – remember, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s decision in these matters is final. Please mark your calendars and make every effort to attend this important public meeting following up on the March 20th public hearing regarding the New-York Historical Society’s plan to drastically alter the façade of their “Triple Crown” Landmark on Central Park West.

Typically, the Commission does not allow public testimony at these “meetings.” However, at the end of the March hearing, Chair Robert B. Tierney made it clear that, during the public meeting, he would allow the Historical Society to respond to the community’s comments. Fair enough. There is still much to say, and the design has evolved since it was presented to Community Board 7. Because the record will be re-opened on April 17th to permit the Historical Society to speak, LANDMARK WEST! has requested that the public be given equal opportunity to testify. If you wish to reserve the right to be heard on April 17th, email comments@lpc.nyc.gov and reinforce the importance of a fair and open process.

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The Historical Society’s sadly misguided plan has inspired many thoughtful, expert, keenly observed responses. Here are just some highlights from recent statements (to read more, click on the links below):

Michael Fieldman, architect: “[T]he cosmetic changes to the facades have little if anything to do with attendance, nor upgrading interests or any of the other related or contingent issues. Rather, it is an argument for change for change’s sake….I submit that the entire approach to the redesign of the façade is irresponsible, and unnecessary.”

Allen Staley, Professor Emeritus of Art History at Columbia University and former museum curator: The Historical Society’s plans show “a radical diminution of the space on the Society’s first floor that it uses for temporary exhibitions….From my art-historical and curatorial perspective, this makes no sense.”

Park West 77th Street Block Association: “[The Historical Society’s] proposal for wider doors flies in the face of reality. The two current openings, one 8 feet across, the other 12 feet across with a 50 foot handcapped ramp together welcome 100,000 visitors each in a good year....The nearby American Museum of Natural History has 3, 8 foot wide, revolving-door openings on Central Park West. Their own figures state that each of these doors admits 800,000 visitors per year....Why does the Historical Society need wider entrances and more doors?"

Elizabeth Blair Starkey, neighbor, LW! board member, and member of Community Board 7 (former chair): Speaking on her own behalf, “[I]t is obvious that the present application is only Phase 1 and that the Society will move ahead quickly with Phase 2, the application to develop its property on West 76th St. I urge the Commission to reject this obvious ruse and demand that the Society present a Master Plan that encompasses both projects. The public, who has long loved and supported the Society, deserves an open, transparent process.”

Note: A previous LW! email contained a roster of elected officials who have expressed concern about the Historical Society project and should have also included NYS Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal. We hope to have her statement posted on our website in the near future.

Please visit http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/sos.htm for more information.

Continuing Education Seminars on Historic Preservation from Landmark West!

LANDMARK WEST! seminars for real estate brokers, coop board members and interested persons

Green Building, Energy Efficiency and Historic Preservaton

April 25, 2007

This seminar will explore the inherent environmental sustainability of historic buildings. Subtopics will include: improving energy and building efficiency, how to incorporate green building philosophy into apartment renovations and recognizing what design elements can be restored and when replacement is necessary.

The Evolution of Interior and Exterior Residential Building Design-Architectural Styles and Historic Preservation

May 9, 2007

Participants will be able to identify architectural styles and learn how to date buildings through analysis of specific building interior and exterior design elements and materials. Speakers will also address the evolution of apartment living, including interior plans and how interior and exterior design elements relate to one another.

To register, please or call (212) 496-1714 to charge your credit card or send a check for $75 to:

LANDMARK WEST!, 45 West 67^th Street, New York, NY10023.

Location information for the seminars will be available upon registration.

Each of these one day seminars will enable the participant to obtain 7 ½ hours of continuing education credits to meet the New York State requirement of 22 ½ hours. (Approval pending for May 9^th lecture).