Work Harming Empire Blvd Landmark?
Barbara Ann Rogers, a broker who lives in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and is a self-described “neighborhood landmarks crank,” got in touch with us about six weeks ago regarding renovations under way at the landmark building at 35 Empire Boulevard, which is owned and used by the Fire Dept. The building has been surrounded by a fence…
Barbara Ann Rogers, a broker who lives in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and is a self-described “neighborhood landmarks crank,” got in touch with us about six weeks ago regarding renovations under way at the landmark building at 35 Empire Boulevard, which is owned and used by the Fire Dept. The building has been surrounded by a fence for years. Rogers was—and is—concerned that “permanent disfigurement [is] being wrought upon this building,” particularly in terms of the equipment being installed through the walls (shown in photos above and on the jump). She worries the equipment is “permanently altering the exterior appearance of the building.” A spokeswoman from the Landmarks Preservation Commission said a permit had been issued for proposed work to the building that “consists of trenching within the landscaped portion of the site to install new electrical supply between the building and a new transformer vault located beneath the sidewalk on Empire Boulevard, located off of the landmark site.” Rogers contends that there is “no way” the permit that was issued could cover the work that she’s been observing over the past month-and-a-half. Meanwhile, Joseph Mastropietro, an FDNY administrator, told us that the department does not intend to remove the fence surrounding the property once the work is complete, which Rogers is also steamed about. “That fence is hideous,” she writes in an email. “A landmark building kind of belongs to us all, doesn’t it, and this one is being withheld from us.”
35 Empire Boulevard Landmark Report [PDF] GMAP
Actually all fire communications were centralized in Manhattan AFTER 9/11, so this facility fell out of use. They are now repurposing it, for what they will not specify. If the FDNY’s needs are not appropriate for a historic building like this onewhy not make it an FDNY museum and build a new communications center elsewhere? Oh, I forgot, we’re too busy subsidizing a basketball arena to spend money on saving peoples’ lives.
Sure- and why not kick all the companies out of their historic firehouses and have them build new ones elsewhere? And there already is an FDNY museum. I see nothing wrong with FDNY repurposing a building that belongs to them and was built for them. How is that inappropriate for this particular historic building?
Those look like emergency generators and their diesel fuel tanks. I really question the suitability of this delicate villa for this type of operation.
at least the FDNY is not burning down historic buildings for practice any more. That’s a start.
For fire communications, cp. And as much as I love the building, I have to agree with you- in this case there is a real common good. The Department is doing everything it can to upgrade, yet keep the integrity of the building. The fence is for security. Rogers must not remember 9-11 if she is worried more about the ugly fence than the reason for it.
It’s my understanding they went through LPC. I agree you can’t do whatever you like with a landmarked building, but on the other hand there are other priorities for a building and a fire department.When it comes to the Fire Dept. and the Police Dept., the idea that they should be required to go through a public hearing to determine what they can do with their property (and this is only for agencies that deal with security and public safety), is not realistic. This, like the historic firehouses are working buildings and it seems fitting that they remain so, fulfilling their intended purpose.