Appendix G Historic, Archaeological, and Cultural
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MTA Metro-North Railroad Penn Station Access Project Environmental Assessment Supplemental Section 106 Review for the Expansion of New Rochelle Yard on the Metro North New Haven Line New Rochelle, Westchester County, NY MTA Metro-North Railroad Penn Station Access Project Westchester, Queens & Bronx Counties, New York August 2020 Prepared for: Prepared by: Lynn Drobbin & Associates and WSP MTA Metro-North Railroad Penn Station Access Project Contents 1. PROJECT DESCRIPTION .........................................................................................................................1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................................. 1 2. CONSULTING PARTIES AND RESOURCE ORGANIZATIONS ...................................................................4 2.1 CONSULTING PARTIES ........................................................................................................................................ 4 2.2 RESOURCE ORGANIZATIONS ................................................................................................................................. 5 3. AREA OF POTENTIAL EFFECT .................................................................................................................6 3.1 DEFINITION OF THE PSA PROJECT AREA OF POTENTIAL EFFECT................................................................................... 6 3.2 DEFINITION OF THE APE FOR EXPANSION OF THE NEW ROCHELLE YARD ON THE METRO NORTH NEW HAVEN LINE ............... 8 4. METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 23 5. RESOURCES IN THE APE ..................................................................................................................... 24 5.1 BACKGROUND HISTORY .................................................................................................................................... 24 5.2 LISTED AND ELIGIBLE HISTORIC RESOURCES NEAR THE APE ................................................................................... 26 5.3 LISTED AND ELIGIBLE HISTORIC RESOURCES IN THE APE ........................................................................................ 27 5.4 RESOURCES IN THE APE ................................................................................................................................... 28 5.5 DESCRIPTION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF RESOURCES OVER 50 YEARS OLD ..................................................................... 31 5.6 DESCRIPTION OF RESOURCES IN THE APE UNDER 50 YEARS OLD ............................................................................ 42 6. PROJECT DESCRIPTION ...................................................................................................................... 51 7. EFFECTS ASSESSMENT ....................................................................................................................... 54 7.1 APPLICATION OF THE CRITERIA OF EFFECT............................................................................................................. 54 7.2 ASSESSING EFFECTS ........................................................................................................................................ 54 7.3 ADVERSE EFFECT CRITERIA ................................................................................................................................ 54 7.4 EFFECTS ON HISTORIC RESOURCES IN THE APE .................................................................................................... 55 8. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................................... 56 9. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................... 57 FIGURES Figure 1: Penn Station Access Project and New Rochelle Yard Area of Potential Effect Figure 2: Historic Resource APE: Expansion of New Rochelle Yard on Metro North New Haven Line Figure 3: Tax Map of APE: Expansion of New Rochelle Yard on Metro North New Haven Line Figure 4: DeRaffele Dining Car Manufacturing Plant, 85 River Street (demolished) Figure 5: 172 Lispenard Avenue (formerly Stephenson Avenue), 1931 Sanborn Map APPENDIX A: CONCEPT DRAWINGS OF PROPOSED NEW ROCHELLE YARD EXPANSION APPENDIX B: HISTORIC AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES APE APPENDIX C: SELECTED SANBORN MAPS OF THE HISTORIC RESOURCES APE APPENDIX D: BUILDING-STRUCTURE INVENTORY FORM: KAUFMAN BUILDING i 1. Project Description 1.1 INTRODUCTION The Supplemental Section 106 Review for the Expansion of the New Rochelle Yard on the Metro North New Haven Line has been prepared as a supplemental report to the Section 106 Effects Assessment for the Metro-North Railroad Penn Station Access Project (PSA Effects Assessment) submitted in July 2019 to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP), also known as the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). The PSA Effects Assessment, approved with a No Adverse Effect finding by the NY SHPO on July 30, 2019, noted that the evaluation of effects was based on conceptual-level project plans and that additional details would be defined during the Proposed Project’s design phase. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)/Metro-North Commuter Railroad Company’s (Metro- North) Penn Station Access (PSA) Project proposes the introduction of direct, one-seat passenger rail service between its New Haven Line (NHL) territory (Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield and New Haven Counties, Connecticut) and Pennsylvania Station New York (PSNY) on the west side of Manhattan. The Proposed Project would also provide passenger rail service at four new community-based Metro-North stations in the eastern Bronx. The new stations and additional infrastructure improvements to enhance operational flexibility and power supply would be constructed within the Hell Gate Line (HGL) right-of-way in Queens and Bronx Counties, New York, and would include the linear expansion of Metro- North’s New Rochelle Yard in New Rochelle, New York. This report has been prepared in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended and Section 14.09 of the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law of 1980. The project concerns the expansion of the existing Metro North rail yard on the New Haven Line at New Rochelle to provide for the mid-day storage and turning of passenger fleet train consists to accommodate Penn Station Access service. The existing yard is currently utilized for the storage of maintenance of way (MOW) equipment. The expansion of the yard would include the following: · Construct the required improvements to provide for storage of 48 train coaches and 1,600 feet of new track; · Construct a welfare facility and two trailers to house personnel and equipment; and, · Construct four paved roadways in the yard, with retaining walls, to enable access to the train storage areas. A detailed description of the proposed yard improvements are contained in Chapter 6. Project Description. Appendix A contains the concept drawings of the proposed expansion of the New Rochelle Yard. This supplemental report has been prepared to 1) identify the Area of Potential Effect (APE) for historic architectural resources; 2) identify the resources that are listed on, eligible for, or potentially eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) that are located in the APE; and 3) evaluate the 1 effects of the expansion of the yard on the significant historic architectural resources in the APE; and 4) if there is the potential for effects, provide for the identification of methodologies to lessen the effects on historic architectural resources. A Phase IA Archaeological Assessment for the New Rochelle Yard Expansion (August 2020) was prepared by Historical Perspectives, Inc. and submitted to SHPO separately. The Phase IA found that the New Rochelle Yard APE was extensively disturbed, both vertically and horizontally; therefore, no additional archaeological consideration is recommended. This report concludes that one property in the APE, the Kaufman Building on 271 North Avenue, with a SHPO Opinion of Eligibility for listing on the NRHP, would potentially be affected during the construction for the expansion of the yard. A No Adverse Effect finding is assumed with a construction monitoring plan to ensure the protection of this resource. The following reports and SHPO findings for the historic resource review of the PSA Project have been previously prepared in compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, and Section 14.09 of the New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Law of 1980 and the New York City Landmarks Law of 1965: § Historic Resources Project Initiation Letter (PIL) for the PSA Project, Westchester, Queens & Bronx Counties, New York. August 2013. Revised January 2014. Prepared for Metro-North by Lynn Drobbin & Associates and Parsons Brinckerhoff (PSA PIL). o The SHPO concurred with the findings of the PSA PIL in a September 16, 2013 letter and the LPC reviewed the PIL on July 7, 2014. § Historic Architectural Resources Background Study (HARBS) for the PSA Project, Westchester, Bronx & Queens Counties, New York. February