Landmark Preservation: Petitions to save historic buildings

[antinimby]

Okay, I'll fill out the petition (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/forms/request_for_evaluation.pdf) for landmarking Gimbel's but I need some help from you guys.

As you know, LPC requires that potential landmarking candidates have to have some sort of historical significance and why it's deserving of that designation.

What should I put down? For instance, is there some special about that skybridge like it's the first of it's kind in the city or the only surviving one or the tallest one in the city, etc.

Same goes for the building also.

[antinimby]

Well, may I suggest you folks channel some of that anger into something useful by submitting a petition to Landmarks to landmark the Roosevelt hotel? :D

It's a short, simple form (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/forms/request_for_evaluation.pdf) and it'll only take a few minutes of your time. Just print it out, fill out some information and then send it out. Easy as 1, 2, 3.

In the "Additional information" section at the bottom, that is where you make your compelling case for why it should be designated a landmark. Many of you have already stated them here, so it's just a matter of repeating it again on the form.


Remember, the hotel's address is:

The Roosevelt Hotel
45 East 45th Street
New York, NY 10017

[ZippyTheChimp]

hdc@hdc.org

Send them an email about the Roosevelt Hotel. (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3520&page=9)

[Alonzo-ny]

Alright now we're talking! The first buildings coming to my mind are, The Roosevelt, the Penn and the Gimbels skybridge.

[stache]

If you can PM the links to me, I will add them to this page.

[Christopher667]

I'm just copying and pasting my post from the Roosevelt Hotel thread here in case people haven't read it and are confused about the nature of this new thread....

Thank you antinimby for providing the information and link. I sent in a "Request for Evaluation" form and will get other people I know to do so as well. It certainly can't hurt. Great pictures of the building, which appears to be in beautiful condition (unlink the Pennsylvania) are available on the hotel's website.
http://www.theroosevelthotel.com/

Wouldn't it be a good idea for us lovers of NY buildings to identify buildings that we love, that are not landmarked and are not threatened with demolition? The least we could do is bring such buildings to the attention of the LPC while there's ample time, instead of a last ditch effort which always seems to end unhappily. A wave of evaluation requests backing one particular building may get our voices heard once in a while. Would anybody be interested in such an endeavor?

[stache]

Thanks Chris. This sticky is a work in progress -

[Christopher667]

My pleasure Stache.

This link contains a picture of the Gimbel's skybridge in case anyone is interested.
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID126.htm

Also, this is a good site for searching if a particular building is already landmarked. I'm not sure how comprehensive it is, but I never have any luck trying to search the LPC website.
http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/designation_reports/

Maybe at some point we could attempt to locate less widely known structures. The three mentioned are a good starting point, but I just worry about the sort of "here today, gone tomorrow" buildings such as that beautiful little stable building in the village that was demolished and the numerous townhouses we're seeing disappear.

The Hotel Penn certainly has the historical significance aspect going for it, if nothing else. This article from The City Review is loaded with good arguments in its favor.
http://www.thecityreview.com/hotelpenn.html

[ZippyTheChimp]

Andrew Carnegie Libraries (http://www.hdc.org/CarnegieLibraries.htm)

67 were built
57 survive
54 still function as libraries
13 are NYC landmarks
2 are within historic districts

The rest are unprotected.

[scumonkey]

How about 15 w 38th st.....I can't find anything on this building
but -one look at it and you know in an instant it would be
an unforgivable mistake not to protect it.

[Christopher667]

If this is the right building, it looks like a beauty by Delano & Aldrich. Could anybody get a better photo?
http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=15west38street-newyorkcity-ny-usa

[Christopher667]

From a quick look, it's not mentioned in The Architecture of Delano & Aldrich, but that book does mostly focus on their country estates.

[stache]

I'm hoping to make this thread about buildings that already have existing petitions for people to sign. If the thread gets bogged down with inquiries, it may defeat the purpose of people being able to come here and quickly help out buildings.

[stache]

Draft a letter requesting a hearing to landmark the hotel.

Send copies to:

Landmarks Preservation Commission
http://nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maillpc.html

Community Board 5 chair David Siesko
office@cb5.org

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer
bp@manhattanbp.org

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
http://www.nyccouncil.info/html/acti...ct_speaker.cfm

City Council Member Jessica Lappin
lappin@council.nyc.ny.us


New York State Senator Thomas Duane
http://www.nyssenate29.com/send_email.asp

New York State Assembly Member Richard Gottfried
gottfrr@assembly.state.ny.us


Copy of request to landmark from Historic Districts Council

[brianac]

Feb 9: First Step in Landmark Designation of Coney Island’s Shore Theater

February 6, 2010 by Tricia (http://amusingthezillion.com/author/electricia1/)


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4067/4334114830_1140f767f2.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/27469924@N06/4334114830/) The Shore Theater, formerly the Loew


Five years ago, the 1925 Shore Theater, formerly the Loew’s Coney Island, was nominated for New York City landmark designation by Coney Island USA (http://www.coneyisland.com/). On Tuesday, February 9, at 9:35 a.m., the long vacant building owned by Horace Bullard is expected to be put on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s calendar for a public hearing. This is the first step in the landmark designation process.

If you wish to attend Tuesday’s public meeting, don’t be late because the calendaring is expected to take a mere five minutes! The Shore is on the schedule (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/contact/contact.shtml) from 9:35-9:40 a.m. Sources say the LPC staff will present a PowerPoint on the building’s history and then there might be a brief discussion among the commissioners. They are likely to vote to calendar the building.

The public hearing is typically scheduled one to six months after the calendaring. According to the Commission’s FAQs (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/faqs/faq_designation.shtml) about the designation process, the public will get to have their say at the public hearing and may submit written statements at that time.

Much has been written about the Shore Theater in recent months. Vanishing New York’s photo essay (http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2009/08/shore-theater.html) on the theater’s history and probable future and “The Shore Theater: A Sure Part of Coney Island’s Future?” by the Municipal Art Society (http://mas.org/)’s Melissa Baldock are required reading.

Baldock says (http://mas.org/the-shore-theater-a-sure-part-of-coney-islands-future/) the Shore represents the optimism for the future of Coney Island at the dawn of the “Nickel Empire” and is one of Coney Island’s most striking buildings: “Its theater sat nearly 2,400 people, and above the theater were several stories of office space intended for the entertainment industry, which the developers hoped would flourish in Coney Island.”

We hope the building can be renovated and restored so that art and entertainment will again flourish in this once grand movie and vaudeville venue. Although the calendering does not list the building’s interior, we’re told the LPC may consider the interior at a later date.

The Shore Theater is also the first of six Coney Island buildings nominated for landmark designation by Coney Island USA. The others are Nathan’s Famous, Coney Island USA Building (former Childs Building), the Grashorn Building (Coney Island’s oldest), the Henderson Building, and the building that housed the B & B Carousell. Coney Island’s four designated City landmarks are the Cyclone Roller Coaster, the Wonder Wheel, the Parachute Jump and the Childs Building on the Boardwalk.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is located on the 9th Floor of the Municipal Building at the corner of Centre Street and Chambers Street, across from City Hall, in Manhattan. More information, including a link to a form to nominate a building for landmark status, is available on the LPC’s website (http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/contact/contact.shtml).

UPDATE FEB. 9, 5:30 pm…The Municipal Art Society reports (http://mas.org/now-showing-at-the-lpc-coney-island%E2%80%99s-shore-theater/#more-1668)that this morning the LPC voted unanimously to calendar the exterior of the Shore Theater, including the rear portion of the building (shown in photo.) Says MAS, “The next step in the landmarking process will be a public hearing, which has not yet been scheduled. We encourage the public to voice their support for the designation of the entire Shore Theater building at this hearing or through sending letters and emails. The final designation steps will be the Commission’s vote, followed by a City Council vote.” Courier Life’s Joe Maniscalco reports (http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/02/09/brooklyn/courier-yn_brooklyn_front_page-shorelandmark.txt) that the public hearing date for the Shore theater designation has been set for March 23 and the calendaring of the Coney Island USA Building on February 16.

http://amusingthezillion.com/2010/02/06/feb-9-first-step-in-landmark-designation-of-coney-islands-shore-theater/

[brianac]

Please Sign Petition: (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/landmark35coopersquare/)


Designate #35 Cooper Square a (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/landmark35coopersquare/)NYC Landmark!




http://boweryalliance.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/35_Cooper_-_cropped_copybw.2282007_std.jpg




http://www.boweryalliance.org/home

[Merry]

At the rally for 35 Cooper Square

Unfortunately, given our work schedule, we couldn't attend this afternoon's rally at 35 Cooper Square. (http://evgrieve.com/2011/01/preserving-35-cooper-square-whats-at.html).. EV Grieve reader Lisa was there... and she took the following shots...


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-RcZTsVI/AAAAAAAAolE/AIseYZoR3TQ/s400/-11.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-RcZTsVI/AAAAAAAAolE/AIseYZoR3TQ/s1600/-11.jpg)

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-RbJDXFI/AAAAAAAAolM/EiPlGP2rWFE/s400/-12.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-RbJDXFI/AAAAAAAAolM/EiPlGP2rWFE/s1600/-12.jpg)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-Rq6bddI/AAAAAAAAolU/FmvHsyReqB8/s400/-13.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-Rq6bddI/AAAAAAAAolU/FmvHsyReqB8/s1600/-13.jpg)

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-R4t6ZaI/AAAAAAAAolc/vbC0zBrhX_0/s400/-14.jpg (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-R4t6ZaI/AAAAAAAAolc/vbC0zBrhX_0/s1600/-14.jpg)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-SLxC6PI/AAAAAAAAolk/mpBI_BIaC-A/s400/-15.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-SLxC6PI/AAAAAAAAolk/mpBI_BIaC-A/s1600/-15.jpg)

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-b1dDGGI/AAAAAAAAols/HWSurTcap2E/s400/-16.jpg (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_p2jgVV2iZVs/TUN-b1dDGGI/AAAAAAAAols/HWSurTcap2E/s1600/-16.jpg)

The Local East Village was there too, and they estimate a crowd of 100. Read their report here. (http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/100-attend-raally-for-35-cooper-square/) More on this to come...

http://evgrieve.com/2011/01/at-rally-for-35-cooper-square.html

[Merry]

Interesting artwork on the side of the building:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/sfb111/story_xlimage_2011_01_R1599_EAST_VILLAGE_PRESERVAT ION_RALLY_12811.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/sfb111/story_xlimage_2011_01_R3675_EAST_VILLAGE_PRESERVAT ION_RALLY_12811.jpg

Preservation Advocates Rally to Landmark Historic East Village Building

Preservationists want the city to reconsider landmarking the nearly 200-year-old building at 35 Cooper Sq.

By Patrick Hedlund

EAST VILLAGE — Advocates gathered Friday to push the city to preserve a nearly two-century-old property on Cooper Square that they fear will be lost without landmark protection.

The Federal-style rowhouse at 35 Cooper Square — sandwiched between the gleaming new Cooper Union academic building and the towering Cooper Square Hotel — was once owned by a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant before housing such luminaries as Liza Minelli and Beat Generation poet Diane DiPrima, historians noted.

The property, at the corner of East 6th Street, sold to a developer for $8.5 million late last year before rumors began swirling that the new owner planned to demolish the 1825 building, which houses a restaurant on the ground floor.

In response, advocacy groups, historians, elected officials and area stakeholders urged the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission to designate the property a historic landmark.

However, the LPC has so far declined to act on the proposal, citing the addition of stucco over the building's original brickwork as the reason for not considering the address for landmarking, a commission spokeswoman said.

"This is very frightening and very disappointing to us, because that building is the oldest building on that part of the Bowery," said David Mulkins, co-founder of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, which has also proposed height limits on the Bowery's eastern edge.

"We've lost so much of the historic resources in this area. There's such a staggering amount of historical and cultural significance on the Bowery."

At the rally on Friday, dozens gathered to defend the building's importance and urge the city to intervene before it's too late.

"We are at a critical point," said Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, who wrote to LPC chairman Robert Tierney this week asking that the building be landmarked. "There is a tipping point at which this area will no longer have a connection to the past."

Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council — which recently named the Bowery one of the city's six most endangered areas — said that without more landmarking protections, the city risks wiping away the character that draws people to the area in the first place.

"Part of why people come here is the historic buildings," he explained. "We only ask that the city do its job."

The effort dovetails with attempts by the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors to add height limits to the Bowery's eastern side, where no such restrictions currently exist.
High-profile Bowery business owners like restaurateurs Keith McNally and Daniel Boulud, as well as fashion designer John Varvatos, previously pledged to support the proposal.
On Friday, preservationists sought to start with the building at 35 Cooper Square and then work their way southward down the Bowery.

"This is not Abu Dhabi!" said writer/poet Hettie Jones. "We must not allow those who venerate bigger and taller to dishonor our city's past."

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110129/lower-east-side-east-village/preservation-advocates-rally-landmark-historic-east-village-building

[brianac]

Well, the pubs gone, let's hope for better news on the building.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Street: 6th Street (http://www.boweryboogie.com/street/6th-street/), Cooper Square (http://www.boweryboogie.com/street/cooper-square/)

Breaking: Cooper 35 Asian Pub is Closed

4 hours ago</SPAN> | 0 Comments and 0 Reactions (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/01/breaking-cooper-35-asian-pub-is-closed/#disqus_thread)

The following photo is a harbinger of bad news. Two days after the rally at its doorstep (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/01/2011/01/recap-rally-to-save-35-cooper-square/), Cooper 35 Asian Pub went belly up and is currently clearing house.

http://media.boweryboogie.com/uploads/2011/01/cooper-35-clearout-560x417.jpg
A Boogie reader sent us the above snapshot, along with the following caption:

Not looking good for fans of 35 Cooper square (http://www.boweryboogie.com/tag/35-cooper-square/). We also noticed people dismantling the planters on the patio to salvage the plants apparently.
After receiving the intel, we stopped by ourselves to elicit more detail. Well, kiddies, it’s official. Saturday night was reportedly the last night of drinking at the NYU watering hole. Cargo vans were parked curbside to receive their due and proper of bar innards. We were told that the owners “lost their lease.”
http://media.boweryboogie.com/uploads/2011/01/clearing-out-35-cooper-560x420.jpg

And as our tipster noted, there were a few people in the garden salvaging some greenery.
http://media.boweryboogie.com/uploads/2011/01/garden-of-35-cooper-560x420.jpg

You can head over here (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/landmark35coopersquare) to sign a petition to save the building itself from demolition. At 185-years-old, the Federal-style house is the last of its kind in Cooper Square and deserves a landmark.

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/01/breaking-cooper-35-asian-pub-is-closed/

[londonlawyer]

Kadahar-on-Hudson! How can this not be protected?

[Merry]

The Battle for 35 Cooper Square

Fate of building remains uncertain as developer Arun Bhatia finalizes plans


Roland Li


On Friday, Jan. 29, a crowd of Greenwich Village residents, elected officials and New York University students assembled outside 35 Cooper Square, waving signs amidst the fresh snow. The rumor of demolition loomed over the 186-year-old-building, which was sold last October for $8.5 million, and the unlikely alliance was pushing for 35 Cooper to be landmarked.

But by the end of the week, Bowery Boogie reported (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/01/breaking-cooper-35-asian-pub-is-closed/) that the ground-floor bar and restaurant, Asian Pub, had closed, and workers cleared out the building’s innards, while others salvaged what vegetation could be found outside. Asian Pub’s lease had come to an end, and the building’s future was looking more and more uncertain.

As a last ditch effort, preservationists began circulating a petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/landmark35coopersquare/) and exhorting their neighbors to write to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the city agency responsible for historic preservation, to landmark the building. Such a designation does not necessarily prevent demolition, but owners must obtain a “certificate of appropriateness” for any alterations to a the exterior of a landmarked building. An owner can also apply for alterations by citing an economic hardship, although such requests are rarely approved.

The LPC has thus far declined to hold a public hearing on 35 Cooper, the first step in landmarking, because stucco covers its original brick façade, according to LPC spokeswoman Elisabeth de Bourbon.

And while preservationists and local officials have created a groundswell of support for 35 Cooper, some citing its age, others its cultural heritage — tenants have included (http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2008/07/35-cooper-square.html) the great-grandson of Peter Stuyvesant and beat poet Diane DiPrima — the LPC has remained resistant, focusing on the current structure, rather than its history.

“It’s about whether the building is worthy for designation,” said de Bourbon. “This is the case of the building not measuring up.”

When asked if it might be reconsidered, she said, “It’s unlikely at this point.”

In fact, the current owners of 35 Cooper Square have not yet decided whether to demolish the existing structure. City records (http://a836-acris.nyc.gov/Scripts/DocSearch.dll/Detail?Doc_ID=2010102600260001) trace the ownership to the Arun Bhatia Development Organization (http://www.bhatiadevelopment.com/), which has built dorms for the New School and seven condo towers, most recently 137 Wooster Street.

Jane Crotty, a spokeswoman for Arun Bhatia, confirmed its ownership and said there was another partner involved, but declined to disclose the name. She said that plans were not finalized, but that the partnership sought an “as of right, mixed-use” project. Demolishing the existing building was an option, but no decision had been made, she said, and more details would be revealed in “three or four weeks.”

Massey Knakal’s Special Asset Strategy Group brokered (http://masseyknakal.com/pressrelease/634243731153095519.pdf) the sale of the building and two parcels to the north last October, fetching around $293 for each of the entire lot’s 28,998 buildable s/f.

Joseph Sitt, first vice president of sales at Massey Knakal, said that the firm received over 30 offers in under 45 days. "It just goes to show there is always strong demand when locations are prime,” he said in a statement. (Sitt did not return requests for additional comment.)

Indeed, 35 Cooper and its adjacent lots represent a rare opportunity for developers. Despite being surrounded by the large Greenwich Village historic district to the west and height limitations along Third Avenue to the north, the swathe of land along Cooper Square has no historic or zoning regulations, allowing developers to build up to a zoning (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_c6.shtml) that allows for commercial uses such as hotels and offices, as well as residential. Recent nearby projects have included the Cooper Union’s immense academic building and the glassy Cooper Square Hotel.

Preservationists continue to fight for 35 Cooper, but their options are limited.

“I think the one hope that we have is that the commission will change its mind,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who described LPC‘s standards as “frustratingly inconsistent.” He cited 511-513 Grand Street as examples (http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2007/07/24/random_landmarking_bitterness_federalist_crap_edit ion.php) of federal-style buildings that were more heavily altered than 35 Cooper Square, but ones that were nonetheless landmarked (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/a-whole-new-set-of-landmarks/) in 2007.

LPC spokeswoman de Bourbon said that the commission has focused on landmarking other federal buildings that are less altered than 35 Cooper Square. (The Observer reported (http://www.observer.com/2010/real-estate/landmark-prop-halts-bowery-renovation-owner-incensed) 18 federal-style designations since 2003, as of last year. In some cases, the designations have been opposed by owners.)

On the other hand, Berman said, Arun Bhatia Development could potentially leave 35 Cooper intact and build only on the two northern lots, although such an effort could require more “outside the box thinking.” Still, he remains hopeful that a compromise can be reached.

“Most people agree that it would be better to save 35 Cooper Square,” said Berman.

http://rew-online.com/news/story.aspx?id=1245

[Merry]

Cooper Sq. at ‘tipping point’ as 1825 building faces demo

By Albert Amateau

Preservation advocates gathered in front of 35 Cooper Square on Friday afternoon demanding that the Landmarks Preservation Commission protect the early-19th-century, Federal-style building by giving it landmark designation.

L.P.C., however, has said the building has been too altered by the addition of a brownstone coating to its facade to qualify as architecturally eligible for historic designation.

For the past decade, the building was the location of Cooper 35 Asian Pub — a bar popular with New York University and Cooper Union students. Last November, 35 Cooper Square and its adjoining space at the corner of E. Sixth St. were purchased for $8.5 million by Bhatia Development, an organization that intends to demolish the building.

Indeed, the Asian Pub served its last drink on Saturday night Jan. 22 and closed for good.

Last Friday’s rally, led by David Mulkins, chairperson of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, or BAN, included Assemblymember Deborah Glick and state Senator Tom Duane, as well as preservation leaders Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, and Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

“This is one of the most significant buildings on this street,” said Mulkins. “If we lose this building, Cooper Square loses a much earlier sense of its history,” he added. Mulkins referred to the recently built 20-story Cooper Square Hotel across E. Sixth St. from the site, saying, “If we have this kind of out-of-scale, out-of-context development, we will destroy the sense of place that we get in these historic neighborhoods.” He noted that the Bowery was one of the world’s most renowned neighborhoods.

“The Bowery that has been known over the centuries is vanishing before our eyes,” Bankoff said. “At this point we have to say, Stop.

“The Landmarks Preservation Commission said this building cannot be designated because it has been altered,” he went on. “Of course it was altered, it’s more than 100 years old.”

Demonstrators waved signs saying, “Build Memories, Not Luxury Hotels,” and displayed photos showing the neighborhood as it was at the turn of the last century. Carolyn Ratcliffe, an East Village preservationist, carried a poster reminding passersby that the poet Diane diPrima and the singer Liza Minnelli once lived in the building.

Jim Power, 62, “The Mosaic Man,” who transformed lampposts all over the neighborhood with tile mosaics, urged demonstrators to employ direct action to preserve the area.

Power was also incensed about the city’s proposed alterations that would close Astor Place between Lafayette St. and Fourth Ave., which he fears would eliminate lampposts with his mosaics.

Glick, who sent a letter to L.P.C. Chairperson Robert Tierney urging him to reconsider his finding that the building does not qualify for landmark protection, told the Friday crowd that, “We are at a critical point. There is a tipping point at which this area will no longer have a connection to the past.” Glick pledged not to give up her efforts to save the building, which dates back to 1825.

Duane, whose district includes the building, said, “There is so little left of our beloved Village, of the history we’re proud of. To risk losing a piece of that, even just one building, is tragic.”

Last fall, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez also sent a letter to Tierney urging landmark protection for the building, located on a site once owned by a member of the Stuyvesant family.

The original address of 35 Cooper Square was 391 Bowery, according to a research paper that Sally Young, a BAN member, sent to L.P.C. The original two-and-a-half-story building, with a gambrel roof, twin dormers and large end chimneys, had a ground-floor storefront with a brick arch and decorative cast-iron pilasters added around 1876. The crushed-brownstone stucco covering the Flemish-bond brick facade was likely added around the same time.

Owned by the Stuyvesant family, it was first occupied by a John Snider. By 1867, Herbert Marshall sold liquor out of the ground floor, continuing until 1876. In 1900 the building apparently operated as a hotel. In the second half of the 20th century, a painter, J. Forrest Vey, whose works are in the Whitney Museum of American Art, lived in the building. In the 1960’s, tenants like diPrima and Minnelli began renting upstairs rooms in the building. Poet diPrima and her then husband, Alan Marlowe, ran a few seasons of the New York Poets Theatre from 35 Cooper Square. Claude Brown, author of “Manchild in the Promised Land,” also lived there. In 1970, Stanley Sobossek, a painter, ran a bar on the ground floor.

In 1976, a woman named Hesae owned a restaurant known by that name at 35 Cooper Square until 1990. She returned around 2000 and ran Cooper 35 Asian Pub until last Saturday.

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_406/coopersq.html

[lofter1]

methinks that strip has already tipped.

[Merry]

35 Cooper Square Receives Scaffolding

35 Cooper Square might be razed quicker than previously thought. Precisely one week after the rally and subsequent closure of Cooper 35 Asian Pub, activist Sally Young informed Vanishing NY that scaffolding just arrived on scene.

http://media.boweryboogie.com/uploads/2011/02/35-cooper-scaffolding1-560x420.jpg

Young, who has been working tirelessly to preserve the property, noted the following:
Don’t know what this means, but scaffolding is going up in front of #35. The permit they applied for is an Alteration 3, which is supposed to be minor (facade work). It is also apparently a round-a-bout way to get a demolition permit more easily.
Paperwork was filed with the DOB just yesterday:
INSTALLATION OF 80 LINEAR FEET OF HEAVY DUTY SIDEWALK SHED FOR BUILDING ALTERATION, FILED SEPARATELY. LIVE LOAD 300 PSF. SIDEWALK SHED SHALL COMPLY WITH CHAPTER #33 OF THE 2008 CODE. NO CHANGE IN USE, OCCUPANCY OR EGRESS UNDER THIS APPLICATION.
UPDATE: Roland Li at Real Estate Weekly just heard from Bhatia that they’re “removing asbestos in the roof.and they took down the awning.”

Guess we won’t need to wait “three or four weeks” to hear from developer Arun Bhatia.

Get ready…

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/02/35-cooper-square-receives-scaffolding/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoweryBoogieALowerEastSideChr onicle+%28Bowery+Boogie+|+A+Lower+East+Side+Chroni cle%29 (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/02/35-cooper-square-receives-scaffolding/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoweryBoogieALowerEastSideChr onicle+%28Bowery+Boogie+%7C+A+Lower+East+Side+Chro nicle%29)

[londonlawyer]

Why bother with scaffolding? Let's stop pretending that we're in a civilized place. These guys are appropriate for this job.

http://civilianmilitaryintelligencegroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/taliban.jpg

[lofter1]

I doubt the neighbors would agree.

[londonlawyer]

I am utterly floored that this building is not protected.

[Merry]

Oh, dear :eek:.


What we know about 35 Cooper Square right now

Let's get caught up on what's happening at 35 Cooper Square... On Saturday (http://evgrieve.com/2011/02/whats-rush-at-35-cooper-square.html), crews were on the scene to remove asbestos, according to one of the workers who wasn't wearing any protective clothing...



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iucjrw9ywRg/TVarI4mVr6I/AAAAAAAApKM/n7Z6ZUGSfSk/s400/P1010912.JPG (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iucjrw9ywRg/TVarI4mVr6I/AAAAAAAApKM/n7Z6ZUGSfSk/s1600/P1010912.JPG)



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ylC5uLIBG7A/TVarJMFmzDI/AAAAAAAApKU/3t2AN8viePA/s400/P1010913.JPG (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ylC5uLIBG7A/TVarJMFmzDI/AAAAAAAApKU/3t2AN8viePA/s1600/P1010913.JPG)

More pics and info:



http://evgrieve.com/2011/02/what-we-know-about-35-cooper-square.html

[lofter1]

As of yesterday it seems they'd stripped off most of the top surface of roofing material (likely to contain asbestos).

12214

12213

12212

12211

[lofter1]

DEMO PERMIT (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=120610455&passdocnumber=01) for 35 Cooper Square APPROVED February 14, 2011:

APPLICATION FILED FOR FULL DEMOLITION OF 3 STORY BUILDING.

Regarding Asbestos Abatement Compliance the box is checked for this:



The scope of work does not require related asbestos abatement as defined in the regulations of the NYC DEP.

The owner is listed as: Arun Bhatia (http://www.nybits.com/managers/arun_bhatia.html)



Bhatia was "born into one of India's prominent real-estate families, but he didn't inherit its wealth or properties" ...

Lunch at The Four Seasons with: Arun Bhatia (http://www.pranaygupte.com/article.php?index=379)

More (http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-150696244.html):



Since starting his career as a residential real estate developer in 1977 with $10,000 to his name, Arun Bhatia, an immigrant from Bombay, has developed over 20 projects with 2,000 plus homes, for a value in excess of $600 million.

Now, after almost thirty years in the New York City residential market, Bhatia, founder and CEO of Arun Bhatia Development Organization, is unveiling two new residential condominium buildings in Manhattan. One is The Capri Tower Residences, at 235 East 55th Street; the other is a new luxury condominium development at 139 Wooster Street in SoHo's Cast Iron historic district.

And even more from EV Grieve:

35 Cooper Square: Ownership and plans (http://evgrieve.com/2011/02/35-cooper-square-ownership-and-plans.html)


• They haven't decided whether to demolish the building
• They want an "as of right, mixed-use" building, but haven't decided on specifics
• The entire lot has a buildable up to 28,998 square feet
• More details will be provided in "three or four weeks"

[ablarc]

Disgusting.

[Stroika]

Every pre-war building should be automatically landmarked.

Let the developers go to town with all of the dross we've built post-1945, filling in useless plazas and parking lots, and building infill at housing projects and other towers in the park.

There's no excuse for what is happening on the Bowery with the Asian Pub building -- no 200-year-old Federal-style structure in this city should be in danger of demolition ... and yet the past 3-4 years have seen how many such structures turned to dust?

[ZippyTheChimp]

Every pre-war building should be automatically landmarkedHow do you build a case for such a law that's constitutionally consistent with property rights?

Why pre-war; because we have a handy phrase available? Why not pre-industrial revolution?

[Merry]

Stop-Work Orders Posted at 35 Cooper Square

By Myles Tanzer

​The demolition on 35 Cooper Square (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/02/demolition_of_3.php) has apparently been halted overnight. Full work stop notices appeared on the building site yesterday citing the site's failure to "safeguard public and property affected by construction operations." But when we called the Department of Buildings, they said "they didn't have that in their system." Seems to be some confusion here.

Here's a picture of one of the notices posted on the site last night:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/php1lgqjAAM.jpg
One of the notices on the site​

The note on the bottom reads:

Failure to safeguard public and property affected by construction operations. Defects noted: At the time of inspection there is no protection at lower roof of property. Site/roof is accessible by anyone by way of adjacent property 2nd floor bar area at 25 Cooper Square. Roof has been partially stripped to sheathing and in some places joists. Access is gained over small parapet divider between properties. Stop all work! Make site safe!

Climbing from the Cooper Square Hotel bar into an abandoned construction site? Did someone really do that? Where do we sign up?
Another notice on the building:

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/assets_c/2011/02/phot23o-thumb-450x602.jpg (http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/phot23o.jpg)​

Interestingly, though this official-looking notice has the phone number for the Department of Buildings on it, the Department of Buildings didn't seem to know anything was wrong with the site in the first place. We'll keep an eye across the street to see if anything's going on.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/02/demolition_of_3_1.php

[ZippyTheChimp]

LPC asleep at the switch.

DOB asleep at the switch.

[brianac]

East Village Journal

Preservationists Focus on a Little Brick House

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/02/19/nyregion/METJOURNAL/METJOURNAL-articleLarge.jpg Ángel Franco/The New York Times
No. 35 Cooper Square is a stark contrast to its neighbors. For decades a haunt of artists, it faces demolition.

By SUZANNE ROZDEBA

Published: February 18, 2011

Cooper Square was an unnamed but thriving business district about 1825 when a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant, Nicholas William Stuyvesant, built what is now one of the oldest remaining Federal-style houses on the Bowery.

In its day, the house, now known as 35 Cooper Square, was nestled among three similar dormer-roof structures. Today it resembles a pink mushroom, propped up against the towering glass and steel sequoia that is the Cooper Square Hotel.

COMPLETE ARTICLE (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/nyregion/19metjournal.html?pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/nyregion/19metjournal.html?pagewanted=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

[ZippyTheChimp]

From NYTimes:
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has declined to award landmark status to 35 Cooper Square. The commission’s staff decided that because of changes to the exterior of the house, it no longer maintained its original character, and any attempt to recover that historical character would destroy the building’s brickwork. From DnaInfo:
However, the LPC has so far declined to act on the proposal, citing the addition of stucco over the building's original brickwork as the reason for not considering the address for landmarking, a commission spokeswoman said.So, the brickwork is still there. Stucco can't be removed? And why is it necessary to remove it? It's part of its long history.

This is a real estate decision, just like 2CC.

[Merry]

Hamill decries ‘vandalism’ of old Cooper Sq. house

By Jefferson Siegel

As dusk settled over the East Village Tuesday night, Pete Hamill, the renowned journalist and author, stood by a window overlooking Cooper Square. Across the street, he saw a crowd lighting candles in front of 35 Cooper Square.

“Holy s--t!” he exclaimed to no one in particular. “Thank God, there are still New Yorkers trying to save this city!”

Hamill grabbed his hat and coat and walked across the windy square to join several dozen people who were calling for No. 35 to be landmarked. Recently, preservationists were outraged when the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission declined to designate the three-story 1825 structure. The commission ruled that the building’s facade had been altered when a brownstone coating was applied to the exterior, thus disqualifying it as being architecturally significant.

As people shielded candles from the wind, David Mulkins, the chairperson of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, or BAN, led the call to arms.

“The historic significance of this building is overwhelming. This is the oldest building on a New York City town square,” Mulkins said as people holding signs illuminated by flickering candles bunched together on the narrow sidewalk.

“Abe Lincoln would have walked by this building on his way to make his anti-slavery speech in Cooper Union’s Great Hall,” Mulkins said, excoriating L.P.C.’s decision despite support from more than a dozen prominent preservation and community groups, architects and even a former L.P.C. commissioner.

The oldest building in Cooper Square, No. 35 predates Cooper Union by 30 years. Residents have included such notables as author Claude Brown, actor Joel Grey and Beat poet Diane di Prima.

A rally a month earlier was dominated by local elected officials. In contrast, Tuesday’s gathering was a veritable who’s who of local activists, preservationists and historians.

“This really screams out, ‘Landmark!’” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. He pointed out that while about 3 percent of all city buildings are landmarked, in the East Village the figure is only 2 percent.

Victor Papa of the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council found other culprits.
“Bloomberg and the city seem to be serving the needs of the developers. We’ll lose this very valuable legacy that identifies the Bowery,” he said.

“It’s another chunk of history that’s lost,” lamented Andrea Coyle of the Lower East Side History Project.

Hamill didn’t seem to be speaking to the crowd as much as rubbing elbows with friends in a neighborhood bar.

“The vandalism being done to this building is enough to make a person throw up. This is our inheritance,” Hamill said as he gestured toward the Federal-style building now partially hidden behind scaffolding.

Recalling his early days at 309 E. Ninth St., Hamill waxed poetic.

“When I walk past that building I’m 21 again,” he said. “In order to make the present as rich as possible, you have to have a sense of the past.”

As the crowd broke into a chant of “Keep 35 alive!” Hamill told a reporter, “Walt Whitman walked on this sidewalk. Every little fight preserves some of the past. There have to be triggers to memory.”

Some in the crowd passed out postcards addressed to L.P.C. Chairperson Robert Tierney, urging a public hearing. G.V.S.H.P.’s Berman said that at this late date, only the developer could save the building. Berman noted there has been some communication between both sides but nothing substantial enough yet to hang any hope on.

East Village activist Barbara Caporale traces her ancestry back through several generations in the area.

“It’s from these roots that we bloom as artists, as activists,” she said. “How we keep our sense of self is dependent on those who came before us.”

As of Wednesday morning, 1,641 people had signed a petition at http://boweryalliance.org/ calling on L.P.C. to designate 35 Cooper Square a landmark.

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_409/hamilldecries.html

[Merry]

Update:

City issues new work permit for 35 Cooper Square (http://evgrieve.com/2011/02/city-issues-new-work-permit-for-35.html)


35 Cooper Square: Demolition Will Continue Once Permits Are Paid for

By Averie Timm


​Last week, we reported that the demolition of our across-the-street neighbor 35 Cooper Square had been halted due to a "failure to safeguard public and property affected by construction operations." However, we've received word today that it was simply an issue of acquiring, and paying for, the correct permits.

According to the Department of Buildings, 35 Cooper Square was approved for demolition on February 14, yet was issued a "stop-work order" shortly after work began on the roof without permission.

Before the site is able to begin further work or demolition, the DOB assured us that they first have to pay fees for the particular permits they've filed. After said permits are paid for, they'll have the green light to proceed forward with demolition. Sad.

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/02/update_on_35_co.php

[Music Man]

Depressing..:(

[eddhead]

Question (and forgive my lack of knowledge) .... What requirements if any are in place regarding the maitenance and upkeep of protected builidngs? For instance, the McGraw Hill building on 42nd is a beautiful structure, but it is run down, the tiled facade is literaly fallling off the building, and certain floors have had boarded up windows for years.

I am not sure I understand the value of protecting buildings only to have them crumble because of lack of upkeep and maintenance.

[lofter1]

If an owner lets a designated building fall into disrepair to the extent that the fabric of the building is determined to be in danger then the LPC can force the owner to get things in order. But it's an arduous process and the LPC has little means of enforcement. Violations placed on a building by LPC can jam things up when an owner files at DOB for other work on the property, and this gives an incentive to the owner to keep things good with LPC.

[Merry]

Conversation | 35 Cooper Square

By GREG HOWARD, 20 Cooper Square
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5212/5507403373_65ab89cd4f.jpg
Phillip Kalantzis Cope

As we know by now, the 185-year-old 35 Cooper Square is about to be torn to the ground, and replaced by a giant futuristic hotel, or luxury condominiums, or a really swanky office building, or some such non-East Village-y thing. And as we know by now, a lot of longtime East Villagers aren’t happy about it, the destruction of the awe-inspiring, historical, super-significant ageless wonder that was the Asian Pub.

Protestors picketed, petitions were signed, letters were mailed, and for naught. The capitalistic Man that is New York City prevailed. It’s a time for tears, right?

Not so fast. Recently, one of The Local’s readers commented on on the expected demolition of the historic building, saying that even though she went to school and lived closed by, she “didn’t even know it existed.”

And although I’m but 22 years old, only lived in the East Village for some eight months, and am more privy to this neighborhood’s prolific bar scene than its historic past, I can’t help but thinking that maybe, just maybe, this sudden preservationist uproar is a bit, well, contrived.

Because as I said, I don’t know much about this neighborhood. I do know, though, that for years, 35 Cooper Square was little more than a place for broke NYU and Cooper Union kids to get really, really drunk. It was a lovely place, but not really historic. Where was the outcry then?

The days of Diane di Prima living upstairs have long since passed. Over time, 35 Cooper Square evolved, from a residential haven for poets and writers, to – like it or not – a cheap watering hole. Over time, 35 Cooper Square’s become little more than an eyesore next to its surroundings. And somewhere over that time, 35 Cooper Square lost its history.

One preservationist said to me in disgust that by the time the Bowery is fully developed, “only the wealthy and trust fund babies” would live here. Her anger seemed less directed toward 35 Cooper’s demise and more at the type of people who will ultimately live here.

But why are we fighting it? This is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in one of the most progressive cities in the world. For decades, we’ve been a haven for artists, musicians, minorities, gays, freedom fighters, beatniks, hippies. Our rich history stems from us opening our doors, to everyone, and the ever-shifting landscape that our tolerance produces.

The East Village skyline will shift, and shift again. It always has. Who’s to say this is a bad thing, or that tomorrow’s residents won’t include the next di Prima, Hendrix, or Madonna? As East Villagers, it’s our duty to remember the past. But when we reflexively cling to our past, when we use 35 Cooper Square as a scapegoat for fear and uncertainty of an unseen future, we become something altogether different.

http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/conversation-35-cooper-square/

[lofter1]

By GREG HOWARD, 20 Cooper Square

... I’m but 22 years old, only lived in the East Village for some eight months, and am more privy to this neighborhood’s prolific bar scene than its historic past ... for years, 35 Cooper Square was little more than a place for broke NYU and Cooper Union kids to get really, really drunk. It was a lovely place, but not really historic.

... Over time, 35 Cooper Square’s become little more than an eyesore next to its surroundings. And somewhere over that time, 35 Cooper Square lost its history.


This newbie doesn't have a clue about history. The fact that it's a federal-era house -- and not just a place where poets lived and students got drunk -- throughly escapes him.

[Fabrizio]

I was appalled when I read that article but did not comment. Let me do so now: what a little twerp.

[Merry]

^ LOL!


More Is Less

Fred A. Bernstein

http://observatory.designobserver.com/media/images/the-house-in-the-middle_525_525.jpg
The endangered house next to the Cooper Square Hotel

New York City officials have to decide to stop the demolition of a small, brick house (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/nyregion/19metjournal.html?_r=1&hpw) in the East Village. The Federal style house, which has stood at 35 Cooper Square since 1825, is scheduled to be replaced with a new building. Preservationists, under the gun, have been combing through records of the building’s past to build the case for saving it — as an important artifact of nineteenth century Manhattan.

But there’s a reason to save the building that has nothing to do with its past, and everything to do with the present.

The house is all that stands between two angled, glass-and-steel buildings (one of them, Thom Mayne's academic building for the Cooper Union (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/arts/design/05coop.html?scp=1&sq=thom%20mayne%20cooper%20union%20review&st=cse), a masterpiece of contemporary architecture). Those buildings wouldn't be the same without their modest, gable-roofed companion.

Contemporary buildings feed on historical context. When that context is removed, even the best of the new buildings fall flat.

Picture (or, if you're in New York, visit) West 19th Street, between 11th Avenue and the Hudson River.

On the north side of the street is Jean Nouvel’s "vision-machine" — a 19-story apartment building covered in thousands of tilted glass panels. On the south side is Frank Gehry’s IAC building, the wavy, iceberg-like apparition. That’s already a lot of star-chitecture for one block. But next to the Gehry building, Shigeru Ban’s Metal Shutter House offers a touch of the Japanese industrial aesthetic, circa 2010. Next door is Annabelle Selldorf's shiny 520 West Chelsea, seen as a wall of unadorned strip windows.

Look southwest from the middle of the block, and you could be in Dubai or, worse, a contemporary architecture theme park in Las Vegas. The new buildings have crowded out context — the layering that makes New York, New York.

Just a few blocks east, the same effect — call it too much of a good thing — is even more pronounced. Della Valle and Bernheimer, a young Brooklyn firm, designed an angled, black-and-white glass building at 459 West 18th. At almost the same moment, Audrey Matlock's Chelsea Modern rose next door at 447 West 18th, its facade a flat mix of blue and white windows.

In fact, either building, bracketed by older, masonry buildings, would have provided a welcome jolt of modernism. Together, they appear to be competing for dominance, a fight neither can win. There’s a similar problem in the West Village, where Asymptote's terrific building at 166 Perry Street abuts Richard Meier's 176 Perry Street, looking like an annex. (Despite Asymptote's ingenuity, there are only so many ways to utilize white glass.) It doesn't help that Meier himself added a third glass tower to the original pair of buildings. Two Meiers is company; three's a housing project.

http://observatory.designobserver.com/media/images/nouvel-in-gehry_525.jpg
The Jean Nouvel building reflected in Frank Gehry"s building

“The shock of the new,” it turns out, is only a pleasant shock when there is old to measure it against. Even Mies van der Rohe, whose Seagram Building has been seriously diminished by the imitators that flank it up and down Park Avenue, would have to agree that sometimes “more is less.”

Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim Bilbao, considered the greatest building of the late 20th century, works because it is glimpsed at the end of a narrow city street, crowded with art nouveau facades. In a less urban, less urbane, setting, it might have been seen as an oddity. (Gehry shouldn’t take offense at this; context has always been important in his work.) One of the great strengths of his latest building — the residential tower at 8 Spruce Street — is that it plays off against the 1919 Woolworth Building: equally daring in its own right, and now part of a accretion of styles over time.

As for the original Guggenheim Museum, by Frank Lloyd Wright: Its power comes from the placement of its arcs against New York’s right angles (both the street grid and the window grids of the adjacent buildings). Compare the Guggenheim to another curvy engineering marvel, the Trylon and Perisphere of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The difference between a masterpiece and a passing fancy, it turns out, is largely whether one is placed in a city, or stranded in a sea of equally experimental buildings.

At the Shanghai World Expo last summer, there were probably 20 buildings as interesting, in terms of form and surface, as work by Nouvel, Gehry, and Zaha Hadid, and every one of them has been torn down. There hasn't been a peep from the architecture world because the buildings, set not on city streets but behind fairground turnstiles, were always considered "installations" — not “real” buildings.

New buildings depend on context if they're to be become architecture, not just site-specific artworks competing for attention in an architectural petting zoo. Greg Pasquarelli, a principal of SHoP, one of the busiest firms in the city, recently described his firm's idea of contextual design: “Making sure that the building looks nothing like the buildings around it.” He was referring to his penchant for placing new buildings among the old, but what about ensuring that old buildings remain among the new?

When deciding what to preserve, the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission should think of some buildings — like the house on Cooper Square — as buffers, essential elements in making sure new buildings live up to their potential (to enliven, not entomb, the city).

Reactionary? Not at all. If the trend toward placing sleek contemporary buildings cheek to jowl continues, it is the contemporary buildings that will suffer most.

http://observatory.designobserver.com/entry.html?entry=25798

[lofter1]

Right On! ^

[infoshare]

"Maybe, just maybe" …….. no kidding (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16508&p=354933&viewfull=1#post354933), I call it Preservation Pretense.

excerpt: http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes....cooper-square/
And although I’m but 22 years old, only lived in the East Village for some eight months, and am more privy to this neighborhood’s prolific bar scene than its historic past, I can’t help but thinking that maybe, just maybe, this sudden preservationist uproar is a bit, well, contrived.


One preservationist said to me in disgust that by the time the Bowery is fully developed, “only the wealthy and trust fund babies” would live here. Her anger seemed less directed toward 35 Cooper’s demise and more at the type of people who will ultimately live here.

But why are we fighting it? This is one of the most progressive neighborhoods in one of the most progressive cities in the world. For decades, we’ve been a haven for artists, musicians, minorities, gays, freedom fighters, beatniks, hippies. Our rich history stems from us opening our doors, to everyone, and the ever-shifting landscape that our tolerance produces.

The East Village skyline will shift, and shift again. It always has. Who’s to say this is a bad thing, or that tomorrow’s residents won’t include the next di Prima, Hendrix, or Madonna? As East Villagers, it’s our duty to remember the past. But when we reflexively cling to our past, when we use 35 Cooper Square as a scapegoat for fear and uncertainty of an unseen future, we become something altogether different.

http://eastvillage.thelocal.nytimes....cooper-square/
http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16508&p=354933&viewfull=1#post354933

[lofter1]

Oh, of course, tearing down that 185-year old house will definitely make way for new housing for artists. All young and scrambling and willing to pay $2k / square foot.

To pretend that there hasn't been action by preservationists to protect parts of the Bowery going back 10 years and more is blind sightedness.

But, hey, NYC is chock full of Federal era houses. Who needs 'em?

[londonlawyer]

I'd like to sodomize these schmucks with a rusty crowbar. This is a crime.

[Merry]

^ Ouch. Let's hope it doesn't come to that ;).


New hope for 35 Cooper Square

During the weekend (http://evgrieve.com/2011/03/next-step-in-demolition-of-35-cooper.html), workers arrived at 35 Cooper Square to begin removing the sewer and water from the property...



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S8erGNKHZrQ/TY-JQQ4q1iI/AAAAAAAAqyQ/Ko7fSAYhVrU/s400/-15.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S8erGNKHZrQ/TY-JQQ4q1iI/AAAAAAAAqyQ/Ko7fSAYhVrU/s1600/-15.jpg)



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kWDMNvoGRq0/TY-JQr0lOyI/AAAAAAAAqyY/w7Y5Rfgnn7o/s400/-16.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kWDMNvoGRq0/TY-JQr0lOyI/AAAAAAAAqyY/w7Y5Rfgnn7o/s1600/-16.jpg)



http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o_EsTLoNHcA/TY-MR5MKyFI/AAAAAAAAqzA/C3SIVWsJnk8/s400/P1011183.JPG (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o_EsTLoNHcA/TY-MR5MKyFI/AAAAAAAAqzA/C3SIVWsJnk8/s1600/P1011183.JPG)

...the next steps in the demolition of the historic building... However, there is some positive news about the home via David Mulkins, chair of the Bowery Alliance of Neighbors (BAN). City Council member Rosie Mendez's office has brokered a meeting between developer Arun Bhatia and BAN members to discuss possibly sparing the building.

Meanwhile, as we pointed out five weeks ago (http://evgrieve.com/2011/02/roof-at-35-cooper-square-is-probably.html), workers have left the roof exposed to the elements. You may write to the developer's rep, Jane Crotty (Jane@gacnyc.com), and ask them to put the protective covering back on the rooftop.


http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zEXiWCYphoQ/TWR1-weYvQI/AAAAAAAApsU/vELgQLmLTK0/s400/P1010958.JPG (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zEXiWCYphoQ/TWR1-weYvQI/AAAAAAAApsU/vELgQLmLTK0/s1600/P1010958.JPG)

Updated: DNAinfo reports (http://www.dnainfo.com/20110328/lower-east-side-east-village/new-owner-of-historic-cooper-square-building-agrees-meet-with-preservationists?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter) the meeting is set for April 12.

http://evgrieve.com/2011/03/new-hope-for-35-cooper-square.html

[londonlawyer]

I was sad to hear that the MTA might put is beautiful Madison Avenue hq up for sale. It will be quite sad to see those pre-WWII office towers razed over the next few years.

[Merry]

Preservation Advocates 'Optimistic' About Fate of Historic East Village Row House

Advocates sat down with the site's developer to talk about possibly preserving the 1825 building.

By Patrick Hedlund

http://s3.amazonaws.com/sfb111/story_xlimage_2011_03_R3119_35_COOPER_SQUARE_PRESE RVATION_MEETING_32811.jpg

EAST VILLAGE — Advocates pressing the new owner of a historic Cooper Square property to preserve the centuries-old building emerged "cautiously optimistic" after a meeting with the developer Tuesday to discuss future plans for the structure.

Local activists fighting to save 35 Cooper Square — the 1825 Federal-style row house near the corner of East 6th Street — met with developer Arun Bhatia to outline their proposal for how he could keep the building intact while still pursuing a feasible development plan for the prized East Village site.

"We sort of presented them with both our arguments for the why building is important, to kind of raise the possibility of finding some way of building on the site in such a way that would preserve the building," said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, who attended the meeting. "They basically said they'll think about."

The three-story structure at the head of the Bowery — sandwiched between the gleaming new Cooper Union academic building and the towering Cooper Square Hotel — was once owned by a descendant of Peter Stuyvesant before housing such luminaries as Liza Minelli and Beat Generation poet Diane DiPrima.

The property sold to Bhatia for $8.5 million late last year. Shortly afterward, rumors began swirling that the developer planned to raze the 1825 building, starting with the closure of its ground-floor restaurant. Bhatia filed a demolition application last month.

The developer also scooped up two lots adjacent to the property, broadening the scope of any future development at the site. Bhatia did not comment on the demolition plans at the meeting, nor did he discuss recent work on the structure that exposed the building's roof to the elements.

"It's really too soon to say, but we were really thankful that they actually came out and met with the community," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, who also attended the meeting.

He explained that Bhatia and his team currently have no official plan for site, based on what attendees gathered at the meeting.

"We believe that there is a way they could do development on the site and retain the building," he added. "That's from our perspective, though."

A spokeswoman for Bhatia described the meeting as "pleasant," but said that preserving the property may present challenges based on the circumstances.

"My client wanted to hear what the community had to say and show respect for the process," said spokeswoman Jane Crotty.

"They asked for us to try and retain some portions of the building at 35 Cooper Square. We told them that it is a difficult site since it is so small. Arun and his team will discuss the issues and get back to them."

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission previously declined to consider designating 35 Cooper Square a landmark, citing the addition of stucco over the building's original brickwork, a commission spokeswoman said.

The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, which has helped lead the charge to save 35 Cooper Square, has noted that the Bowery itself has been deemed eligible for inclusion in the state and National Register of Historic Place, meaning that the building could qualify to receive tax credits if the developer decides to preserve certain historic features.

Advocates hope the meeting was a good first step in building a dialogue with the owner.

"I'm an eternal optimist and doing what we do, we have to be," Berman added. "I'm hopeful that something good can come of this that will make things better than our worst fears."

http://www.dnainfo.com/20110412/lower-east-side-east-village/preservation-advocates-optimistic-about-fate-of-historic-east-village-row-house#ixzz1JUaAW1de

[londonlawyer]

That would be great news.

[Music Man]

...nor did he discuss recent work on the structure that exposed the building's roof to the elements.
Yeah, he'll think about it and get back to them, just long enough for mold and other bad things to happen to the structure so that it will be declared unsafe for human habitation and have to be demo'd anyway. :rolleyes:

[Merry]

It's all been in vain :mad:.


35 Cooper Square to be Demolished

On this beautiful spring Saturday, Vanishing NY (http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2011/04/35-cooper-coming-down.html) brings the unsurprising news that 35 Cooper Square (http://www.boweryboogie.com/tag/35-cooper-square/) is to be demolished. Neither the preservation efforts (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/01/rally-to-save-35-cooper-square/) of late nor the “meeting of the minds (http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/03/35-cooper-square-developer-agrees-to-discuss-preservation/)” had any effect on developer Arun Bhatia’s decision to raze the centuries-old Federal style building. Seemed their camp was just going through the motions to appease the community.

http://media.boweryboogie.com/uploads/2011/04/35-cooper-in-scaffolding-560x420.jpg

In any event, Jeremiah relays the official letter from the developer’s lawyer to Council Member Rosie Mendez:
Arun Bhatia has asked me to report to you on the status of 35 Cooper Square. As you know, Mr. Bhatia and his development team, including a preservation architect, met on Monday, April 11, with member of you staff, representatives of other elected officials, and representatives of community and preservation groups to discuss 35 Cooper Square. Following the meeting, various massing alternatives for the site were studied to see whether it would be possible to preserve the building or any significant portions of it. As explained at the meeting, the site is very constrained, with 35 Cooper Square occupying a large and key section of the site. Unfortunately, it was concluded that it would not be feasible to develop the site with the building or any significant portion of it remaining, and that any potential relief from the BSA via a variance would not remedy the site conditions which make preservation infeasible.
In other words, demolition. The property owner will reportedly donate a financial contribution to the Landmarks Conservancy to help document the histories of the endangered species of Federal buildings.

http://www.boweryboogie.com/2011/04/breaking-35-cooper-square-to-be-demolished/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BoweryBoogieALowerEastSideChr onicle+%28Bowery+Boogie%29

[londonlawyer]

The owner is a WANG!

[Music Man]

Some links with depressing pictures of what's left.

http://ny.curbed.com/tags/35-cooper-square

http://evgrieve.com/2011/05/more-about-rally-to-mourn-loss-of-35.html

[londonlawyer]

I can't even look.

[MidtownGuy]

I walked past here 2 days ago and was so upset to see that house gone. Its historic quaintness was tremendous next to the daring hotel. Booo.

LL, I can barely look either anymore.
Almost 200 years old. Un freaking believable.:mad::(

[londonlawyer]

People freak out when I call schmucks like this Taliban mullahs, but that's what they are.