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Making History

By Kim Velsey 8/22/12 7:14pm

Making History

Steve Ashkinazy of the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City discusses the house's history at a press conference today. (Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation)

Gay Rights Activists Join Campaign to Save Historic Soho Townhouse

It turns out that the federal-style rowhouse at 186 Spring Street has lots of friends in high places. Unfortunately, it may not have made them soon enough.

Today, in the latest bid to save the Soho townhouse from demolition, gay rights activists and local politicians rallied in front 186 Spring Street, highlighting the building’s role in gay rights and AIDS activism. The house served as a kind of gay commune for activists and organizations in the 1970s and early 1980s. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/15/12 11:03am

Making History

8 Photos

Engine Co. 73, Hook & Ladder Co. 42

Civic Pride: Landmarks Considers Five Historic Firehouses, Push to Preserve Municipal Architecture

Usually firemen are rushing into other peoples’ homes to rescue them. Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission was the savior, going into five different turn-of-the-century firehouses to consider them for preservation.

In addition to tabling the Rainbow Room and designating a Queens cemetery as the city’s newest landmark, the commission also calendared five historic firehouses, two each from the Bronx and Brooklyn and one from Queens. This follows the designation in June of three old firehouses in the Bronx and Queens [PDF]. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/14/12 4:52pm

Making History

Ginger Rogers and Howard Hughes, two years after the Rainbow Room opened. (Getty)

Chasing the Rainbow Room: Landmarks Commission Considers Iconic Eatery

The Rainbow Room, like Tavern on the Green or Chumley’s, was one of those New York institutions no one ever visited, until it was gone, at which point the lamentations became unceasing. The fate of the restaurant atop Rockafeller Center remains a mystery, since it was abruptly closed by the Ciprianis three years ago amidst a rent dispute with another of New York’s august families, the Speyers, who control Rock Center.

Whoever takes over the famous (and famously garish) catering hall in the sky, one thing that is unlikely to change is the decor. Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission decided to consider the two-story space on the 65th floor of 30 Rock for designation as an interior landmark, one 114 in the city. (Others include the Four Seasons, the New York Public Library and, just downstairs, Radio City Music Hall.) Read More

By Sarah Grothjan 8/06/12 5:25pm

Making History

(Flickr)

Frederick Law Olmsted’s Staten Island Farm Is Crumbling as Parks Department Lies Fallow

A dilapidated farmhouse bedecked with exterior virtues from the same hands that influenced many of the city’s greatest parks might soon become available to the public.

Frederick Law Olmsted, famous for Central and Prospect parks, among so many others, once remade a Staten Island farm to fit his vision of urban pastoral, according to The Times. Perhaps that claim to fame alone is enough to yield renovations from the city. But then again, probably not. Read More

By Matt Chaban 8/01/12 4:41pm

Making History

The end of the beginning. (NYC-Architecture.com)

An Unfortunate Anniversary: 50 Years Ago, a Failed Fight to Save Penn Station

By now it is received wisdom that the city’s preservation movement got its start the day Penn Station was torn down, and it has been galvanized ever since “to put a stop to the wanton destruction of our greatest buildings” by “would-be vandals” of the real estate trade, as a protest ad published 50 years ago tomorrow once loudly declared in The Times.

Both sides are still at it, but The Times’ Building Blocks columnist David Dunlap provides a tantalizing window on how it all began, including a glimpse at the above ad an a protest that followed on Seventh Avenue, a doomed fight that shocked generations into action. Read More

By Alexandra Dean Hitzler 7/18/12 3:41pm

Making History

Big government meets big business.

Market Ready: Landmarks Commission Approves Brooklyn Municipal Building Shops, Insisting It’s Pro-Business

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has been on the defensive of late, fighting off claims from the real estate industry that it hinders development rather than helping it. But in givings its unanimous approval to the transformation of the Brooklyn Municipal Building—in the newly created, much maligned Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper Historic District—the commission reasserted its role as a steward of both the city’s history and economy.

“It proves again and I don’t know how many times we have to do it, that economic development and preservation go hand in hand and here’s a textbook example of it,” Commissioner Chairman Robert Tierney said in an email. Read More

By Kim Velsey 7/11/12 11:19am

Making History

The buyer of Horovitz's old house is seeking a license to tear down. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

Beastie Boy’s Former SoHo Townhouse Faces Demolition

Seller beware! In April, Beastie Boy Adam Horovitz sold his SoHo townhouse to a Canadian developer, who claimed he wanted it for “personal use.”

Now The Village Voice is reporting that the new owner, Stephane Boivin, is seeking permission to demolish the property.Which doesn’t come as a huge surprise given that Mr. Boivin is planning a seven-story, mixed-use property adjacent to the Beastie abode, plus he already owns several other properties in the city. Read More

By Matt Chaban 6/14/12 8:02pm

Making History

The landmark in question. (Daytonian in Manhattan)

Preservationists Issue Rallying Cry, Prepare to Save Landmarks Law from Big Real Estate

Though the Responsible Landmarks Coalition has yet to take any public action beyond launching its web presence, preservationists are lining up to fight back. The Historic Districts Council just announced a town hall meeting “to defend the Landmark Law” next week. It will be held next Tuesday evening at the General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen—a landmark on West 44th Street designated in 1988, no less.

This follows on a strongly worded fusillade last week from HDC director Simeon Bankoff, the preservationists’ own cri de coeur. Read More

By Matt Chaban 6/08/12 10:14am

Making History

No place for Lefferts Place. (Brooklyn to the Fullest)

Who Says the Landmarks Preservation Commission Is Out of Control? Not Clinton Hill

As The Observer reported on Wednesday, a coalition of development and labor groups have launched the Responsible Landmarks Coalition to challenge what they see as mission creep on the part of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission and the preservationists that surround it. The argument is that the preservationists are overwhelming the city with their protections and stiffing development, and thus the city’s economy. (F.I.R.E., baby, F.I.R.E.!)

But in Clinton Hill, they are feeling none of the love, as the commission has rejected a community-led effort to have Lefferts Place, just south of Atlantic Avenue, considered for historic district designation, according to The Times-affiliated Local Fort Greene/Clinton Hill blog. Read More