Landmark Balusters
Dear Brownstoners, This is our first posting in this forum, we thought we might get a good idea on how to solve our problem with the help of the collective experience in this group. We have a brownstone in a landmarked district that has a violation related to the front stoop. Basically the original balusters…
Dear Brownstoners,
This is our first posting in this forum, we thought we might get a good idea on how to solve our problem with the help of the collective experience in this group. We have a brownstone in a landmarked district that has a violation related to the front stoop. Basically the original balusters disappeared decades ago, and we need to replace them with balusters that match those of the house next door. (pictures attached). There are no similar balusters commercially available and no other such balusters in any home we have ever seen except the one next door. So far the cast iron and aluminum estimates we have gotten have been in the 15K range and involve temporarily removing two balusters from our neighbors’ stoop in order to make the casts. We are looking to see what other materials and methods may be more economical… we have been thinking fiberglass but have not gotten responses from any of the fiberglass places we have emailed. Any recommendations on good, reliable, fiberglass companies or thoughts about other materials, or any other solution to our problem? Can Landmarks just make you pay any amount to fix a violation or will they work with you to do something in a reasonable price range (e.g. accept a substitution with a commercially available baluster.) Thanks!
Yes, it is a pain. But the disappearance of these nice brownstones in basically the style they were originally built in would also be a shame.
Too bad there isn’t a way to get an assessment before you buy what’s out of line with landmarks, so you could work it into your projected expenses, and thus into the price you pay. Maybe there is, if you talk to an architect who knows about such things before you buy … note to self.
This is what makes housing totally unaffordable here.
Basically, we’re taking an average YEAR’s cost for housing, and we’re forcing people to build replace a functioning bannister for purely aesthetic reasons.
Then we’re creating a giant bureaucracy of historians to enforce the laws, and we’re preventing the homeowner from renovating the house until this aesthetic crime is fixed.
YUCK.
If the balusters were removed after landmark designation but by a previous owner and lpc never realized it until now, how can the current owner be responsible? That doesn’t sound right.
we had ours done and it was 12K. we had all of the parts too. that is what happens when you buy in a landmarked area…beautiful but expensive.
Unfortunately, in my experience, speaking to someone at LPC is like speaking to someone at the DMV (hit or miss). The violation has teeth when you want to do any work on the inside of the home. They can block permits until you fix violation or set aside $ in an escrow to cover the cost of the fix.
I think landmarking is great in that it can preserve the aesthetics of a neighborhood. But don’t let anyone tell you it is not a potentially expensive proposition.
“If the balusters are there, they were removed illegally, and the violation is valid (even if it is unfair that YOU are getting, not a previous owner).”
This is nuts to read.
“What you really need to see is the photo that LPC took at the time of designation”
I had the same thought. Just made a phone call. Unfortunately LPC did not photograph every building in the early days.
Link for tax photos
http://www.nyc.gov/html/records/html/taxphotos/home.shtml
Posters above offer lots of good advice. If it turns out you DO need to replace the balusters, could you use wood? With a coat of paint (or 2 or 3) they would be indistinguishable from cast iron. Certainly much, much cheaper.
Excellent advice Bob!