BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | How long does it take to landmark a building? For some, like the 1888 Excelsior Power Company building at 33 Gold St. — the answer is 38 years and counting.
The burnt umber brick Excelsior was one of three buildings Community Board 1 highlighted in their recent resolution urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to bring these buildings “to public hearing for urgent designation.”
The other two buildings are at 315 Broadway and 143 Chambers St. and both have been on the calendar since 1989.
The L.P.C. suggested late last year to remove all languishing items from its calendar — something that would affect some 100 buildings throughout the city. The commission postponed that proposal after an outcry from preservation and community advocates.
There were two C.B. 1 resolutions about the L.P.C. before last month’s full board meeting. Roger Byrom, chairperson of the board’s Landmarks Committee, said it was somewhat bizarre as one praised while the other criticized the commission.
“The first one is condemning the Landmarks Preservation Commission for not acting on important buildings in our district,” said Byrom. “The new chair is suggesting that we just remove that designation and forget that work was ever done.”
Byrom was referring to Meenakshi Srinivasan, who was appointed L.P.C. chairperson by Mayor Bill de Blasio last year. He said that the board is “vehemently against” the removal of buildings from the calendar.
Committee member Tom Goodkind pointed out that there is a “gross underfunding” of the L.P.C. and “they just don’t have staff.”
C.B. 1, Byrom said, has said more money for the commission in every year’s operating budget.
“We don’t disagree with that,” he said. “But it’s not appropriate as you can see from this resolution, to say just because we’re underfund[ed] we’re going to pretend that these buildings don’t matter — ‘cause they do.”
In the ‘90s, then mayor Rudy Giuliani pushed revitalization plans for Lower Manhattan and many buildings were landmarked as part of the effort, but for some reason these three were not.
In an email this month, L.P.C. spokesperson Damaris Olivo said that the properties have had hearings — Excelsior Power Company was heard on May 10, 1977; 143 Chambers St. on September 19, 1989; and 315 Broadway on December 12, 1989 and again on April 3, 1990. The commission listened to testimony at those hearings and the buildings remain on its calendar, she said.
Both 143 Chambers St. and 315 Broadway were calendared in connection with including them to Tribeca historic districts while the L.P.C. was active in the area. Neither building is part of a historic district. After designating the historic districts, it turned its attention to buildings that were a higher priority, more meritorious, or potentially threatened, said Olivo.
At the time of the initial calendaring for the Excelsior Power Company, there was significant opposition, Olivo added. Since that time, a rooftop addition was added to the building and it was converted to residential. This building has not been a priority for the commission because of its rooftop addition and because it is not threatened, she said.
The L.P.C. has held a comment period for the 95 calendared sites, which ended May 1, said Olivo, and is committed to addressing the issue of buildings that have been on its calendar for long periods of time.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Byrom said, has put forward a way to deal with the backlog — look at five a month, slowly but steadily getting through them instead of wiping them off the calendar.
There was another resolution on the table — honoring the work of the L.P.C., which celebrated its 50th anniversary. Both passed.
“Over the course of 50 years, we’re stronger for the actions of the L.P.C.,” said Byrom, who noted the six historic districts — five in Tribeca and one in the Seaport — and important buildings, such as the Woolworth Building, in C.B. 1.
