Why Extend Tribeca North Historic District?
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Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................... 4 PART 1: WHY EXTEND TRIBECA NORTH HISTORIC DISTRICT? ............................................... 5 PREVIOUS EFFORTS TO EXTEND TRIBECA NORTH ................................................................................................. 8 PART 2: NORTH TRIBECA HISTORY ................................................................................................ 12 PART 2: BLOCK AND LOTS MERITING INCLUSION IN TRIBECA NORTH HISTORIC DISTRICT .................................................................................................................................................... 35 530 CANAL, BLOCK 595, LOT 11 ........................................................................................................................... 35 528 CANAL STREET, BLOCK 595, LOT 14 ............................................................................................................ 36 472 WASHINGTON (BLOCK 595, PART OF LOT 14) ........................................................................................... 37 466 WASHINGTON (BLOCK 595, LOT 16) ........................................................................................................... 38 470 WASHINGTON STREET LOT 22 (NOW DEMOLISHED) ................................................................................ 44 288 WEST STREET (BLOCK 595, LOT 6) ............................................................................................................. 47 426 WASHINGTON STREET (NB-438, 1926) .................................................................................................... 50 142 WATTS STREET (BLOCK 595, LOT 51) NE CORNER OF WASHINGTON, AKA 457 WASHINGTON) .. 51 67 VESTRY, SW CORNER WEST STREET, BLOCK 218, LOT 24 ........................................................................ 55 AKA 260-264 WEST STREET .................................................................................................................................. 55 438-440 WASHINGTON STREET, AKA 31 DESBROSSES .................................................................................... 66 465-469 WASHINGTON, BLOCK 595, LOT 30 .................................................................................................... 69 459-463 WASHINGTON STREET (BLOCK 595, LOT 7503) ............................................................................ 70 472 GREENWICH STREET, BLOCK 595, LOT 44 ................................................................................................. 72 470 GREENWICH (BUILDING ABSENT FROM NYC BLOCK AND LOT MAPS) .................................................... 73 136 WATTS STREET, BLOCK 595 LOT 48 AND 130 WATTS, BLOCK 595, LOT 7502 (AKA 468 GREENWICH ................................................................................................................................................................. 76 474 GREENWICH STREET, BLOCK 595, LOT 41 ................................................................................................. 78 428-430 WASHINGTON STREET (BLOCK 223, LOT 18) .................................................................................. 79 449 WASHINGTON STREET, BLOCK 224, LOT 23 .............................................................................................. 80 432-436 WASHINGTON STREET (NB -16-1936) ............................................................................................ 82 427-429 WASHINGTON (52 VESTRY), BLOCK, 223, LOT 21 ......................................................................... 82 437 WASHINGTON STREET, BLOCK 223, LOT 26 .............................................................................................. 86 435 WASHINGTON STREET, BLOCK 223, LOT 25 .............................................................................................. 90 433 WASHINGTON STREET, BLOCK 223, LOT 24 .............................................................................................. 91 439 WASHINGTON, BLOCK 223, LOT 27 (NB 368 OF 1866) ........................................................................ 92 431 WASHINGTON, BLOCK 223, LOT 23 ............................................................................................................. 93 266 WEST STREET (BLOCK 223, LOT 3) ............................................................................................................. 94 270 WEST STREET BLOCK 223, LOT 9 ................................................................................................................. 95 24 DESBROSSES STREET, BLOCK 224, LOT 33 AND 441-5 WASHINGTON STREET, BLOCK 224, LOT 21 ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 96 268 WEST STREET, BLOCK 223, LOTS 7, 5, AND 3 ............................................................................................ 97 181 HUDSON (BLOCK 222, 7501) ........................................................................................................................ 99 183 HUDSON (BLOCK 222, LOT 7502) ............................................................................................................ 101 305 CANAL, BLOCK 225, LOT 8 .......................................................................................................................... 102 Draft 14 DESBROSSES (115-121 WATTS STREET), BLOCK 225, 7502 (NOW LOT 6) ..................................... 104 12 DESBROSSES (123 WATTS), BLOCK 225, LOT 6 (OLD MAP), NOW LOT 4 ............................................. 105 123 WATTS STREET (BLOCK 225, LOT 4) ......................................................................................................... 106 TABLE OF IMAGES ................................................................................................................................ 107 ANNEX 1: BLOCK AND LOT NUMBERS ........................................................................................... 110 3 Introduction and Overview This document contains a proposal to extend the boundaries of Tribeca North Historic District to include the 40 properties described within this report1. Six reasons are given why eXtension is merited. Community Board #1 has already issued resolutions in favor of eXpansion as of August 2013. The Historic Districts Council, Councilmember Margaret Chin, Manhattan Borough President Gail Brewer, Downtown Independent Democrats, Landmarks West!, and the Landmarks Conservancy have all pledged support for the expansion of Tribeca’s five historic districts. This is the first of four proposals covering each of Tribeca’s historic districts. This part of north Tribeca consists of low to mid-rise buildings: mostly two to eight stories tall. They are universally of load-bearing, masonry construction. Most predate 1910. Walking east, one encounters a few taller buildings, mostly the old Trinity warehouses on Hudson Street. Belgian block paves many of the streets. It is sunny on both sides. Multiple layers of history are in evidence. Federal houses from as early as the 1820’s are miXed in with buildings meant for tenements, warehouses and manufacturing. Amid them one finds a scattering of small lots that once housed “wagon-car” diners, stables, wheelright workshops, lumberyards, and blacksmiths. Some of the latter were replaced with car repair shops and gas stations when the Holland Tunnel opened, although all the gas stations have since been demolished. The area was once marshy and includes some landfill along Washington and West Streets. It serviced the formerly thriving piers and ferry landings (since demolished), Washington Market (demolished) , the former railroads (demolished), the horses that worked here, and then the car. Despite its workaday purposes, people always lived here, even in it’s manufacturing heyday. Part One of this proposal explains why the properties proposed for historic district designation merit preservation and why it would be good for New York City to keep Tribeca North as an intact neighborhood. Part Two reviews the history of northern Tribeca, summarizing, paraphrasing, and quoting eXtensively from eXisting sources and previously published research. It includes many photographs from the New York Public Library (NYPL), the Municipal Archives, and the Museum of the City of New York (MOCNY). Part Three describes the properties that merit inclusion to Tribeca North Historic District. An anneX lists the block and lot numbers of these properties. Tribeca Trust sponsored the research on these buildings with help from two student interns from Columbia University’s historic preservation program, Corey Manchenton and Hee Joo Kim. 1 This report does not describe the five individually landmarked properties that would be in this proposed extension of Tribeca North Historic District. 4 Draft Part 1: Why Extend Tribeca North Historic District? 1. The buildings have architectural and historical merit: The 1992 boundaries of the then freshly designated Tribeca North Historic District cut this coherent neighborhood into two parts, one protected, the other not (See map on Image 1). In fact, one building was literally cut in half by the boundaries