NOVEMBER 15.2005 CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY LAW VOLUME 2. NUMBER 10 Highlights CITY COUNCIL Queens la nd ma rk rej ec ted ....145 Fa r West Vi llag e rewn ed .......14 7 Bed-St uy ch oos es jobs ........ 148 Sfco mmercia l overlays gone ... 149 Plaza Hotel ro oms land marked 150 Deli nq uent cafe deni ed permit .150 CITY PLANNING COMMISSION Columbia and CB 9 di vi ded ... 151 Bro oklyn Na vyYa rd grow s ..... 152 BOARD OF STANDARDS & APPEALS P.S. 64 won't best ud en t dorm .. 152 Proj ects beat down -z oning ..... 154 Council rejects design ation of Jamaica Savings Bank on Queen s Boulevard . 11 st oriesapp'd f orW.B'way ... 154 See full story on pag e 145. Photo: Robert Meroln. Ha rlem ow ner withd raws .. ...155 CITY COUNCIL to-ceiling height to a 43-foot height 50-y r-old ca r sh op not ob s olete .155 along the Queens Boulevard facade. Landmarks found the roof reminis­ Brooklyn synag ogue to ex pand .155 LandmarkDesignation cent of Saarinen's TWA Terminal at Elmhurst, Queens LANDMARKS JFK International Airport. Council rejects designation The owner, BA Property LLC, Fa r West Vi llag e hearing ....... 156 argued against the designation at the of Queens Blvd. bank 1866 stab le gets 2 new st ories ... 157 Council's hearing before the Sub­ Objections by building owner committee on Landmarks, Public COURT DECISIONS and lack of positive support bycoun­ Siting and Maritime Uses. BA claimed that Landmarks, under cil member sank designation. On Tenant , 81,f orcib ly re moved ... 157 pressure from preservationists to October 27, 2005, the City Council designate more modern architecture overturned the Landmarks Preser­ CHARTS and buildings outside of Manhattan, vation Commission's designation of arbitrarily chose the bank, offering it DCP Pip elin e .... ...... .. .... 148 the 1966-built, former Jamaica Sav­ as a "consolation prize." BA claimed ings Bank on Queens Boulevard in ULURP Pip elin e .............. 150 the bank's high ceiling and unique Elmhurst. Landmarks designated BSA Pip elin e........... .......153 design made heating, cooling and the bank in June 2005, calling it a repair costs exorbitant, and flooding Land marksActi ons .......... 156 striking example of 1960s popular issues required "six double gallon Land marks Pip elin e .. ....... 157 modernist architecture. 2 CityLand pumps going 24 hours a day." BA City law org New Decisi ons 158, 159 92 (July 15, 2005). The bank, complained that designation would designed by William Cann, fea­ deprive it of its right to add over New DOB Permits ........ .... 159 F. tures a 116-foot long curved copper 25,000 sq. ft. of as-of-right commer­ clad roof that rises froma low floor- cial space. (cont'don page 147) Novemb er 15, 2005 Vo lume 2 CITYLAND 145 Landmark Designations Should Not Be a Matter of Council Member Courtesy Leading this issue of CllYLAND is a report on the Council's refusal to landmark the Jamaica Savings Bank located on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. The 1966 building's bold, but oddly triangular facade and steeply pitched roof (pictured on CllYLAND's front page) was intended to attract attention, but the attention it attract­ ed during the Council's consideration raised more issues than architectural concerns. Council Member Charles Barron cautioned the subcommittee about modern architecture because, in his opinion, modern buildings as a group were unworthy of protection. If he means that the City should be selective, he is of course correct. But as a generalization covering modern architecture, the principle goes much too far. all The landmarks law requires a building to be at least 30 years old for consideration, and that limitation serves to introduce moderation into the process. There are modern structures that deserve to be landmarked, and such consideration should be on the merits. More worrisome was Subcommittee Chair Sirncha Felder's comment that the Council followed a custom in landmark designation of deferring to the recommendation of the member in whose district the proposed land­ mark was located. This principle, if actually followed, would undermine the Council's appropriate role as the leg­ islature for the City as an entirety. The recommendation of the local Council Member is one element in designa­ tion considerations, but that recommendation should not be treated as a veto; landmarking is not a matter of leg­ islative courtesy, but of Citywide concern. The designation process is laborious, beginning with highly documented studies. From there the proposed designation runs a gauntlet of hearings and votes at both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the City Planning Commission. A proposed designation that finally makes it to the Council's docket should, if anything, carry a presumption of favorable action, not the vulnerability of Council Member courtesy. In the Jamaica Savings Bank case, the principle was stated, but not followed. Council Member Helen Sears voted to designate, but by then her own and her colleague's actions had doomed the proposal. So be it. The Coun­ cil should also have, in the process, rejected any notions of Council Member courtesy in designations as well. 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Selver a year by the Center for New York City Law at New - York Law School, 57 Worth St., New York City, New CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY LAW ADVISORY COUNCIL - York 10013, tel. (212) 431-2115, fax (212) 941-4735, e-mail: [email protected], website: www.city­ Stanley S. Shuman, Michael D. Hess Norman Redlich law.org © Center for New York City Law, 2005. All rights reserved. Printed on recycled paper. Maps Chair Lawrence S. Huntington '64 Joseph B. Rose Arthur N. Abbey '59 presented in CITYLANO are from Map-PLUTO William F. Kuntz II Ernst H. Rosenberger '58 Harold Baer, J r. copyrighted by the New York City Department of Eric Lane Rose Luttan Rubin David R. Baker City Planning. City Landmarks and Historic Dis­ Randy M. Mastro Frederick P. Schaffer Edward N. Costikyan tricts printed with permission of New York City Richard Matasar Frederick A.O. Schwarz, Jr. Paul A. Crotty Landmarks Preservation Commission. Robert J. McGuire Richard J. Davis O. Peter Sherwood POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fernando Ferrer Francis McArdle Edward Wallace CITYLANO, 57 Worth Street, New York, New York Michael B. Gerrard John D. McMahon '76 Richard M. Weinberg 10013-2960. Periodicals postage paid at New York, Judah Gribetz Thomas L. McMahon '83 Peter L. Zimroth New York. Kathleen Grimm '80 Steven M. Polan James D. Zirin 146 Vo lu me 2 CI"TYLAND Novemb er 15, 2005 Closing the hearing, Subcom­ mittee met on October 24th, Felder Closing the vote, Felder stated mittee Chair Simcha Felder asked explained that customarily the Sub­ that "in terms of landmarking in the Council Member Helen Sears, committee followed the recom­ outer boroughs, there is an argu­ Elmhurst's representative, if she mendation of the council member ment to be made to not allow the supported the designation. Sears, whose district contained the poten­ Landmarks Preservation Commis­ who had seemed to support the tial landmark, but in this case Sears sion to fulfill this obligation by designation before the Landmarks had voiced support for designation landmarking junk." The Land Preservation Commission, refused full before the hearing and then at the Use Committee voted to overturn to commit either way. She stated hearing was noncommittal. Given the designation, sending it to the that the Community Board sup­ Sears' doubts and the building's full Council, which adopted the ported the designation, but also serious repair problems, the Sub­ Committee's recommendation that the owner's concerns seemed committee could not support desig­ unanimously with only one mem­ substantial. Following Sears' nation. Council Member Charles ambiguous comments, the Sub­ ber voting in favor of designa­ Barron added that the Council committee voted to overturn the tion ...Helen Sears. should be very cautious and watch designation with only Council designations of modern architec­ Member Bill Perkins voting to Council: Jamaica Savings Bank (Octo­ ture because, in his opinion, mod­ uphold Landmarks' vote. ber 27, 2005) (JeffreyChester, Einbinder ern buildings were unworthy of & Dunn, LLP, for BA Property LLC). When the Land Use Com- landmark protection. full CrTYADMIN CITY COUNCIL Rezoning Greenw ich Village, Manhattan FarWest Village rezoningapproved Council down-zoned lots with pending develop­ ment. The Council rezoned 14 blocks of Greenwich Vil­ lage west of Washington Street, replacing manufactur­ ing and commercial zoning in the area with contextual zoning districts. The proposal came from the Planning Department after Far West Village residents com­ plained of the growing number of large development proposals that followed construction of the Richard Meier-designed, 205-foot luxury residential towers along WestStreet. In the proposal, the Planning Department designed contextual commercial zones to allow commercial and residential uses, but limited the size and density of new development to match the neighborhood's existing char­ acter.