Side Window Woes in Cobble Hill
A proposal to renovate 227 Clinton Street hit Community Board 6’s Landmarks and Land Use Committee last week, and it was rough-going from the start. Coming not long after Norah Jones finished installing her controversial side windows and began work on her swimming pool, the timing could not have been worse. The designers, who presented…
A proposal to renovate 227 Clinton Street hit Community Board 6’s Landmarks and Land Use Committee last week, and it was rough-going from the start. Coming not long after Norah Jones finished installing her controversial side windows and began work on her swimming pool, the timing could not have been worse. The designers, who presented the design shown after the jump, were there to try to rally support for four additional windows on the side of the brownstone, a modestly sized swimming pool, and an all-glass, two-story “tea room” in the back yard, with trellis and vines up each side. The committee felt that the side windows were out of historical context and that there was “no historical credibility for glass boxes on the backs of homes in Cobble Hill.” There was no opinion expressed about the swimming pool, although it’s only the second one to come in front of this community board since Norah’s. The only nod of approval from the committee was changing the the existing windows to a wood frame. The session ended with the committee saying it would testify against the entirety of the design at their Landmarks hearing. Tough luck!
BrooklynIsHome —
You forgot to mention that community boards are HIGHLY political groups composed of community residents that will do almost anything to maintain their position on the boards and you need a lot more political juice than being an engaged resident… “invested in their communities by dent (sic) of residency, business ownership or significant interests” is a cute thing to say, but that’s not enough to get on the board.
HDL, the design company had many smaller pictures of the current home and the plans, but they had no full sized images of any renderings. Granted, that picture of the blueprint isn’t a good one, but it was the only image large enough to photograph. I’m assuming they were intending to have to rework the design anyway before their LPC hearing.
By dirty_hipster on June 30, 2010 10:11 AM
I really hate Community Boards. Typically filled with a bunch of self serving, jealous douchebags who don’t have the community’s best interest in mind.
Let’s try this characterization of Community Boards.
Composed of UNPAID community residents who are invested in their communities by dent of residency, business ownership or significant interests. Their expertise is frequently derived from their knowledge, professional expertise and experience with issues that come from their committees. Now forced to fundraise in order to have the benefit of experts that are city chartered mandated but currently not funded by the mayor’s vision of Manhattan centric planning for the outer boroughs.
One more thing, subject to scorn and ridicule by persons who are unwilling to volunteer their time to serve their communities, unknowledgeable about internal processes and subject to the rancor of those who do not agree with them.
Many community boards work well. Just because you don’t agree with them means that they’re wrong. Also, if community boards didn’t exist, Brownstone Brooklyn would not have had the mechanism to support the kinds of communities we so cherish.
Why the fuck does a swimming pool have to be approved by ANYONE?! Do they have to have their hammocks approved too?
You nailed it DeLepp. LPC are the experts and will do the appropriate research to determine whether or not a proposal is compliant with historic context.
That said, the presentation looks pretty lame if that’s the full extent of it. I would think a presentation board showing examples of precedent as well as a rendering or at least a colored and shadowed version of the elevation are essential. If this is your one shot better make it a good one.
That is really rotten.
No historical credibility for glass boxes! Cough, arf, arf, How about conservatories? It doesn’t get any more fussy and Eye-talian than that, milking both teats of the neighborhood.
Agreed Mopar, that drawing doesn’t do them much good in making their case. Hopefully there’s more to their case than that – if not, they don’t have the right team going in to LPC.
If it’s presented properly (and well designed – who can say from this drawing), I would bet that LPC would approve the work. There is ample precedent for both the rear addition and the side windows.
Emily – I love your unintentional sign of the gentrification of Clinton Hill:
“it’s only the second [swimming pool] to come in front of this community board since Norah’s…”
Oh, I didn’t even catch that… it’s not even the Landmark Commission (or whatever it’s called). It’s just a subcommittee of the Community Board showing is ugly envious side.
“If I can’t afford a conservatory, then these bastards aren’t getting one! And if I have a dark cave for a parlor, these bastards should too!”