27-gravesend-neck-road-120214

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has published the list of sites it proposes to dump in a mass decalendaring Landmark West warned about and we wrote about last week. Only seven sites are in Brooklyn, including the extremely significant Green-Wood Cemetery, the Père Lachaise of New York City, and New York’s most popular tourist attraction in the 19th century.

They are:

Lady Moody-Van Sicklen House
27 Gravesend Neck Road
Calendared in 1966

Coney Island Pumping Station
2301-2327 Neptune Avenue
Calendared in 1980

Green-Wood Cemetery
5th Avenue and 25th Street
Calendared in 1981

St. Augustine’s R.C. Church and Rectory
116-130 6th Avenue
Calendared in 1966

Holy Trinity Cathedral/Ukranian Church in Exile
177-181 South 5th Street
Calendared in 1966

St. Barbara’s Roman Catholic Church
299-307 Central Avenue
Calendared in 1980

183-195 Broadway Building (aka Forman Building)
183-195 Broadway
Calendared in 1986

The cast iron building at 183-195 Broadway in south Williamsburg, opposite the Williamsburgh Savings Bank, is notable for its unusual Neo-Grec cast-iron ornament showing calla lilies rising from shell-like leaves. The Lady Moody-Van Sicklen House at 27 Gravesend Neck Road, pictured above, was built sometime between 1659 and 1700 by English Anabaptists.

Numerous media outlets ran stories on the proposed action yesterday, including DNAinfo, The New York Times, and The New York Post.

Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer requested 30 days notice be given before any hearing or action, said DNAinfo. The LPC plans to remove the items from its calendar on Tuesday, December 9, without a public hearing, let alone individual hearings for each site. The LPC told the Times this would give it more time to work on current sites — although if the sites are “inactive” we’re not sure what work the LPC is doing on them. Critics such as Landmark West say the mass clearing is a favor to developers who want to alter or tear down the properties.

The full list of 96 sites includes any site that is “inactive” and has been calendared for “five years or more,” said the notice on the LPC website, which was published following inquiries from community groups and elected officials. “This proposed action is without reference to merit.” However, de-calendaring a proposed site could result in the site’s alteration or demolition, since the Department of Buildings will no longer be required to notify the LPC of any permit applications to alter or demo the building.

That is what happened to the historic Renaissance Casino in Harlem after the LPC removed it from its calendar, said DNAinfo. It is now being demolished to make way for a mixed-income apartment building. Click through to see LPC’s map of Brooklyn sites.

Breaking: Landmarks to “Decalendar” Hundreds of Proposed Historic Sites? [Brownstoner]
Photo above by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark; map below by LPC

brooklyn-lpc


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. The very fact that Stephen Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, has entered into this discussion (NYTimes) shows where this is coming from. For years, the REBNY has tried to hamstring the LPC and limit their ability to do anything. Their influence ($) is pervasive and single-minded. REBNY=The Dark Side.

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