Petitions for Stables and Automat

Countdown to October 17 Landmarks Hearing on Stables and Automat

The big day is fast approaching. On Tuesday, October 17, 2006, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hold public hearings on three potential Upper West Side landmarks. The Automat hearing will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the stables hearings will begin at approximately 11 a.m. Please make sure your calendar is marked. In the meantime, here's what you can do to show the LPC your support (and through the wonders of technology, it couldn't be easier)...

Click on the links below to go to Landmark West's website, where you can SIGN ONLINE PETITIONS urging the LPC to approve the designation of:

The Former Dakota Stable and Former New York Cab Company Stable (http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/stables.html) - These rare examples of “high-rise” commercial stables played a crucial role in New York’s history. New York's wealthiest residents often erected small, private stables for their horses and carriages. Middle-class people, on the other hand, used commercial stables for their livery, much the same way city residents use parking garages today. The former New York Cab Company Stable (C. Abbott French, 1888-89), at West 75th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, is a bold Romanesque Revival brick building. The more subtle Dakota Stable, at West 77th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, was designed by Bradford Gilbert, the architect of the Tower Building (1888), one of New York's most important early skyscrapers.

The Former Horn & Hardart Automat (http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/automat.html) - Located on Broadway and West 104th Street in Manhattan, this joyous Art-Deco survivor was designed by F.P. Platt & Brother and built in 1930. Telltale signs of its former use include the façade’s monumental, arched show window (the better to reveal the technological marvels within) and ravishing polychrome terra-cotta ornamentation, which remain largely intact despite later storefront remodelings.

Please add your signature today!

Oct. 17 Hearings at LPC

October 17, 2006: Big Day for Upper West Side Landmarks

This is your chance! If you feel as though it's been a long time since you've testified at a public hearing on a potential Upper West Side landmark designation, then mark your calendar for Tuesday, October 17, 2006 (time tba). The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has scheduled no less than three designation hearings for that day, all on West Side items (see below). Your voice is needed at each one. Numbers and volume matter - a big turnout speaks for itself, so please attend, even if you don't plan to speak. Letters, faxes and emails count, too. Please show your support by contacting LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney, comments@lpc.nyc.gov, 212-669-7955 (fax). The hearings will take place at the Commission's headquarters, 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor (near City Hall, and you'll need photo ID). Wasn't it Woody Allen who said 85% of life is showing up?

Up for potential designation...

Former Dakota Stable, West 77th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (Bradford Lee Gilbert, 1894) and Former New York Cab Company Stable, West 75th Street and Amsterdam Avenue (C. Abbott French, 1888-89) - These rare examples of “high-rise” commercial stables played a crucial role in New York’s history. New York's wealthiest residents often erected small, private stables for their horses and carriages. Middle-class people, however, could not afford their own stables. Instead, they boarded their horses in commercial stables. Together, these two striking, Romanesque Revival-style buildings recall a time when the Upper West Side was just starting its transformation from farmland to urban neighborhood. They are anchors of 19th-century beauty that provide visual texture and historical continuity in our community. To see pictures and a sample letter, please go to http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/stables.html.

Former Horn & Hardart Automat, West 104th Street and Broadway (F.P. Platt & Brother, 1930) - This is hearing #2 for one of the last surviving automat structures in New York City. Automats hold a special place in the cultural memory of New Yorkers. This joyous Art-Deco building features a monumental, arched show window and ravishing polychrome terra-cotta ornamentation. To see pictures and a sample letter, please go to http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/automat.html.

It isn't every day that the LPC considers designating landmarks on the Upper West Side. In fact, it's been six years since PS 166, the CBJ Snyder-designed school on West 89th Street, became our neighborhood's 2606th landmark in 2000 (up from a mere 337 in 1985, can you believe it?!). Show your West pride! YOU can help ensure a good showing at the Oct. 17 hearings by circulating the attached flyers to friends and neighbors. Email them around (or send us a list of people you think would want to hear about this issue)! Print these flyers out to post in your building and local businesses! Help get the word out! See you on the 17th!

Automat Update: Public Hearing and Lecture

For those of you who attended the June 27, 2006 landmarks hearing for the former H&H Automat at 2710 Broadway (at West 104th Street), we have some good news. It was so much fun that we get to do it again on October 17 (time to be announced). Our email’s tone is lighthearted, but we take this second public hearing seriously. The building’s future still hangs in the balance.

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

Send a letter/fax/email

We have received dozens of calls, emails and letters from folks who support landmarking one of the last remaining H&H Automat buildings. Show you care about the fate of this building by inundating the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) with letters of support.

Letters should be addressed to:

Hon. Robert B. Tierney, Chair
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
Email: comments@lpc.nyc.gov
Fax: 212-669-7955
Phone: 212-669-7888

Please send copies of your letters to City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito (viverito@council.nyc.ny.us), Community Board 7 (mail@cb7.org or fax 212-603-3082 and LANDMARK WEST! (landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or fax 212-875-0209).

Testify at the hearing

We also need a large turnout at the October 17 hearing. The more people who attend, the more LPC understands the importance of this building in our community. To read testimony presented by civic groups, individuals and politicians at the June hearing, visit our website: http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/automat.html. You’ll enjoy the dazzling detail photos of the polychrome terra cotta.

AUTOMAT LECTURE

Learn more about the Automat and share your stories

Join us on October 25 at 6:30 p.m. for a talk by Lorraine B. Diehl and Marianne Hardart, authors of The Automat: The History, Recipes and Allure of Horn & Hardart’s Masterpiece. Diehl and Hardart (a descendant of the Automat founder) wrote this charming tome in conjunction with the Museum of the City of New York’s fantastic Automat exhibit in 2002.

Bring your Automat anecdotes to El Taller Latino Americano, in the old Automat building. Make your reservation by calling (212) 496-8110 or emailing landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. Admission is $25 and will support ongoing advocacy to preserve the 104th Street Automat. This event is co-sponsored by the West 102nd and 103rd Street Block Association and the West 104th Street Block Association. For more details, visit our website: www.landmarkwest.org/events

LANDMARK WEST!
45 West 67th Street
New York, NY 10023
(212) 496-8110 (phone)
(212) 875-0209 (fax)

Dakota Stable Update

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

DAKOTA STABLE EMERGENCY!

Please forgive the multiple emails of late...this one's important.

Century-Old Windows Trashed at Dakota Stable Landmark-in-Waiting

Last night, a day after the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced that it would hold a public hearing to consider designating the former Dakota Stable and the former New York Cab Company, workers arrived at the Dakota Stable and began ripping out the building's original, delicately arched, wooden windows. Glass crashed down onto the sidewalk and 77th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, unimpeded by the still-under-construction sidewalk shed (permits to erect the shed were obtained on Tuesday, within hours of the LPC decision to calendar the building for a hearing). See below for the result...

Landmark West! staff rushed to the scene, and a Department of Buildings inspector promptly issued a Stop Work Order for "failure to carry out demolition in a safe manner." The situation is unfolding as we write - we will follow up with more details soon.


Dakota Stable earlier this year...

...and this morning

Landmark West! has advocated for the designation of the Dakota Stable and New York Cab Company for 20 years.

Amsterdam Avenue "Stable Row" to Be Heard

Landmarks Announces Public Hearing for "Stable Row" Survivors

This morning, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) calendared a public hearing on the former Dakota Stable (77th Street and Amsterdam) and its neighbor, the former New York Cab Company (75th Street and Amsterdam). Both are rare survivors from New York's pre-automobile age, examples of only a handful of known commercial stable structures left in the city. Christopher Gray of The New York Times called the Dakota Stable a "stylistic gem" and the AIA Guide to New York City Architecture gives both buildings honorable mention. They have hefty community and elected official support. And both have been on Landmark West's "wish list" of sites that deserve landmark consideration since 1986.

When the LPC doesn't do the right thing, LW! is the first to call them on it. When they do come through, we take our hats off. Calendaring these buildings is definitely the right thing to do. So, please join us in expressing our appreciation (which can be communicated electronically by sending emails to Chair Robert Tierney at the address below). Also, please take this opportunity to reiterate your support for designation and urge the LPC to schedule a firm hearing date soon!

This campaign isn't over, not by a long shot. The stable buildings need your support now more than ever. Stay tuned! And if you're catching up with this issue, please visit http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/stables.html for more information.

LPC Chair Robert B. Tierney
comments@lpc.nyc.gov
Phone: 212-669-7888
Fax: 212-669-7955
1 Centre Street
New York, NY 10007

West 75th-77th Streets Landmark Alert!

LANDMARK ALERT! Please act now to save the Upper West Side's "Stable Row" between 75th and 77th Streets on Amsterdam Avenue. Write to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission today urging them to calendar a public hearing to consider designating this unique ensemble of 19th-century former stable structures. Read on and follow the link at the end of this message for more details...

"Stable Row," comprised of buildings originally built as horse-and-carriage stables in the 1890s before the advent of automobiles and the subway, sits just outside of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, meaning that these buildings have no protection against demolition and redevelopment! Two especially grand examples of this rare building type (only a handful survive in NYC) are the former Dakota Stable at 348-358 Amsterdam (southwest corner of 77th Street) and the former New York Cab Company Stable at 318-324 Amsterdam (northwest corner of 75th Street), both used as public parking garages today. New York Times architectural columnist Christopher Gray calls the Dakota Stable a "stylistic gem," while the AIA Guide to New York City Architecture makes special note of the New York Cab Company's "three great Romanesque Revival half-round arches" that "trumpeted entrance to the horses and drivers." Neither these buildings nor their neighbors on the west side of Amsterdam Avenue are landmarks - yet! And we understand that a major developer is in the process of assembling properties for a large development between 76th and 77th Streets.

Help defend the character of the Upper West Side! It's true, we can't save everything and stop all development, nor should we. But when resources of such tremendous architectural and historical significance are on the line, we must all speak up.

Email/fax/call:
Hon. Robert B. Tierney, Chair
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, 9th Floor, NYC 10007
Email: comments@lpc.nyc.gov
Fax: 212-669-7955
Phone: 212-669-7888

Please cc your messages to landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org or 212-875-0209 (fax), NYC Council Member Gale Brewer (gale.brewer@council.nyc.ny.us) or 212-513-7717 (fax), and Manhattan Community Board 7 (mail@cb7.org) or 212-603-3082 (fax).

Already, supporters of a public hearing for one or more buildings on "Stable Row" include NYC Council Member Gale Brewer, Manhattan Community Board 7, NYS Senator Tom Duane, NYS Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, Historic Districts Council, Municipal Art Society, Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, and architectural historians Andrew S. Dolkart (James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University) and Mosette Broderick (Director of Urban Design and Architecture Studies at NYU).

Visit LANDMARK WEST's website for copies of their letters, a copy of Christopher Gray's 1987 New York Times "Streetscapes" column on "Stable Row," photographs and more - http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/stables.html.

Save the 104th Street Automat! Designation Hearing on Tuesday, June 27

We have just learned that the Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, June 27 to consider the designation of the former Horn and Hardart Automat at 2710-14 Broadway and West 104th Street.

Make your voice heard! This is a chance to make amends for the devastating loss of the fantastic Art Moderne H&H automat at 104 West 57th Street. Please plan to attend Tuesday’s hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission located at 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor North. The hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., but check the Commission’s website (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/working_with/calendar.shtml) for the most up-to-date information. If you cannot attend the hearing, show your support by emailing Robert Tierney, Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, at rtierney@lpc.nyc.gov or write a letter of support addressed to: Hon. Robert Tierney, Chair, Landmarks Preservation Commission, 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10007. Please carbon-copy LANDMARK WEST! on any correspondence you send.

Architectural Significance: This building, built in 1930 and designed by F.P. Flatt and Brothers, is an intact surviving example of automat architecture at its best and is most noticeable for its impressive polychrome terracotta Art Deco ornament. The façade features joyous Art Deco floral patterns and stylized versions of ancient Mayan motifs. As with many other automats, its iconic façade centers around a monumental, glassy portal that was designed to expose the shiny, mechanized interiors—a brilliant case of architecture as advertisement.

Automats were once a ubiquitous building type in Manhattan, but the 104th Street Automat is one of the few in Manhattan that survive. Among countless other losses is the former Horn and Hardart automat at 104 West 57th Street that is currently being demolished despite preservation advocacy efforts dating back to the early 1980s. The characteristic streamlined facades of automats offer variety to the streetscape as well as tell an important part of our city’s history, but their low scale threatens their survival and makes them vulnerable to redevelopment.

Cultural Significance: For over six decades the Horn & Hardart Automat chain was known for its inexpensive, consistent meals that could be dispensed in seconds. After opening their first lunchroom in 1888, Joseph V. Horn and Frank Hardart were inspired by a visit to Berlin’s famous waiterless restaurant and opened their first automat in Philadelphia in 1902. The opening of a large automat in Times Square in 1912 catapulted the business to national fame. At
its height, Horn and Hardart served as many as 800,000 meals a day, although it only operated automats in Philadelphia, New York and several cities in New Jersey. Horn & Hardart automats became so iconic that they were referred to in both plays and movies. Business began to slow down during the 1960s, resulting in the closure of numerous automats. A single automat managed to survive for another three decades but closed in 1991.

The automat remains vividly alive in today’s culture through nostalgic books, websites and recipes, but sadly only a tiny handful of original structures survive.

Central Park's Naumburg Orchestral Concert Series

We are pleased to announce the Naumburg Orchestral Concert Series for 2006. Free, open-air concerts at the Naumburg Bandshell on the Central Park Mall are a 101-year tradition and a treasured part of summertime in New York. See below for the concert schedule.

Take Action to Help Restore the Naumburg Bandshell!
As many of you know, the 1923 Bandshell is in desperate need of long-overdue restoration. Council Member Gale Brewer has submitted a request to the City Council for capital funding to support this project. Please contact our office to find out how you can help get money for the Bandshell in next year's city budget.

The concerts are on Tuesday evenings at 7:30 p.m., and the Naumburg Bandshell is located mid-park just south of the 72nd Street transverse road. For more information about the concert series and the history of the Bandshell, visit http://naumburgconcerts.org.


The Imani Winds,
Featuring Pianist André-Michel Schub
Tuesday, June 27, 2006 at 7:30 PM

Afro Blue (arr. Valerie Coleman), Mongo Santamaria (1917-2003)
Le Tombeau de Couperin (Arr. Mason Jones) Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Quintet for Winds, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

~ intermission ~

Oblivion (Arr. Jeff Scott), Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Aires Tropicales, Paquito D'Rivera (b. 1948)
Umoja, Valerie Coleman (b. 1970)


The Naumburg Orchestra
George Garrett Keast - conductor
Andrew Armstrong - piano soloist
Tuesday, July 11, 2006 at 7:30 PM

Pulcinella Suite, Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971)
Piano Concerto No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

~ intermission ~

Symphony No 8 in F Major Op. 32 , Ludwig Van Beethoven (1770-1827)


The Naumburg Orchestra
Sarah Ioannides - conductor
Scott Hartman - trombone soloist
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 at 7:30 PM

Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504, "Prague Symphony," Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Trombone Concerto (1970), Nino Rota (1911-1979)

~ intermission ~

Sinfonietta (1947), Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)


Early Music Concert - Arthur Haas, conductor and director
with members and friends of the Aulos Ensemble
Tuesday, August 8, 2006 at 7:30 PM

Quintet for Guitar and Strings "Fandango Quintet," Luigi Boccherini (1743 - 1805)
Concerto for Orchestra "La Pazzia," Francesco Durante (1684–1755)
Folias for strings, Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741)

Newsracks Legislation

STRONGER LEGISLATION FOR NEW YORK'S UNKEMPT NEWSRACKS IS GAINING MOMENTUM

LANDMARK WEST! volunteer, Howard Stevens, CIVITAS, the Municipal Art Society and others are crafting legislation for City Council to address the growing problem of the numerous, ill-maintained news and advertising racks that litter most of our city sidewalks. Through Howard's advocacy, Community Board 7 passed a strong resolution (see below) at their April 4 meeting supporting more effective regulation. Los Angeles, Chicago and San Francisco are among the many cities that are already successfully reining in this problem. Now is the time for New York to assert itself as a world-class city with a world-class quality of life. As the current law (passed in 2002 and amended in 2004) is proving inadequate against the unsightly and dangerous conditions created by the newsracks, more effective legislation is needed.
GET INVOLVED!

Councilmember Gale Brewer has agreed to sponsor legislation on newsracks.
Show your support by filling out and mailing or faxing the attached letter to Brewer, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Transportation Committee Chairperson John Liu and your district councilmember (see below for all contact information). You can also copy the text into an email. Be sure to include your own mailing address in the body of the email.

COUNCIL MEMBER CONTACT INFORMATION
Hon. Christine C. Quinn
Speaker
224 West 30th Street, Suite 1206
New York, New York 10001
Phone: (212) 564-7757
Fax: (212)564-7347
quinn@council.nyc.ny.us

Hon. John C. Liu
Transportation Committee Chairperson
135-27 38th Avenue, Suite 388
Flushing, New York 11354
Phone: (718) 888-8747
Fax: (718) 888-0331
liu@council.nyc.ny.us

Hon. Gale Brewer (District 6)
563 Columbus Avenue
New York, New York 10024
Phone: (212) 873-0282
District: (212) 873-0279
brewer@council.nyc.ny.us

Hon. Inez Dickens (District 9)
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building
163 W. 125 Street
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212) 788-7397
Fax: (212) 442-2732
dickens@council.nyc.ny.us

Hon. Melissa Mark Viverito (District 8)
105 East 116th Street
New York, NY 10029
Phone: (212) 828-9800
No fax number available.
viverito@council.nyc.ny.us

For other councilmember contact information, see http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/member_list.cfm

COMMUNITY BOARD 7 RESOLUTION, PASSED APRIL 4, 2006

Whereas the proliferation of newsracks has created cluttered, dangerous, unsanitary and unsightly conditions on the streets of New York City; and

Whereas, the owners of the various publications distributed by the newsracks have largely failed to maintain their newsracks according to applicable regulations; and

Whereas, the Department of Transportation has not effectively enforced newsrack regulations because of deficiencies in the current law and lack of personnel; and

Whereas, use of the 311 system for complaints about unlawfully placed or improperly maintained newsracks has not been produced meaningful results; and

Whereas, other cities have enacted legislation limiting the number of newsracks on each corner, mandating size, appearance, maintenance and other requirements and have imposed fair licensing fees to fund enforcement activities;

Community Board No. 7, Manhattan, requests that:

1. The City Council study newsrack legislation in other municipalities and enact a newsrack law which will curb the current abuses and unsafe conditions on our sidewalks.

2. The Department of Transportation devote sufficient administrative and personnel resources to satisfactorily enforce the newsrack regulations.

3. The Office of the Mayor take necessary action to encourage and enable the Department of Transportation to more promptly and effectively respond to 311 newsracks complaints.