City Council member Bill Perkins has taken the 2 Columbus Circle fray to the legislative chamber by introducing a bill that would require the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold public hearings on alterations to any building the City Council thinks it should hold hearings about. All the council needs to do is get a majority to vote for having the hearings.
Preservationists and activists have been trying to compel the L.P.C. to hold a hearing on the Edward Durrell Stone-designed building for years. To no avail, though; the L.P.C. is standing by its 1996 decision that the building doesn’t have enough historical or architectural import for consideration.
Mr. Perkin’s legislation also requires the L.P.C. to hold a hearing to determine whether any building under landmarks consideration should be listed on the state Register of Historic Places.
– Matthew Grace