Lots of Opposition to Aluminaire House Proposal at Yesterday's LPC Hearing

Curbed attended the Landmarks Preservation public hearing yesterday concerning the proposal to bring the Aluminaire House and a surrounding development to the corner of 39th Avenue and 50th Street. They report that the proposal has made neighbors “absolutely furious,” which was well on display at the hearing. All in all, 54 people delivered testimony with 40 individuals strongly opposed to the proposal. Many of the 14 supporters were either architects or architectural historians. Sunnyside residents argued that the proposal was out of context for the neighborhood and displayed, as Curbed put it, “Some stunning displays of NIMBYism.” Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer, State Senator Michael Gianaris, Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan and Congressman Joseph Crowley either testified or sent a letter against the plans. In a press release sent out by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey she states, “Even though the proposed development may involve a truly worthy architectural structure in its own right, it does not belong here. It is totally inconsistent with the spirit and character of Sunnyside Gardens.” The public testimony took so long that the LPC did not make any commons on the proposal; that part of the hearing will resume at some point in the future.

Sunnyside Beside Itself Over Aluminaire House Proposal [Curbed]