Franklin Building Gains Temporary Protection
We’ve been chronicling the effort to create the Borough Hall Skyscraper District, a plan which not everyone supports. While that drama plays out, the Landmarks Preservation Commission was concerned that one building in particular—the Franklin Building at 186 Remsen—would be altered or demolished before designation. To address that, LPC held a hearing on the possibility…
We’ve been chronicling the effort to create the Borough Hall Skyscraper District, a plan which not everyone supports. While that drama plays out, the Landmarks Preservation Commission was concerned that one building in particular—the Franklin Building at 186 Remsen—would be altered or demolished before designation. To address that, LPC held a hearing on the possibility of making the building, which has sat empty for years, an individual landmark. (The Brooklyn Paper was also there.) It was built in 1886-7 by the Parfitt Brothers and, according to LPC, “Has a striking facade of red brick with stone trim and terra cotta ornamentation.” The top floor-and-a-half was removed in the 50s but the lower six stories have been minimally altered. We’re told by the LPC that the building was not granted individual landmark status yesterday but that the owner agreed that the building wouldn’t be altered while the Skyscraper District debate plays out.
Individual landmarking was a pre-emptive move to prevent the owner from damaging/demolishing the building while the Skyscraper Historic District wends its way through the review/negotiating process.
I believe the district will get designated in the end and the Franklin Building will be included.
How could you not landmark a Parfitt Brothers building? They were brilliant! This one really is a small masterpiece, sandwiched in between much younger buildings. I wonder why they denied landmark status, too.
i wonder why it is empty, and why landmark status denied
The crown of the building was removed. A tall parapet in the form of a triangular pediment. No floor was removed. This building is a small masterpiece. A pox on whomever tries to demolish it.