Dolkart 10/9 Lecture on Garment District Vernacular Architecture

Building Capitol: The Vernacular Architecture of the Garment District
October 9th, 6:30 p.m. - Recital Hall

CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue @ 34th Street

FREE. Seating is limited.
Admittance will be on a first come, first served basis,
no reservations.
For more information:
visit www.gothamcenter.org or call 212.817.8474.

The Garment District is one of the most famous neighborhoods of New York City. This is an area well known to labor historians, but virtually unknown to historians of the city's built environment. Andrew Dolkart, the James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and author of the award-winning Morningside Heights: A History of its Architecture and Development, will give an illustrated lecture on the vernacular architecture of the Garment District, examining the forces that resulted in the extraordinary rapidity of development of showrooms, factories, and lofts.

Co-sponsored with the Leon Levy Foundation as part of its "Garment Industry History Initiative."

All Hands On Deck for West-Park Presbyterian Landmarks Consideration

On Thursday evening, October 11, Community Board 7 Parks and Preservation Committee members will meet for a presentation on West-Park Presbyterian Church and may consider a resolution supporting a NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission public hearing for the beloved building.

Citing its beauty and architectural significance, LANDMARK WEST! first petitioned the Landmarks Commission in 1985 to designate West-Park Presbyterian, which has graced the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street for over a century. The agenda for the October 11 CB7 meeting will include a presentation by Mosette Broderick (Director of the Urban Design and Architectural History Program at NYU) and colleagues on the building’s design by renowned architects Leopold Eidlitz and Henry Kilburn. Showing up and speaking up at the October 11 meeting is a great opportunity to voice your support and get the ball rolling toward landmark designation. (Click here for additional details and photos of the building. Read on for an architectural description of the building.)

Plan to attend the Thursday, October 11 evening meeting (schedule updates: http://www.cb7.org/commagendas.html). A CB7 resolution calling for a public hearing to consider designation of the building will show the landmarks commission that Upper West Side neighbors support landmark status for the church building.

Next step after October 11: If a resolution comes out of the October 11 CB7 Parks and Preservation committee meeting, a vote will follow at the full CB7 board meeting on Wednesday, November 7 (location TBA).

Architectural Significance:

In his 2003 letter to the Landmarks Commission, Andrew S. Dolkart (architectural historian, writer and the James Marston Fitch Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University) stated:

"The West-Park Presbyterian Church is unquestionably one of the most beautiful religious structures on the Upper West Side. The bold massing of this Romanesque Revival style building, the soaring tower anchoring the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 86th Street, and the extraordinary deep red sandstone cladding combine to create a building of singular power."

The West-Park Presbyterian Church was designed to stand out in the Upper West Side community. Its dramatic bell tower is a beacon to worshipers, and its red sandstone façade kept pace with the highest fashion of the day. Indeed, West-Park may be the only example of a Richardsonian Revival-style church to survive in Manhattan.

Doesn’t this beautiful structure at least deserve a landmarks hearing?

Please call LANDMARK WEST! at (212) 496-8110 for additional information.

Yellow Alert for Shearith Israel: Upcoming CB7 Land Use Meeting

After more than a year of watching and waiting, Congregation Shearith Israel (CSI) is back with its controversial plan to develop 5 stories of luxury condos on top of a new community house at 8 West 70th Street. Community Board 7's Land Use Committee will hold a public meeting to discuss (and possibly vote on) this application on Wednesday, October 17 (starting after 7 PM, more specific time tba). The location is Congregation Rodeph Sholom, 7 West 83rd Street (between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue).

Between the New-York Historical Society on the West Side, Mt. Sinai Hospital, Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun and Ramaz School on the East Side, uptown and downtown (and, as the old song goes, all around the town), the issue of tax-exempt nonprofit institutions exploiting their sites as "development opportunities" is more timely than ever. That's why YOUR participation in CB7's October 17 meeting is absolutely essential! This is about more than one institution's attempt to develop its real estate on the back of the surrounding community. This is about breaking down the West Side's historically strong resistance to inappropriate development that, block by block, will erode the architectural character and integrity of our city's historic districts.

Discrepancies in the BSA Application: On June 15, 2007, the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) issued its notice of objections to the CSI application, identifying 48 discrepancies, misrepresentations and failures on the part of the applicant to provide information necessary to enable the Board to evaluate the proposed new building for a variance. On September 10, 2007 (nearly one month past the 60-day dismissal deadline required by the Board), CSI submitted its revised application. Based on evaluation of the latest application, it continues its failures to respond to the BSA objections and to provide clear information on crucial issues which are significant to any determination of hardship excusing the applicant from compliance with the zoning regulations governing sound development. As resubmitted, CSI’s application remains egregiously incomplete. For documentation of the application and planning analysis by Barnacle Planning Studio, click here and visit http://www.protectwest70.org/.

While CSI could construct an appropriate, 6-story community house facility "as of right" (i.e., following groundrules for sound development), it needs no fewer than 8 special variances from the BSA to build a 105'-tall structure, including condos, more than twice as high as the brownstones that define this historic mid-block of West 70th Street, protected as part of an R8-B contextual zoning district AND as part of the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District, both created decades ago to preserve the low-rise, human-scale character of our neighborhood's mid-blocks. The site is also immediately adjacent to one of New York's most important Individual Landmarks, Congregation Shearith Israel, aka the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue (Brunner & Tryon, 1897), one of the handful of low-rise, Classical-style institutional buildings that play a key role in the Central Park West skyline.
Don't let Congregation Shearith Israel be yet another domino to fall! Join us at Community Board 7 on October 17!

LW! Walking Tour for Kids

LANDMARK WEST! teams up with openhousenewyork to
bring you two FREE family walking tours!

As advertised in today’s New York Times openhousenewyork supplement, on Sunday, October 7 LANDMARK WEST! will lead two Upper West Side walking tours geared for children ages 7-10. Tours will last one hour. The tours are part of LANDMARK WEST’s youth education program, “Keeping the Past for the Future.”**

Space is limited so advanced registration is required.
Email elysenewman@landmarkwest.org or call 212-496-1714 to register

Tour 1: Sunday, October 7 at 11:00am
“Horse Trails to Subway Rails”
Discover how the Upper West Side formed 100 years ago,
from horse stables and mansions to the construction of the subway and more.
Meet at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument,
Riverside Drive at 89th Street

Tour 2: Sunday, October 7 at 12:30pm
“Farmhouses to Townhouses”
Learn about the Upper West Side’s transformation from farmland to cityscape,
and how the subway’s construction played a part.
Meet at the south east corner of 81st Street
and Columbus Avenue


Check out the openhousenewyork website for additional events taking place during the weekend of October 6th and 7th: www.ohny.org or look in the Friday, September 28 New York Times for the openhousenewyork guide.

**Spread the word about “Keeping the Past for the Future” to your friends and neighbors who have children in Upper West Side schools! For additional information about KPF and to find out how your child’s school can participate in LW’s program, contact:

Elyse Newman
Director of Education
LANDMARK WEST!
elysenewman@landmarkwest.org
t: 212-496-8110

Continuing Education Seminar Series

LANDMARK WEST! invites you to attend a series of day-long seminars designed for real estate brokers, planners, residential and commercial building owners and neighbors.

A Preservation Primer
Monday, October 15, 2007

The Evolution of Architecture and Living Styles in Manhattan
Monday, November 12, 2007

Green Building and Historic Preservation
Monday, December 10, 2007

Each seminar is NYS- approved for 7.5 hours of real estate broker continuing education credits.

What: This preservation-focused educational series will enhance participants’ appreciation and understanding of our historic neighborhoods as we explore the development of Manhattan and the evolution of architectural styles in NYC. We will also examine the laws governing the landmarks process to help guide property owners seeking to alter or restore their apartments, townhouses or commercial facades. We will see that preservation does not seek to freeze our communities in time; rather it enhances the beauty and value of our ever-evolving neighborhoods. The series finale will examine practical green building and energy efficiency measures that can be taken when restoring and renovating older homes.

Featured Speakers: Francoise Bollack, AIA, principal, Francoise Bollack Architects, winner of The Green Building Competition for New York City; Mosette Broderick, MA, NYU design professor and architectural historian, Francis Morrone, MA, acclaimed author, lecturer, and teacher; and Karen Zukowski, MA, author of Creating the Artful Home: The Aesthetic Movement; Gregory Dietrich, Cultural Resource Consulting Group; Jean Phifer Parker, FAIA, principal, Thomas Parker Architects; Andy Padian, Steven Winter Associates; Craig Graber, Viridian Energy & Environmental, LLC, among others.

Register: Call (212) 496-1714 to register. You may pay by check or credit card- $80 per seminar (includes lunch compliments of Yvette Viverito, Advanced Capital Group (631) 656-1500 x 246). Please send payment to: LANDMARK WEST!
45 West 67th Street, New York, NY 10023.
For more information, refer to our website http://www.landmarkwest.org/.

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

Participants will receive a New York State certification for 7.5 hours of study approved by the Secretary of State in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 868 of the Laws of 1977.

Payment and Cancellation Policy: Checks will be accepted up to 5 working days before each seminar. Credit card charges will incur a small processing fee. While we cannot offer refunds for no-shows, we can furnish donation letters for tax purposes.

New-York Historical Society: Time for Dialogue

 Source: “New Historical Society Project Would Stir Up Skyline and Residents,” The New York Times, 11.1.06

Here is what the New-York Historical Society still wants to put in our front yard. A developer and architect have been chosen.

This much is certain. Whether it is this year, next year or 5 years from now, the Society intends to move forward with its “Phase 2” tower plan. Here is the question: When will the Society face the community, reveal its plans, and begin the dialogue it evaded in the first round? Will it, like the developers of Lord Foster’s tower at 980 Madison Avenue, spring its tower on the public as a done deal?

LANDMARK WEST! is prepared to approach this next phase unburdened by “Phase 1” history, to turn in good faith to a rational discussion of the Society’s needs, plans and alternatives for its future. Will the Society participate? When?

Join your fellow citizens in urging the Society to hold a candid, forthright public forum on its plans to develop its site. Please click here to sign our online petition.

To learn more, visit the LANDMARK WEST! website: http://www.landmarkwest.org/advocacy/nyhs.html

Back to School With LANDMARK WEST!

LANDMARK WEST! Goes Back to School

It’s official! Summer is over and thousands of Upper West Side students are returning to the classrooms this week.

And so is LANDMARK WEST!

If you have a child in an Upper West Side school, an interest in youth enrichment, or just plain curiosity about what’s happening in the neighborhood, read on…

Keeping the Past for the Future (KPF), LW’s school-based education program, is designed to foster within our city’s young people, primarily in grades 1 to 5, a strong sense of engagement, ownership, and responsibility toward their community through learning about the built environment and its history. KPF brings an LW! educator into classrooms for three to five sessions. During these sessions students, teachers, and an LW! educator go on walking tours, look at historic photographs of the neighborhood to compare “then and now”, study architectural styles and details of neighborhood buildings, and create a final preservation project.

The centerpiece of the program is our student workbook, “My Preservation Journal” which teaches students about the architecture and history of their neighborhood, while emphasizing the important role of historic preservation in sustaining the quality of life of our community for present and future generations.

We offer this program to public schools AT NO COST, thanks to the generous support of New York State Council on the Arts, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, Council Member Gale Brewer, and private donations.

During the 2006-2007 school year we reached over 1000 students, and this year we anticipate reaching 1,500. We have just hired our first full-time Director of Education, Elyse Newman, to expand the program and make it more central to LW’s advocacy work. We received a generous award of $15,000 from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs to support KPF – what a vote of confidence! This is a period of tremendous growth for KPF and we look forward to keeping you posted on all the program’s successes and the incredible work created by our students — a.k.a Upper West Siders of the future!

**In addition to our classroom sessions this year, LANDMARK WEST! will be giving two family-oriented walking tours on Sunday, October 7, as part of the annual openhousenewyork weekend. Call LW! for more details (212-496-8110) and check out http://www.openhousenewyork.org/ for general information about the weekend.

Spread the word to your friends and neighbors who have children in Upper West Side schools!

For additional information about KPF and to find out how your child’s school can participate in LW’s program, contact:

Elyse Newman
Director of Education
LANDMARK WEST!
elysenewman@landmarkwest.org
t: 212-496-8110

Tuition-Free Program in Historic Preservation at Mechanics' Institute

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
_______________________________________________
New Tuition-Free Program in
Historic Preservation

New York, NY – Summer 2007. Mechanics’ Institute is now accepting applications for its new program in Historic Preservation.

The two-year certificate program in Historic Preservation is comprised of eight courses, which cover a wide range of topics, from Building Typology to Case Studies in Preservation. Tuition-free classes are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, and 7:00pm to 9:00pm (to accommodate students’ daytime work schedules.) Each class session meets twice per week, two hours per evening, for thirteen (13) weeks. The next semester begins September 10.

The program is open to women and men currently working in historic preservation or related fields. Instruction focuses on architectural history, preservation processes and policies, methods and techniques of historic preservation, and case studies of New York City buildings and landmarks (see below.)

Curriculum Breakdown

Introduction to Historic Preservation
Visual Literacy
Building Typology – Architecture
Building Typology – Construction
Restoration Techniques
Building Pathology
Construction Materials & Methods
Case Studies in Historic Preservation

Mechanics’ Institute is located at 20 West 44th Street, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. Registration is taking place now and space is limited to 20 new applicants. For more information visit the school website at www.mechanicsinstitute.org. To register, call the Admissions office at 212.840.7648.


20 West 44th Street New York, N.Y. 10036
Telephone: (212) 840-7648 Facsimile: (212) 764-5058

What's Going On At Congregation Shearith Israel?

Congregation Shearith Israel Update

Wednesday, August 15, 2007, came and went. The significance? That was the deadline imposed by the Board of Standards and Appeals in their June 15, 2007, letter to Congregation Shearith Israel (CSI). "The Board desires to process applications on a timely basis and requests that applicants notify the Board if they are unable to make a complete submission within sixty (60) days. Failure to respond in a timely manner could lead to the dismissal of the application for lack of prosecution."

As of today, almost a full week after the deadline passed, CSI has yet to submit materials addressing any of the 47 objections raised by the Board in June. (Remember, CSI is asking for 8 variances exempting their proposed 124-foot-tall building from the area's contextual, brownstone-scale "R8-B" zoning. Much of the proposal's noncompliance results from CSI's desire to stack luxury apartments on top of a new community house.)

It is our understanding that the Board will not act immediately to dismiss CSI's application. The process may well drag on for many weeks, perhaps months. Yet, CSI's failure to meet the August 15 deadline, not to mention the fact that it took them over a year to file with the Board after getting the Landmarks Preservation Commission's design approval back in March 2006, suggests that CSI knows just how far they are from making a case that their project merits exemption from the zoning laws designed to protect the low-rise character of West 70th Street and hundreds of other blocks on the Upper West Side and thousands throughout the city.

And so, we continue to wait...and watch.

We are not alone. On a parallel track in Brooklyn, Cobble Hill neighbors are "fighting for their skies" against a developer seeking City Planning Commission approval for a new building that would break the brownstone area's 50-foot height limit for the first time ever. (As with CSI, the Landmarks Commission approved the developer's too-tall proposal.) Preservation advocate and current NYC Art Commissioner Otis Pratt Pearsall wrote in a recent letter to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, "If, our 40 year unbroken history notwithstanding, one developer on some rationale or another is now permitted an exception, can anyone believe that henceforth every developer will not also seek his own exception?...Please, make no mistake. The dam will be broken." This just in... BP Markowitz said "No" to the proposed Brooklyn building's height!

To learn more about the Brooklyn proposal, click here. For background on Congregation Shearith Israel, click here.

Last Chance for the Music Series at the Naumburg Bandshell!

Last free outdoor concert of the summer!

Join the Naumburg Orchestral in Central Park for:
The Naumburg Orchestra Jean-Marie Zeitouni - conductorJennifer Rivera - mezzo soprano
On Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at 7:30pm

Jean-Marie Zeitouni won a 2007 JUNO award (Canadian Grammy) with Les Violons du Royfor Astor Piazzolla: Works for StringsA Simple Symphony - Benjamin Britten (1913-76)Il Tramonto (with Jennifer Rivera) - Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)5 Greek Dances - Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949) ~ intermission ~Serenade for Strings - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-93)

The Naumburg Bandshell is located on the Concert Ground in Central Park,
south of the 72nd Street cross-drive. Admission is free. No rain
dates. For information log on to www.naumburgconcerts.org.

See you at the Bandshell