Back to Local Politics: 2 Columbus Circle

Baby Boomers "Taking Revenge" on 1960's Architecture

In last Sunday's New York Times, writer Fred Bernstein honed in on a central paradox of society's present love-hate relationship with buildings like Edward Durell Stone's 2 Columbus Circle:

"In a society otherwise enamored of the styles of the 1960's, the architecture of that decade is rarely loved and frequently reviled. All over the country, 60's buildings are being torn down while much older buildings survive." For the full article, go here.

Buildings that may have value to future generations are falling victim to fleeting tastes, Bernstein suggests. "The charge to eliminate 60's buildings is, in many cases, being led by baby boomers who came of age in the 1960's [and want the opposite of what they knew]... Yet while wealthy institutions are erasing 60's buildings, architecture professionals and 20-somethings consider them hip."

But, as the fact that the NY Landmarks Preservation Commission still has not held a public hearing to even consider the value of preserving 2 Columbus Circle so clearly demonstrates, architecture professionals and 20-somethings do not hold the keys to the city's halls of power. Apparently not even Robert A.M. Stern, author of New York 1960, who argues that 2 Columbus Circle is "a landmark in the history of architectural taste." Not even those like former Landmarks Commissioners Gene A. Norman, Beverly Moss Spatt and Anthony M. Tung, who acknowledge disparate opinions on the building's merits, but believe the LPC has been derelict by not holding a public hearing.Will the powers that be succeed in obliterating the legacy of mid-century Modernism just as it stands on the cusp of re-evaluation and (heaven help us!) appreciation? The final chapter of this story remains to be written. Stay tuned...

A Call for Volunteers

The West Side Newsrack Safety Committee is being formed to promote clean, safe and beautiful streetscapes by addressing the issue of the hazardous conditions posed by improperly placed and poorly maintained newsracks (newsboxes) in our neighborhood. The committee will seek to correct the dangers caused by newsracks impeding pedestrian sidewalk access and other problems created when they are improperly cleaned and maintained. The committee will initially take a census of newsracks in our community, while noting any noncompliance with relevant city regulations. If you are interested in volunteering with this group, please contact Landmark West! at 212-496-8110 or landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org with your contact information and availability.

Update: City Council Hearing on Landmarks Commission

City Council Hearing on Landmarks Evokes Passion and Substance

(For Daily News coverage, click here.)

Hundreds of preservationists attempted to participate in yesterday's City Council oversight hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which was held in a small room on the 16th floor of an office building (rather than at City Hall). People lined the walls, spilled out the door, were herded into a cafeteria next to the hearing room (where they could neither see nor hear the proceedings), and waited for admission on a line that snaked through the building's lobby. Many who came to deliver testimony were turned away at the front desk.

Those who did make it into the hearing room witnessed an outpouring of both passion and substance. The hearing began more than half an hour late at 3:30 PM and was (inexplicably) adjourned at 5:30 PM, leaving time for only brief public testimony. But one speaker in particular, Former LPC Commissioner Anthony M. Tung , spoke for the majority when he cited "serious failures in the performance of [the LPC]." "These are long-standing problems, some growing worse in recent years, and to which neither the commission nor the mayor's office has responded." (To read his testimony, click here.)

Other speakers included Tom Wolfe, former LPC Chair Beverly Moss Spatt, former Council Member Ronnie Eldridge, and former Art Commission President Whitney North Seymour, Jr. , all of whom reiterated that something is clearly wrong with the Landmarks process as it is implemented. Unfortunately, current LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney was not present to hear public testimony - he departed after delivering his own statement.

The Chair of the Council's Landmarks Subcommittee, Council Member Simcha Felder, who scheduled the hearing, expressed surprise that so many people took an interest in the administrative procedures of the LPC. He promised to hold a second hearing to take additional public testimony. But time is of the essence! Please write to Chair Felder ( felder@council.nyc.ny.us) - especially if you tried to attend, but were not admitted - and let him know of your interest in participating in a second hearing. Also, please copy landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org so that we know you were there! We'll keep you posted on future dates...

REMINDER: Wed., 10/20, Special City Council Oversight Hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission

***IMPORTANT REMINDER***

On Wednesday, October 20th at 3:00 PM, the NY City Council will hold a special oversight hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The hearing will be held in the 14th Floor Hearing Room at 250 Broadway which is across the street from City Hall Park. Your presence and support is vital!

Author Tom Wolfe will testify, almost exactly a year after his scathing two-part NY Times Op-Ed piece offering his take on why the LPC has failed to schedule a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle :"[E]verytime the question of a hearing on 2 Columbus Circle came up, the landmarks commissioners, as I see it, dove under their desks, clapped their hands over their ears, cried out to their secretaries to shove history and the concept of landmarks preservation itself through the shredder, and hid."

Mr. Wolfe will also join us for a press conference starting at 1:30 PM on the steps of City Hall to highlight 2 Columbus Circle as a prime example of the LPC's murky process for deciding which buildings deserve hearings. NY City Council Member Bill Perkins will address this issue as it relates to still largely unprotected historic resources in Harlem, including St. Thomas, The Apostle Church. Please let us know if you are able to attend! Remember, in unity (and numbers!) there's strength.

Lapses like 2 Columbus Circle and St. Thomas Church don't happen in a vacuum. They are symptomatic of much deeper, systemic problems that, unchecked, will continue to undermine our Landmarks process. While this oversight hearing is no substitute for a true designation hearing for 2 Columbus Circle (or St. Thomas, or the proposed Douglaston Hill Historic District in Queens...the list goes on), YOU can help ensure that our message gets out loud and clear - NEW YORKERS DESERVE AN OPEN, DEMOCRATIC, AND RESPONSIVE LANDMARKS PROCESS! If you cannot attend this hearing, please send copies of your testimony to us at landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or 212-875-0209 (fax). We will make sure that it's delivered into the right hands.

Make Your Voice Heard: Tell the City Council that Landmarks Matter!

Make Your Voice Heard: Tell The City Council That Landmarks Matter!

Three former Landmarks Commissioners (including two former Chairs) have written to Mayor Bloomberg and current Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney to urge a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle. The response: SILENCE.

The time has come to hold the Mayor and Landmarks Commission accountable for their failure to act on 2 Columbus Circle and other worthy sites that need their protection. On Wednesday, October 20th at 3:00 PM , thanks to the leadership of Council Members Simcha Felder and Bill Perkins, the NY City Council will hold a specialoversight hearing on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The hearing will be held in the 14th Floor Hearing Room at 250 Broadway which is across the street from City Hall Park. Your presence and support is vital!

We need your help to tell the Council that:

* 2 Columbus Circle deserves a public hearing before the LPC. In the words of NYT architecture critic Herbert Muschamp, the failure of the LPC to hold a hearing "raises the scary question of what other buildings the commission might choose to overlook in the future."

*The LPC needs increased funding and more staff to do its job. The agency's budget (now a miniscule $3.2 million) has been repeatedly diminished even as its workload has increased exponentially, undermining its ability to identify and protect historic resources.

*The LPC process must be transparent, open and responsive to public participation. Communities deserve full and equal stature in shapingthe future of their neighborhoods.

The last Council oversight hearing on the landmarks process was in the 1990s. There has never been a public landmarks hearing for 2 Columbus Circle. Now is our chance! A strong showing of support is critical. We must have a full room, with voices from all boroughs to drive home the point that preservation matters to all New Yorkers. Please consider testifying or simply attending the hearing. Your presence speaks volumes. Please inform us if you plan to attend!

Keep in mind that there is a three-minute time limit for individual testimony and plan to bring at least 10 copies of your written testimony. While there is no substitute for your presence at the public hearing, if you absolutely cannot attend, please send copies of your testimony to us at landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org.

We will make sure that it's delivered into the right hands.

See you Wednesday! Contact us with any questions: 212-496-8110 or landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org .

Former Landmarks Chair Urges Hearing for 2 Columbus Circle

FORMER LANDMARKS CHAIR URGES HEARING FOR 2 COLUMBUS CIRCLE

"Don't let the 'Owners Opposition' issue become a standard in determining when to hold a Designation Hearing," wrote Gene A. Norman, architect andformerChair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), in a September 30, 2004, letter to current LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney. (A full copy of Mr. Norman's letter is attached.)

Citing hispersonal policy of not speaking out on Landmarks issues unless "prompted by a desire to prevent the Commission...from bringing harm to itself or to the Landmarks Law," Mr. Norman reminded Tierney that a public hearing would not compel the Commission to actually designate the building. In his words, "A Designation Hearing is a means of collecting information, it allows interested or knowledgeable members of the public an opportunity to speak for or against designation, it allows an owner to voice their concerns and most of all, it permits the full Commission membership, assisted by the LPC staff with preliminary research, to weigh the merits of the building after hearing all sides, and then reach a decision."

"A hearing may still result in demolition, but the Commission will have done a great service to the entire landmark designation process by its examination and by acting on the merits..." Hear, hear!

LANDMARK WEST! Footnote:

Mr. Norman sent his message to Tierney (with a copy to Mayor Bloomberg) in the same week as the NY Times published an article in which architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff linked the LPC's refusal to hold a public hearing with the Bloomberg administration's $2 million incentive to the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD)to complete its 2 Columbus Circle overhaul by 2007.

How very cozy. It appears Bloomberg and MAD want to limit participation in the future of 2 Columbus Circle to only a select few. Is this democracy? Not in our book. What it is, is irresponsible. It will damage the building and the Landmarks Law. It does a disservice to the people of New York. New Yorkers and their landmarks deserve better.

NY Times Architecture Critic Weighs in on 2 Columbus Circle

2 Columbus Circle: New NY Times Architecture Critic Faults Mayor Bloomberg and MAD Design

"It seems that private interests are once again being favored above the broader public realm. [Edward Durell] Stone's design, and the people of this city, deserve more respect than this," writes NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff (see link to 10/4/04 NYT article below), connecting the dots between the Landmarks Commission's refusal to hold a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle and the Bloomberg administration's development agenda.The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) proposal to reclad the building doesn't pass muster on aesthetic grounds either. "The real aim of this design is to cleanse the site of uncomfortable historical memories and thereby make it more palatable for powerful real estate interests. And this is a dangerous sign for the future."

Dangerous signs, indeed.LANDMARK WEST! saw the sign last November, when we and colleague organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the City's waywardness on 2 Columbus Circle. Yesterday afternoon, we filed an appeal, signaling our commitment to ensuring that 2 CC receives the due process it deserves. Help us make sure Mayor Bloomberg gets the message: New Yorkers want to know, how many more buildings will he allow to be lost because of politics? Send letters in response to today's article to letters@nytimes.com, then go to http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html and send Bloomberg a copy of your letter. As always, please make sure we also get a copy at landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org.

Head's up: in late October, the NY City Council plans to hold a public hearing to address concerns about the functioning of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Your participation is vital! Stay tuned for specifics...

A link to the NY Times article by Nicolai Ouroussoff is here.

Former Landmarks says LPC "Turned Its Back" on 2 Columbus Circle

Former Landmarks Commissioner Outraged that LPC "Turned Its Back" on 2 Columbus Circle

Anthony M. Tung , a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) from 1979 to 1988, recently fired off a letter to current LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney, stating:

"Simply, in the 26 years of my involvement in preservation matters, beginning with my appointment as a commissioner by Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1979, I have never seen the commission turn its back on such a widely supported and substantive argument for a hearing."

Mr. Tung, an international preservation scholar and author of Preserving the World's Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis , also pointed out that " the collective scholarly knowledge of those who defend Two Columbus Circle is far in excess of any equitable test for calendaring. In fact, a sizable percentage of the protected structures of New York, several thousand buildings, fail to have had been as thoroughly validated upon designation." (To read a full copy of his letter, click here.)

Are these architects, historians, planners, professors, critics, and engineers all blind, he muses, or is the LPC being arbitrary and capricious?

Mr. Tung has received no response as yet to his August 30, 2004, letter. Further evidence that the LPC intends to continue ignoring the public in order to facilitate a multi-million dollar institutional development that will destroy the very heritage our Landmarks Law was designed to protect. Is this democracy? Not in our book. Your elected officials need to hear from YOU - again! Urge them to take immediate action to make sure 2 Columbus Circle receives a public hearing before the LPC!

NYC Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg,http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html, 212-788-2460 (fax)

NYC Council Member Gale A. Brewer,gale.brewer@council.nyc.ny.us, 212-513-7717 (fax)

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer,http://schumer.senate.gov/webform.html, 212-486-7693 (fax)

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton,http://clinton.senate.gov/email_form.html, 202-228-0282 (fax)

U.S. Congressman Jerrold Nadler,http://www.house.gov/nadler/emailform.shtml, 212-367-7356 (fax)

NYS Senator Liz Krueger,liz@lizkrueger.com, 518-426-6874 (fax)

NYS Assemblyman Richard Gottfried,gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us, 212-243-2035 (fax)

ALSO VERY IMPORTANT:

NYC Council William Perkins,perkins@council.nyc.ny.us, 212-442-2732 (fax)

U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel,http://www.house.gov/writerep/, 202-225-0816 (fax)

NYS Senator Tom Duane,DUANE@senate.state.ny.us, 212-564-1003 (fax)

NYS Assemblyman Scott Stringer,Scott@scottStringer.com, 212-873-6520(fax)

Make sure to send a copy of your letter to LANDMARK WEST! landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org, F: 212-875-0209.

City Approves Sale of 2 Columbus Circle

Dog-Day Decision Debacle: Manhattan Borough Board Votes to Sell 2 Columbus Circle

Let's start with the good news. Back in June, we set a summer goal to reach 1,000 names on the list of people urging the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to schedule a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle. Last week, we surpassed that goal! Notably, Council Member Bill Perkins* signed on in support of a Landmarks hearing, and his representative at yesterday's Manhattan Borough Board meeting tried to persuade the Board to postpone its vote on the sale of the building until such a hearing could be scheduled, or at least until after Labor Day, when more New Yorkers could participate in the Board's decision-making process.

Now, let's face the bad news. The Manhattan Borough Board voted to approve the sale of 2 Columbus Circle to the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), meaning that plans to destroy the building are closer than ever to becoming a reality.

Even worse, Borough President C. Virginia Fields's refusal to postpone the Board's vote suggests the low value placed on public participation in the review process. Disregarding the objections of over 100 individuals who signed on to a letter protesting the scheduling of this meeting in the dog days of summer, days before the arrival of the Republican National Convention, when many New Yorkers have longstanding plans to be away, the Board plowed ahead...so recklessly that it appears they failed to comply with the State Open Meetings Law. Most Board members sent staff proxies - indeed, Fields herself was not even there - with marching orders to follow the lead of Council Member Gale Brewer, in whose district 2 Columbus Circle is located and who announced her support for the Museum's destructive plans earlier this month. A pre-formulated resolution in favor of the sale was passed with no amendments. It was, sadly, business as usual.

Is the Lollipop Building licked? Not on your life. There has been no final decision on the lawsuit LW! and others filed to halt the sale, and the City has committed enough missteps to justify more legal action. Stay tuned...

*Other elected officials who signed on to support a public Landmarks hearing include: NYS Senator Tom Duane, NYS Assemblyman Scott Stringer, and former NYC Council Member Ronnie Eldridge. Only Council Member Perkins has a vote on the Manhattan Borough Board.

2 Columbus Circle: City Poised to Approve Sale

August Dog Days Sneak Attack: City Set to Decide on Sale of 2 Columbus Circle

After a year of unexplained delays, the City is poised to give final approval to the sale of 2 Columbus Circle. On August 24, at 8:30 AM, the Manhattan Borough Board will convene to authorize a plan that will utterly destroy Edward Durell Stone's original 1964 design, which leading preservationists at the city, state, and national levels all agree deserves at least an open, public hearing to determine its merits for landmark status. To date, over 1000 individuals and organizations have signed on to urge the NYC Landmarks Commission to schedule this hearing. Our pleas have fallen on deaf ears.

2 Columbus Circle deserves the chance for survival that a fair and due process is supposed to provide. The message we've received - loud and clear - has been, "Due process be damned!"

If this sounds extreme, just remember - common NYC political wisdom has it that scheduling a hearing on a major public issue during the last week of August is a deliberate effort to avoid meaningful public participation. Many community supporters of preserving 2 Columbus Circle are not able to attend Tuesday's meeting (the second to last week before Labor Day, the week before the Republican Convention takes over NYC). Those of us who are in town feel strongly that we should not dignify this farcical meeting with our presence. Therefore, we plan to send down a single spokesperson to read the statement below. As one of the 1000 advocates for 2 Columbus Circle to receive the due process it deserves, please email us and let us know that you would like to co-sign this statement.

In unity, there's strength! Please contact us immediately: landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or 212-496-8110.