Manhattan State Supreme Court Justice Lucy A. Billings issued a temporary restraining order on Tuesday to halt renovations at the landmark former bank building on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street, according to an article in today's edition of The New York Times by Robin Pogrebin.

The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation, an advocacy group, filed the lawsuit, which charges that the building's owner, Vornado Realty Trust, abetted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, has disregarded restrictions designed to protect the interior, the article said.

"That transparent interior, designated a landmark in February, features illuminated ceilings that were intended to minimize glare and shadow; twin escalators; a side entrance to preserve the Fifth Avenue glass curtain wall; and a circular stainless-steel vault door. But two months later the commission allowed Vornado to change some of these elements in reconfiguring the space for a store, Joe Fresh. The changes include moving the escalators and carving two entrances into the Fifth Avenue facade," the article said.

The preservationists said the demolition work at 510 Fifth Avenue, which began in June, had exceeded the limits set by the commission. But city officials said the work had complied with the permit and that the interior alterations were approved after thorough consideration.

"We approved a project that will restore several important features of the space, including its signature luminous ceiling and transparency, and allow for modifications to adapt the building to a new use," Elisabeth de Bourbon, a commission spokeswoman, told The Times, adding that she was confident the court would uphold the commission's original determination, "which came after an extensive public process."

The article said that Vornado declined to comment.

The building was erected in 1954 and was designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for the Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company. The exterior of the building was designed a city landmark in 1997. On February 15, 2011, the commission designated the building's interior an official city landmark.

Theodore Grunewald, founder of a coalition to save the building and a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in an interview in the article that "Vornado, through the commission, has robbed this bank of its key architectural, historical and symbolic elements, the unique things that set it apart and define it as a masterpiece," adding that "it's a supreme example of midcentury International Style. It's up there in the top 50 globally and certainly the top 20 nationally, and in New York there are only three that compare to it: the Seagram Building, Lever House and the Pepsi-Cola Building."

In giving landmark status to the building's interior, the commission highlighted the strong diagonal line of the escalators connecting the first floor and the mezzanine, which is recessed from the street and "appears to float, creating the impression that both levels occupy a single, monumental space," the article said.

The lawsuit challenges the commission's approval of structural changes "as effectively rescinding the interior designation" and seeks to have the building restored to its previous condition.