GVSHP | Detail

CITY MOVES ON HANDFUL OF
LANDMARK DESIGNATIONS,
LEAVING MORE THAN 95% OF NEIGHBORHOOD
AROUND TECH HUB UNPROTECTED,
INCLUDING ENDANGERED BUILDINGS –
JOIN US SAT. 9/29 AT NOON FOR DEMONSTRATION

Yesterday, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) calendared, or began the formal process of consideration for, landmark designations of seven buildings: 817, 826, 830, 832, 836, 840, and 841 Broadway. This was done in response to our demands for landmark and/or zoning protections for the area south of Union Square between 3rd and 5th Avenues in the wake of the City Council’s approval of the Mayor’s Tech Hub upzoning on 14th Street. GVSHP proposed and called for historic district designation for all the historic buildings in the affected area (about 193 buildings), which is experiencing enormous development pressure, especially now that the nearby Tech Hub upzoning has been approved.

(top l.) 841 Broadway; (top r.) 840, 836, 832 Broadway;
(bottom l.) 832, 830, and 826 Broadway; (bottom r.) 817 Broadway.

The LPC’s action, part of a deal with Councilmember Carlina Rivera, amounts to 3.6% of the total, or “a fraction of a fraction” of what the community has been fighting for. Six of the seven buildings chosen are actually larger than current zoning allows, which means there is almost no chance they would ever be endangered. All have been well preserved by their owners. Meanwhile, nearby historic buildings like the former St. Denis Hotel at 799 Broadway/80 E.12th Street – where Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant stayed, Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the telephone, and Marcel Duchamp made revolutionary art – are currently being prepared for demolition and replacement with a large glass office tower, and the city has refused to take any action.

The former St. Denis Hotel, Broadway and 11th Street, built in 1853.

GVSHP feels strongly that such action is woefully insufficient to protect this area, and violates the pledge Councilmember Carlina Rivera made to do so when she ran for office and since being in office.

As part of our fight to secure real protections for our neighborhood, in light of the tremendous development pressure it faces and the recent Tech Hub upzoning, GVSHP is calling upon the LPC to consider much broader historic district protections for the neighborhood, and holding a demonstration this Saturday, September 29th at noon in front of the St. Denis at Broadway and 11th Street. We will be protesting the demolition of this historic building and calling upon city officials to preserve our neighborhood.

TO HELP:

COME TO THE DEMONSTRATION SATURDAY,
AND SPREAD THE WORD:

Click on flyer for printable PDF

Next: 9/28/18

Previous: 9/20/18

CITY MOVES ON HANDFUL OF LANDMARK DESIGNATIONS, LEAVING MORE THAN 95% OF NEIGHBORHOOD AROUND TECH HUB UNPROTECTED, INCLUDING ENDANGERED BUILDINGS – JOIN US SAT. 9/29 AT NOON FOR DEMONSTRATION

CITY MOVES ON HANDFUL OF
LANDMARK DESIGNATIONS,
LEAVING MORE THAN 95% OF NEIGHBORHOOD
AROUND TECH HUB UNPROTECTED,
INCLUDING ENDANGERED BUILDINGS –
JOIN US SAT. 9/29 AT NOON FOR DEMONSTRATION