Three building proposals for landmarked areas of NoHo, including two buildings far taller than most nearby structures, were voted down by Manhattan Community Board 2 on Thursday night amid concerns the planned developments would erode the district’s character.
Board 2 passed nonbinding resolutions at its Feb. 20 meeting at NYU’s Gould Welcome Center, urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reject the proposals, whose advocates were not in attendance.
At least two of the plans represent efforts to build much larger than zoning limits allow in the landmarked district. This includes a 19-story, more than 195-foot-tall development on the site of a parking lot at 375 Lafayette St., at Great Jones Street; and a proposed nine-story, 105-foot-tall building at 27 East 4th St., adjacent to the Merchant’s House Museum. Both sites lie within the NoHo Historic District Extension.
“I’ve seen the deterioration of the character of the neighborhood by large buildings,” NoHo resident Jeffrey Weinstein said of approvals that he said already diluted the landmark district.
Some residents, however, believed the community should support projects or efforts to modify them to welcome more housing, while citing the need for rents that more tenants could afford.
A building too tall for NoHo?
Twenty-four board members voted in favor of a resolution to oppose 375 Lafayette, while 10 opposed to the resolution, citing the need of more housing.
“It’s important to note that this is one of the first applications to come to us after the expansions of the zoning,” Landmarks and Public Aesthetics Committee Vice Chair Susan Gammie said of the historic district extension. “It has particular import because of that.”
The Landmarks and Public Aesthetics Committee had voted previously to recommend opposing the request for a “vastly oversized building” unless it reduced its bulk and altered materials and detailing to create a “more harmonious appearance.”
“Historic district designation is not an abstract title, but something that many of us who live here many years have learned to experience as a saving grace of city living,” said area resident Dino Buturovic.
Ellen Fanning said she would prefer “a less bulky and more harmonious design for 375 Lafayette.”
Robert Becker said the NoHo historic district is comprised primarily of five- and six-story buildings, so a 19-story structure would “physically and visually overwhelm Great Jones Street.”
Great Jones Street resident Cecilia McGuiness called the 375 Lafayette plan “out of scale and out of step with its surroundings, likening it “to a cruise ship docked in a quaint harbor.”
And Yvonne Young also said the 19 floors would “visually overwhelm the block,” calling for a plan that “needs to be scaled down and broken up.”
“I recognize the urgent need for more housing in New York City,” Young said. “It’s clear from evidence I’ve seen that this development will not provide this kind of housing. Even the least expensive apartments will not be affordable to most New Yorkers.”
Ryder Kessler, on the other hand, believes building housing in a parking lot, is an appropriate use of the space.
“I find it really frustrating,” Kessler said. “I hope we can change our frame to how we think about what is preserving the character of our neighborhood.”
An effort to preserve history
Turning to the West 4th Street site, the nine-story building proposed there could endanger the survival of the Merchant’s House Museum, the institution’s director told the board.
Built in 1832, the Merchant’s House Museum is the city’s only 19th-century family home preserved intact with original furnishings, according to Pi Gardiner.
“It is not a reconstruction. Its value lies in its historic integrity. It cannot be recreated, repaired or replaced. It is a landmark of national historic significance,” Gardiner said, noting the building could easily be damaged by work nearby. “It is publicly owned. The city has an obligation to protect and preserve it for the citizens of New York.”
Should construction begin on the West 4th Street site, Gardiner said the museum could be forced to move 3,000 items to safeguard them and close for more than two years.
“The museum will close its doors to the public for more than two years,” she said. “That’s $4 million. Who pays?”
There was overwhelming opposition to building next to the Merchant’s House museum, which Board members and residents feared could be damaged during construction. A spokesman for Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal said he opposed any construction that could damage the Merchant’s House.
“It is an individual landmark,” said Landmarks and Public Aesthetics Committee Chair Chenault Spence. “The committee and commission are responsible for it. The protection of the house is of overwhelming concern.”
Village Preservation President Andrew Berman said “the Merchant’s House Museum is a treasure and we do not want to see it in danger.”
Ashley Semrick, a licensed tour guide who volunteers at the Merchant’s House, testified online that huge construction adjacent to it would put it at risk.
“We give our time to this historic landmark. There are no spaces like the Merchant’s House in New York, pretty much in the country,” she said. “Let’s fight for the Merchant’s House.”
Cantilever idea voted down, too
The board also recommended denial of plans for a cantilever deck attached to a 25-story, more than 275-foot-tall building at 56 Great Jones St./354 Bowery, located just outside the NoHo Historic District extension. The cantilever would extend into the district’s boundaries.
Gammie, the board’s Landmark and Public Aesthetics Committee chair, said the extension of the as-of-right building would intrude into the district itself.
“This cantilever intrudes into the historic district,” she said before the vote against the proposal. “We’re concerned about the precedent of cantilevered, modern buildings into historic districts.”
The committee, in its recommendation, called the cantilever an “unwelcome intrusion” from a building that is itself outside and not designed to blend with the district.
“The building made no effort to be harmonious with the district,” Gammie added.
Mitchell Grubler, chair of the landmarks committee for the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, said the 25-story building is “out of context” in color, materials, and size.
