133 Lafayette's Day of Reckoning at LPC
The chickens are coming home to roost at 133 Lafayette Avenue, where the owners of the corner bodega charged ahead last fall with a renovation without getting the blessing of the Department of Buildings or the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In October, The Local blog reported on the the removal of the entire storefront facade as…
The chickens are coming home to roost at 133 Lafayette Avenue, where the owners of the corner bodega charged ahead last fall with a renovation without getting the blessing of the Department of Buildings or the Landmarks Preservation Commission. In October, The Local blog reported on the the removal of the entire storefront facade as well as the original signage, which dates back an estimated forty years. At the time, The Local quoted a neighbor’s account of the sign removal:
They were just ripping it off with crowbars, the reader said. They were tearing it down in a way that made clear — it’s not like they were taking a painting off the wall. It was like, ‘This is gone.’ There were holes punched in it, crimped out of shape.
The DOB still has a Stop Work Order in place on the property, at a minimum until the LPC is satisfied with the owner’s plan for remedy, the first attempt at which is scheduled to take place at the commission’s March 2nd meeting. Interestingly, there’s no mention of the signage in the LPC agenda item, just the storefront infill.
Streetlevel: Lafayette Grocery Overhaul [Brownstoner] GMAP
A Sign of Change at Lafayette Grocery [The Local]
Photo by Andy Newman for The Local
“The LPC is a kind of ridiculous overlay in this situation — a historic sign? Now that is the part I would have forgotten about.”
Note that the ‘historic sign’ is forty years old. That’s 1970. We’re protecting a bodega sign from 1970? WTF…
glad they’re renovating though…it was definitely kind of scuzzy in there.
It was a dump. Went in there for dy goods only. Considering the hell the nigerian restaurant across the street went thru with lpc makes me believe there are indeed lots of people with their heads in the sand.
that being said that stretch of lafayette in fort greene could use some activity @ night.
God, talk about painting a bullseye on yourself. Is it actually possible that they didn’t know that you have to have a permit? There was a nice little take out fish restaurant on Fulton near Clinton which made really great take out meals and put so much effort into renovating the space, making a nice menu, they were so upbeat, etc. etc. but they just forgot to mention their restaurant to the Board of Health. They got closed down. Naturally. Did they actually think no one would notice. That is what I think about these guys. What the hell were they thinking?
The LPC is a kind of ridiculous overlay in this situation — a historic sign? Now that is the part I would have forgotten about.
Is anyone still arguing whether the LPC should have the right to regulate construction in Historic Districts? When was that law enacted? 1965? Geez, people should just accept long-established reality.
The north elevation (DWG NO. A-003.00) shows and states, “EXISTING FLAT SIGN TO BE REPLACED.”
The laws are on the books. This building was not landmarked last night. Doing work on the up and up is for the good of everyone in the neighborhood, in terms of safety, if for no other reason. Had they gone about this in the right way, they would have run into the statute that clearly states that work on a landmarked building has to be presented to the LPC for approval. That just is, and has nothing to do with “economic stratification”. It is still possible to do an economical renovation within those guidelines.
Had they gotten away with it, Benson, you’d be complaining that certain people don’t abide by the rules the rest of us have to follow, and would be wailing to high heaven that they were getting an advantage, or were being treated differently, or were another example of some PC, left wing conspiracy to cut people an unfair break.
Lafayette and Cumberland, of all places. Right under the microscope of the powers that be.
***Bid half off peak comps***
The blatant way they went at this is, of course, absurd. But if anyone’s saying that old signage was worth preserving, they are crazy.