Forget Occupy Wall Street protestors—after removing part of a brick wall at a historic former police station, the N.Y.P.D. has to deal with a new set of idealistic hippies: the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
After removing part of a brick wall at a former police stable, the city’s finest might have violated city landmark laws, DNAinfo reports. Though alterations to the stable, at 19 Varick Street in Tribeca, must be approved by the commission, the N.Y.P.D. tore out a wall in the 99-year-old building and put in a metal staircase last summer without notifying the commission of the changes. Though the city obviously needs a new staircase (especially one that make it easier for officers to get to the department’s new World Trade Center command post), the Landmarks Preservation Commission is not happy. DNAinfo reports:
“We’re on to them,” said Roger Byrom, chairman of Community Board 1’s Landmarks Committee, who was dismayed to see alterations he believes were done illegally. “We’re going to keep on them. It’s gone to the enforcement unit [of the LPC], and we’ll do what we can.”
A Landmarks Preservation Commission spokeswoman said that they are unsure if the NYPD violated any laws, but assured DNAinfo that they are “looking into it.”
In addition to annoying the commission, the new staircase is causing a stir with the locals:
One resident of [a neighboring] building, a 36-year-old woman who has a young son, claimed last week that lights from the staircase shine into her three-bedroom apartment around the clock, and police officers smoking or using their cell phones on the staircase landing keep her awake at night.
“It’s a huge nuisance,” said the resident, who declined to give her name. “It’s ridiculous. It’s this enormous structure three feet from our window.”
While we might be living in sub-par Manhattan housing, The Observer can’t think of an apartment in the city that isn’t surrounded by huge structures full of noisy people. But that’s just us.
asanders@observer.com
