Born a Landmark?

While buildings in NYC seem to come and go--and with increasing expedience--it is very rare for major alterations to take place within an historic district.  The Upper West Side has 12 such districts, and when word first came of demolition plans, our Certificate of Appropriateness Committee was guarded.

The West End Collegiate School had announced plans to relocate to Freedom Place in Riverside South, thus vacating their campus on West 78th Street.  The West End Collegiate Church (Robert W. Gibson, 1892-3) and adjoining original school building, individual landmarks outside of the district West End Collegiate Historic District Extension scooped up the buildings to create a lot merger and hoped to redevelop the sites as a residential venture.  Understanding their long-standing significant role as stewards of their congregation and as long-time UWS neighbors, they sought a proposal that would serve everyone's interests, and with architect Rick Cook and his team, put forth a proposal that Landmarks Commissioner John Gustaffson recognized as one that was not extreme, "not excessive, not unnecessary, and not bloated".

The process, which was approved yesterday, will entail restoring 378 West End Avenue, a former apartment hotel, converted by the school to educational uses back to residential.  This will bring back wood frame windows, complete the cornice crest and recreate lost balconettes and entry doors.  It would also entail demolishing the 1965-67 Ballard Todd Associates Platen Hall which received a 1990 topper by Helpern Architects.  The new proposal creates a cascading residence that holds its own on 78th street, but wraps the Schwartz and Gross 378 WEA building and provides a backdrop to the Gibson church, illuminating it in the process.

LANDMARK WEST! was supportive in our testimony as were many of the other advocacy groups.  Even House of Representatives Congressman Jerrold Nadler wrote in support of the project.  The LPC approved the proposal which creates and interesting technicality.  This building, fully within the district will be literally built as a landmark.  Almost like being born into royalty, its presence in the district will afford it all of the protections of the Landmarks Preservation Commission under the law.

The COOKFOX design has staying power and looks to be a great anchor for the site, both as foreground and background building.  The West End Collegiate School will stay on site into 2018 before demolition begins.  We will keep you posted as the project progresses.  Proceeds of the project will go to endow the church and fund a restoration of the original Robert W. Gibson buildings.  

Concerns about Intro. 775 shared with Council Members

Landmark West!, Historic Districts Council, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts wrote to Council Members to express serious concerns about Intro. 775. We share the desire for a swift, predictable and transparent landmark designation process and have given much consideration to how the current process could be improved to accomplish those goals. However, the bill as currently written would achieve the exact opposite. It would discourage the consideration of complicated or controversial sites and encourage obstruction rather than designation. 

Click here to read our full letter.

Write to members of the City Council Land Use Committee today to express your concerns about the significant ways in which this legislation would weaken the Landmarks Law (and please cc. landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org)! Our colleagues at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have set up a handy electronic form letter, available here.

Upcoming Events - September 2015

Dear Friends of LANDMARK WEST!:

We have some exciting events coming up here at LW! to get you through these dog days of summer. Here is a sampling of our programs taking place in September:

Learn the ABCs of Central Park with Gerald Lynas!

Central Park

Monday, September 7, 10:00am 

A great Labor Day activity for the whole family!

Through the alphabet and numbers, artist/author G. Augustine Lynas introduces youngsters to the wonder and beauty of New York's Central Park, a NYC Scenic Landmark. First, we will discover where Lynas found inspiration for his book The ABCs of Central Park, then we will use our own keen eyes to snap candid photos of what Lynas calls "alpha-branches" and "number-limbs!" Check out Lynas' book here and see some pictures from our last tour with Lynas here. 

$5 per person. To make a reservation, please email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or call (212) 496-8110.

Roberta Brandes Gratz Book Talk Celebrates Launch of 
We're Still Here Ya Bastards: How the People of New Orleans Rebuilt Their City

Book Culture, 450 Columbus Avenue (between 81st & 82nd) 
Wednesday, September 9, 6:30pm

Join LW! as we remember Hurricane Katrina (2005) and celebrate 10 years of steady urban regeneration in the historic city of New Orleans. Award-winning journalist, urban critic, and author Roberta Brandes Gratz will guide us through her newly released publication, We're Still Here Ya Bastards: How the People of New Orleans Rebuilt Their City. Gratz's book provides a powerful account of how community activists are leading their city's recovery. 

$15, $10 for LW! members. To make a reservation, please email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or call (212) 496-8110. Reservations also available through Eventbrite by clicking here.

An Architectural Walking Tour of Lincoln Center with architectural historian Thomas Mellins

Lincoln Center

Wednesday, September 30, 6:00pm

Join us as we explore Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts with Thomas Mellins, an architectural historian, independent curator, and author who has curated exhibitions for Jazz at Lincoln Center, the National Building Museum, the Yale School of Architecture, and many others. Mellins will lead us through the country's largest performing arts center, a space which represents the unity and talent of several prominent architects of the mid-20th century.  Then-starchitects Max Abramovitz, Pietro Belluschi, Gordon Bunshaft, Wallace Harrison, Eero Saarinen, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Phillip Johnson collaborated to create a world-class center of the arts in Manhattan, defined by an overall aesthetic that synthesized Classicism and Modernism. The tour will also highlight the recent redevelopment project, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Lincoln Center is on LW!'s Wish List of landmark designation priorities, and it was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

$25, $15 for LW! members. To make a reservation, please email landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or call (212) 496-8110. Reservations also available through Eventbrite by clicking here.