Does landmarks ever approve of window bars ?

I own a brownstone in the Landmark district of Fort Greene. About 22 years ago I installed window bars on the 2 front parlor windows of the building and a metal gate in front of the main entrance door. I did this in response to a series of break-ins. The bars and gate were as simple as possible, no extraneous decoration. About 4 years ago we received a Landmarks violation for the bars. We haven’t done anything about the violation. Although there is less crime in the neighborhood today, it still exists and I really do not want to remove the bars. I like to leave windows open in the summer, etc.  The Landmarks Manual is ambivalent about bars; it terms them undesirable but doesn’t rule them out. I also had an alarm system for a while but got a lot of false alarms. Does anyone have experience dealing with this ? Will Landmarks approve an application for bars ?

kensny

in Landmarks 13 years and 3 months ago

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metalwork | 11 years and 3 months ago

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pig three, you are so right.

pigthree | 13 years and 3 months ago

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was the area landmarked when you installed the bars?  if not, and you can prove with a photo that the bars were there before lankmarking you have no problem.  the supporting documentation should clear the violation.

m926bk | 13 years and 3 months ago

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Yes, they will approve bars.  They like them to be in the style of the building.  Perhaps your neighbors still have theirs as an example, or you can see them in historic photos?  While not common, the LPC will issue violations for things like window bars because they fall under their jurisdiction and require approval.  Or, sometimes neighbors who go through the process alert the LPC to people who didn’t.  Anyway, yes, you can get bars approved and your violation cleared.  You probably know this, but you can’t get a DOB permit with LPC violations on the property.