Building of the Day: 75 Livingston Street
Photo is a reflection in a car windshield, dirt and all. The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy. Address: 75 Livingston Street, corner of Court St….
Photo is a reflection in a car windshield, dirt and all.
The BOTD is a no-frills look at interesting structures of all types and from all neighborhoods. There will be old, new, important, forgotten, public, private, good and bad. Whatever strikes our fancy. We hope you enjoy.
Address: 75 Livingston Street, corner of Court St.
Name: Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Building, aka Court Chambers Building
Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
Year Built: 1927
Architectural Style: Art Deco
Architect: A.F. Simberg
Landmarked: No, in proposed Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper District
Why chosen: Some people insist that Brooklyn’s downtown skyscraper row, mostly on Court St, between Montague and Livingston, is a failed attempt at Brooklyn keeping up with Manhattan, and therefore not worthy of landmarking. I beg to differ. Brooklyn developed in its own unique way, through some very distinctive buildings built by Brooklyn architects. Take this building, for example, the most contested building in the proposed Skyscraper District. It is arguably one of the gems of the row. The architect, A.F. Simberg, only designed one building in Brooklyn that we are aware of, and this is it. It’s a marvelous 32 story combination of Art Deco massing, with ziggurats and six set backs, some uniquely on a diagonal to the street, combined with Gothic tracery and white terra-cotta ornament all over the parapets and other parts of the facade. It was built for the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, and was an office building until 1981, when it went co-op. It now has 96 units. The co-op board is against landmarking, calling the building unremarkable, which is rather like saying the Woolworth building, which this resembles in many ways, is just another office building. During the years when Brooklyn’s downtown had a steep economic downturn, Court Street got pretty seedy, but survived. This building is something to be proud of, for its uniqueness and beauty. I hope it is rewarded by landmarking.
Photo: Forgotten NY
it would it it was made a motion to amend and seconded it. someone asked for a friendly amendment. I refused it as a friendly amendment(a friendly amendment can be accepted by the originally maker of the motion without a vote). the person could have made a formal motion to amend. they didn’t. so it wasn’t voted on…
I rejected the friendly amendment. They could have moved otherwise and didn’t.
If they did there would have been a vote to amend it. I think they made a tactical mistake by including the law school in the same action…
As a representative of the Board of 75 Livingston Street, I’d like to correct the record a bit. Our building IS remarkable and the evidence of our pride is the 20 year history of doing what it takes not just to repair the facade but to restore it. The fact that we don’t want to be included in this district has nothing to do with the fact that we honor the architectual history and integrity of 75 Livingston. What gets lost in the discussion is that a building like ours is residential but is still held to EVERY regulation that NYC imposes on commercial buildings. That includes things like “green” energy rules, water main back flow preventers, elevator inspections, in addition to Local Law 11. Respecting our building’s financial as well as architectural vitality is what fiduciary responsibility means. All we ask is some recognition that landmarking is just one part of the value equation in a co-op, maybe not the most critical one. No one has every studied the impact on landmarking on a residental building like ours and the studies that have been done don’t show it increases value; just that it’s neutral. Give us somc credit for having thought about this issue.
smeyer, I don’t understand your rejection of the motion to exclude 75 Livingston and the law school dorm. My question is procedural not philosophical–I love this building too. But why is it that CB #2 doesn’t vote on motions to amend the motion on the floor?
that is CB #2 sorry…
They claim they are maintaining to landmark standards and being good stewards of it, yet they don’t want anyone telling them what to do.
They tried to include in the exclusion the Brooklyn Law school dorm that is also a remarkable building. Both say they maintain the buildings well and should not be subject to land marking because of the cost.
Lame excuses and frankly land marking will increase the value not lessen it….
BTW I made the motion at CB32 to approve the land marking and rejected the move to exclude the two buildings above…
for that I was accused of representing “certain” interests. Yes my interest is in requiring the preserving of significant buildings, even when it adds some costs.
This buildings facade was in terrible shape. I applaud what the coop has done so far but in the future they will need approval(although most repairs will be approved without delay or significant additional cost)…
Always loved that building. I’m sure it costs a fortune to maintain that facade.
Has long been one of my favorite parts of the Brooklyn skyline. There are some really lovely units inside.
It is a wonderful building, but your “creative” photograph does not do it justice.
I don’t see how the board is moronic – they are looking out for their own best interests.
I’m sure the majority of the residents think that the building is remarkable.
I also seriously doubt that they plan on making any major changes to the look of the building – if the residents wanted to live in a more modern building there are certainly many to choose from.
However, the costs and complexities involved in maintaining a a 32 story, 83 year old building are huge. Why would they want to do anything that makes their life more complicated or increases their expenses when they have nothing to gain?