Want to find out what is and what isn't a landmark in your area of NYC? Use this interactive map. You will be surprised at some of the results.
http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
135 Bowery
We received this letter from the HDC on the 15th. It shows you the lack of interest in preservation by the NYC Govt.
This afternoon, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Usage voted 4 (Halloran, Lander, Sanders, Williams) to 1 (Mendes) to deny the Landmark designation of the Hardenbrook Somarindyck House at 135 Bowery. The designation was opposed by the building’s owner, First American International Bank, who found a strong advocate in local Council member Margaret Chin. CM Chin, who has a good record on preservation issues and has worked closely with community preservationists, changed her initial support of preserving the building after learning more about the building’s condition from the owners and their plans to develop below-market-rate commercial rental space on the site. “"I just hope that the advocates will see my point of view on this," Chin said at the hearing (as reported by WNYC). "And that we will have opportunity to continue to work to preserve the historic character of Bowery. But on this building we will have to differ." It is almost inevitable that the full City Council will vote to deny this landmark designation next Wednesday.
HDC was the first to testify in favor of the designation at the hearing and our testimony is below. As part of our testimony, we submitted 49 letters we received as emails from you – our friends and readers – in response to our alert earlier this week. At the hearing, we were joined by over 25 Bowery residents and enthusiasts who gave incredibly intelligent, passionate, articulate and heart-felt testimony. We are incredibly proud to be part of such as strong community.
It was mentioned more than once by council members that their action was reflective of a broader view of the community and it was their responsibility to take the bigger picture into account. What was not evident from the hearing was any indication that the decision to be made was any more than helping a bank with a development rather than supporting a popular governmental decision. HDC is very disappointed in this decision.
Simeon Bankoff
Executive Director
Historic Districts Council
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
www.hdc.org
This afternoon, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Usage voted 4 (Halloran, Lander, Sanders, Williams) to 1 (Mendes) to deny the Landmark designation of the Hardenbrook Somarindyck House at 135 Bowery. The designation was opposed by the building’s owner, First American International Bank, who found a strong advocate in local Council member Margaret Chin. CM Chin, who has a good record on preservation issues and has worked closely with community preservationists, changed her initial support of preserving the building after learning more about the building’s condition from the owners and their plans to develop below-market-rate commercial rental space on the site. “"I just hope that the advocates will see my point of view on this," Chin said at the hearing (as reported by WNYC). "And that we will have opportunity to continue to work to preserve the historic character of Bowery. But on this building we will have to differ." It is almost inevitable that the full City Council will vote to deny this landmark designation next Wednesday.
HDC was the first to testify in favor of the designation at the hearing and our testimony is below. As part of our testimony, we submitted 49 letters we received as emails from you – our friends and readers – in response to our alert earlier this week. At the hearing, we were joined by over 25 Bowery residents and enthusiasts who gave incredibly intelligent, passionate, articulate and heart-felt testimony. We are incredibly proud to be part of such as strong community.
It was mentioned more than once by council members that their action was reflective of a broader view of the community and it was their responsibility to take the bigger picture into account. What was not evident from the hearing was any indication that the decision to be made was any more than helping a bank with a development rather than supporting a popular governmental decision. HDC is very disappointed in this decision.
Simeon Bankoff
Executive Director
Historic Districts Council
232 East 11th Street
New York, NY 10003
www.hdc.org
Monday, August 1, 2011
Hotel Pennsylvania 2nd Q reports
Second quarter reports are out for Vornado, looks like the Hotel Pennsylvania made $8.677 M for the past 3 months. Up from last year at this time from $6.616 M. These are great improvements, and shows the the Hotel is on its was back to being profitable for Vornado. The whole report can be seen here.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Message to the Chair, Landmarks Preservation Commission
If you would like to send Mr. Robert Tierney a message about the LPC decision of the Hotel Pennsylvania, and the Cafe Rouge, now is your chance! Be sure to let him know how you feel.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maillpc.html
http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maillpc.html
LPC response letters for the Cafe Rouge
We finally got a copy of the LPC response letters regarding the Cafe Rouge proposed landmark status. Thanks to Steven Lepore for getting this for us and being brave enough to submit the applications.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Do you think 15 Penn Plaza will do good or bad things to New York?
Yahoo Answers wants to know. Let us know your opinion.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Hotel Pennsylvania 1st Q reports
Vornado announced their first quarter reports today, for the period ending March 31, 2011. Although the Hotel Pennsylvania showed an improvement from last year at this time, they are still down. The Hotel lost $68,000 this quarter, which is an improvement from last year at this times, loss of $447,000.
Vornado the parent company and current owner of the Hotel Pennsylvania, did not invest any money this past quarter in improvements to the building.
Currently the hotel property size is 1,400,000 SqF with a retail portion of 188,000 SqF.
The full report can be read off of the SCC website here.
Vornado the parent company and current owner of the Hotel Pennsylvania, did not invest any money this past quarter in improvements to the building.
Currently the hotel property size is 1,400,000 SqF with a retail portion of 188,000 SqF.
The full report can be read off of the SCC website here.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Land's End - Gatsby Mansion Torn Down
Yet another historic building gone for good. When will people learn that history must be saved not destroyed?
Sunday, April 17, 2011
2012 HOPE Conference
2600 has announced that they will be holding the HOPE conference in 2012 at the Hotel Pennsylvania, we can only assume that this is a good thing. We will continue to keep you posted on the status of the 2012 HOPE Conference.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Gimbels Passageway
A recent NY Times article about the current Vornado situation with 15 Penn Plaza, (a.k.a. Hotel Pennsylvania) state, that before construction can begin on the 15 Penn Plaza office, "transit improvements must be designed and agreed upon before the city will grant Vornado building permits." Check out the link for more information.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Gimbels Passageway Simulator
A clockwork disc simulator for designing movements to appear in the hall of Gimbels Passageway in New York City.
Ear Studio was commissioned by Vornado Realty Trust to design a public art element for the Gimbels Passageway renovation; the underground pedestrian tunnel connecting Penn Station to Herald Square closed in the 1970s.
This simulator, built with Processing and OpenGL, allows Ear Studio to experiment with the choreography of approximately 900 rotating discs and the invisible gearing system that couples them. The simulator exports this choreographic data for use by the team's 3D fly-through mockup designers and will also inform the data driving the final piece. The video can be found here.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Happy 92nd Birthday!
Today Hotel Pennsylvania Celebrates it's 92nd Birthday. 92 years of history forever embedded in those walls. If walls could talk what would they say? Well, today they'd say "Congratulations Ol' Girl!" Here's to 92 more years!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Getting a Lawyer
Does anyone have any lawyers they know that could assist us in pressing charges against Vornado or is anyone interested in helping?
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Merry Christmas Hotel Penn
Merry Christmas Hotel Pennsylvania. This may be your last so we hope it is your bet one yet!
Friday, November 19, 2010
New York Times Ad
I finally managed to get a copy of the NY Times, full page ad from The Empire State Building. This ad appeared on the same day as the hearings, (Monday August 23, 2010), and is actually a letter to the following council members.
Speaker Christine Quinn,
Deputy Majority Leader Comrie (Consumer Affairs; Cultural Affairs, Libraries & International Intergroup relations; Finance; Land Use, Chair (Zoning & Franchises); Rules, Privileges & Elections)
Mark S. Weprin, (Land Use, Zoning & Franchises, Chair).
The ad can be found here.
Speaker Christine Quinn,
Deputy Majority Leader Comrie (Consumer Affairs; Cultural Affairs, Libraries & International Intergroup relations; Finance; Land Use, Chair (Zoning & Franchises); Rules, Privileges & Elections)
Mark S. Weprin, (Land Use, Zoning & Franchises, Chair).
The ad can be found here.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Final letter from the LPC
I just got a letter back from the LPC regarding regarding the Cafe Rouge landmarking Status. It was denied. They claim the Cafe "has been too significantly altered". This is a bunch of bull. I don't get why they couldn't just say the truth that the buildings demolition was already approved. Highly unprofessional if you ask me. I will post the full letter later.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
FM/TV signals could be in trouble because of 15 Penn Plaza Tower.
A recent article was published stating the obvious fact that the new 15 Penn Plaza building will more than likely disrupt FM and or TV signals from the Empire State Building. Jim Stagnitto, director of engineering for New York Public Radio, is concerned about both of his FMs at Empire, WNYC(FM) and WQXR(FM). “WQXR is a low-power Class B and will be especially susceptible to multipath in New Jersey. I’m very concerned. And without a predictive study to examine, we really don’t know how bad it could be,” Stagnitto said.
The question is what are they going to do about it? Can the FCC put a stop the the project because of this or until the find a way to relocate the antennas to a new higher location?
The question is what are they going to do about it? Can the FCC put a stop the the project because of this or until the find a way to relocate the antennas to a new higher location?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Testimony of Wally Rubin for Community Board Five at the New York City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises, Monday, August 23rd, 2010
TESTIMONY OF WALLY RUBIN FOR COMMUNITY BOARD FIVE AT THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE ON ZONING AND FRANCHISES, MONDAY, AUGUST 23rd, 2010
Good morning. My name is Wally Rubin and I am the District Manager for Community Board Five. Thank you for the privilege of addressing you today on the topic of 15 Penn Plaza, one of the most important development projects our Board has faced in years.
Community Board Five and its Land Use & Zoning Committee spent considerable time meeting with the applicant and reviewing every available document before we voted 36 to 1 to deny this application.
Obviously, our Board felt very strongly about this application and here are the reasons why:
First, we think that the transportation improvements Vornado has proposed are inadequate. Many of the improvements are ultimately either self-serving or mandated and wholly insufficient for the 474,000 square feet Vornado will receive in exchange. Indeed, as one of our Board members put it, they are akin to Vornado cleaning up its own basement.
Second, Community Board Five is deeply troubled by this applicant's request for a midblock up-zoning, adding yet another 266,000 square feet to a tower that is utterly lacking confirmed details, including building size, height, tenancy, construction timetable or financing plan. The applicant conceded to us that it could be many years – years - before any development scenario might move forward, which entirely demolishes the argument that we should approve this project now as a salve for our current economic troubles.
If the up-zoning were to be granted now, it would remain with the zoning lot permanently, regardless of future development plans or even if the lot is eventually sold. It is ill-advised from a proper planning perspective to approve such an up-zoning without a clear rationale for its request. This up-zoning, just blocks from the Empire State Building, will allow Vornado, or whoever might eventually own this site, to build a building that will change the iconic skyline of New York City forevermore. Such a change must be deeply considered and well thought out, both in terms of its design and, more broadly, its impact on future land use decisions in the immediate area.
Community Board Five is not opposed to development and we recognize that this site is appropriate for a large commercial building. We value the job creation that will result not only during construction but also after the proposed building is complete. But we are also acutely aware of how the area
surrounding Penn Station is poised to undergo enormous development, growth, and change in the coming decade. This means that each individual land use decision will cumulatively contribute to its transformation.
Therefore, we hope that the ladies and gentlemen on this committee and the Council as a whole will join us in asking Vornado to return to the table with their request for a permanent up-zoning when they have a rationale and a final, financed plan in place. Until such time, we urge the Council to join with City Planning, the Moynihan Station Community Advisory Committee and Community Boards Four and Five to begin to outline a Moynihan Station subdistrict zoning plan and a future for this area that is both well-considered and comprehensive.
Thank you for your time.
Community Board Five and its Land Use & Zoning Committee spent considerable time meeting with the applicant and reviewing every available document before we voted 36 to 1 to deny this application.
Obviously, our Board felt very strongly about this application and here are the reasons why:
First, we think that the transportation improvements Vornado has proposed are inadequate. Many of the improvements are ultimately either self-serving or mandated and wholly insufficient for the 474,000 square feet Vornado will receive in exchange. Indeed, as one of our Board members put it, they are akin to Vornado cleaning up its own basement.
Second, Community Board Five is deeply troubled by this applicant's request for a midblock up-zoning, adding yet another 266,000 square feet to a tower that is utterly lacking confirmed details, including building size, height, tenancy, construction timetable or financing plan. The applicant conceded to us that it could be many years – years - before any development scenario might move forward, which entirely demolishes the argument that we should approve this project now as a salve for our current economic troubles.
If the up-zoning were to be granted now, it would remain with the zoning lot permanently, regardless of future development plans or even if the lot is eventually sold. It is ill-advised from a proper planning perspective to approve such an up-zoning without a clear rationale for its request. This up-zoning, just blocks from the Empire State Building, will allow Vornado, or whoever might eventually own this site, to build a building that will change the iconic skyline of New York City forevermore. Such a change must be deeply considered and well thought out, both in terms of its design and, more broadly, its impact on future land use decisions in the immediate area.
Community Board Five is not opposed to development and we recognize that this site is appropriate for a large commercial building. We value the job creation that will result not only during construction but also after the proposed building is complete. But we are also acutely aware of how the area
surrounding Penn Station is poised to undergo enormous development, growth, and change in the coming decade. This means that each individual land use decision will cumulatively contribute to its transformation.
Therefore, we hope that the ladies and gentlemen on this committee and the Council as a whole will join us in asking Vornado to return to the table with their request for a permanent up-zoning when they have a rationale and a final, financed plan in place. Until such time, we urge the Council to join with City Planning, the Moynihan Station Community Advisory Committee and Community Boards Four and Five to begin to outline a Moynihan Station subdistrict zoning plan and a future for this area that is both well-considered and comprehensive.
Thank you for your time.
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