MacDonough St. Houses Report
From the Landmarks Conservancy comes some details about the battle to save 329 and 331 MacDonough St. in Stuyvesant Heights. The owner of 329, an attorney, quickly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the DOB from tearing down both houses in the aftermath of his workmen causing the collapse of the party wall in…
From the Landmarks Conservancy comes some details about the battle to save 329 and 331 MacDonough St. in Stuyvesant Heights. The owner of 329, an attorney, quickly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the DOB from tearing down both houses in the aftermath of his workmen causing the collapse of the party wall in the cellar. Through the auspices of the Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council (HDC), several engineers were brought in to assess the damage. The Conservancy then brought in expert shoring contractor Richard Mugler in the next Tuesday, along with representatives from the DOB, who all sat down to plan the saving of the houses. The following Friday, concrete was poured into the trenches the workmen had dug, as well as elsewhere in the cellars, and plans are being enacted to further build the party wall back up, and stabilize the floors in both buildings. It was the concerted efforts of the homeowners, the community, the Landmarks Conservancy, the HDC, and the sympathetic ear of the court that made it possible for these houses to still be standing, now three weeks after the initial collapse.
Unfortunately, many preservationists and supporters of this cause feel that the Landmarks Preservation Commission did not come forth with the kind of help or support they should have. The LPC advocated for the preservation of the facades, after the inevitable tear-down, but did not come to bat for the homeowners and tenants by vigorously trying to find a way to prevent that destruction, as did the Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council. Preservation should be about saving real people’s homes, as well as preserving pure architecture. Hopefully the bad press they received on this issue will resonate, and their stand in the future will be more far sighted.
Conservancy Fights to Save Historic Brownstones [Landmarks Conservancy]
Bed Stuy Residents Fight to Save Houses [The Brooklyn Link]
Update on MacDonough Street [Brownstoner]
Salvation on MacDonough Street? [Brownstoner]
Stay of Execution on MacDonough Street [Brownstoner]
MacDonough Street Update [Brownstoner]
Wall Collapse, Vacate Order for Bed Stuy Houses [Brownstoner]
Does anyone know if the LPC or the Landmark Conservancy or HDC has offered any type of financial assistance to the owner or tenants? I assume that the repairs will be quite costly having had dealt with the DOB in the past.
I’m very happy that it looks as though these houses will be saved.
My thoughts and good wishes are with all the owners and tenants. Very fortunate that one of the owners is a lawyer. I think his quick action helped save a substantial portion of this beautiful block.
Well said, Bob M!
From the Landmarks Conservancy website (emphasis added):
“if it had not been for the sympathetic ear of the court, the POLITICAL PRESSURE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD and the assistance of the Conservancy, these fine houses would have been demolished a week ago; four families would have been displaced; and the lovely intact row of landmark brownstones would have been irrevocably diminished”.
The DOB employees involved are bureaucrats as much as engineers and, IMO, should never be thought of as some sort of unquestionable gods, however much one frequent poster to this site becomes dyspeptic at the thought of questioning authority.
IMO, had the Dept of Buildings had its way and demolished 329 and 331, 333 would have had to come down as well as it would have been left standing all by itself. 327 would probably have been badly damaged as well and the residents displaced for many months.
And you can bet the DOB will drag its feet and continue to be obstructionist on every single minutiae of issues now that they’ve been told to back off on the this issue.
It’ll be interesting to watch how the Violations are dealt with for the adjoining house since it’s only “violation” really is that it’s adjoining.
I agree, the DOB engineers over-reacted. They are still in an institutional panic about last year’s Manhattan crane collapses. They should be more concerned about norah jones’ sidewall than about these houses, which are intact and solid. Hopefully the DOB will allow workmen in sometime in our lifetimes to make the repairs. Until that happens the families that reside in both houses are displaced.
Well, thank God that they are working this through now; what a nightmare for the owner and the community. And what an odd approach from Landmarks — advocating for the facade. Beautiful metaphor for having superficial approach to the business of preservation; the facade connects to a real building/s which are made for real human beings in a real neighborhood.
If anyone’s interested, the house on the right of these three is for sale through Stuyvesant heights realty. I believe it’s listed for aroud $655k and I’ve heard it needs a total renovation.
This might be a good time to get it for a fair price. There’s a large mansion to the right of it with an open driveway. You could consult with a famous singer in Cobble Hill who shall remain nameless and maybe get side windows installed.