The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation objected last month to an application for a certificate of appropriateness from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission for a planned 177-foot-high residential tower adjacent to the 1845 Tredwell Skidmore House at 37 East 4th Street in the East Village, an individual landmark.
Last December 20, New York County Supreme Court Justice Walter B. Tolub ruled that the owners of the Tredwell Skidmore house had failed to maintain it in "good repair," the first time that a court upheld the requirement of owners of official New York City landmarks to keep their properties in "good repair." The Skidmore House, built in 1845, was designated a City landmark in 1970 and described as an "unusually impressive" Greek Revival residence that was characteristic of its East Village neighborhood in the mid-19th century.
After a portion of the roof collapsed into the building in 2002, the landmarks commission initiated a lawsuit to force the owners to return the building to the condition of "good repair" required by the Landmarks Preservation Law.
In his decision, Justice Tolub described the building as being in "dismal state of disrepair" and ordered the owners to make all the repairs required by the Commission in order to stabilize and preserve it.
On July 12, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation testified before the commission that an application for a certificate of appropriateness for the property was "premature," adding that "the owner of the property has not even started the necessary stabilization work and repairs to the 1845 house,?but...is asking for permission to build a large, out-of-scale development on the adjacent property." "It is incredibly disconcerting that these owners, who have such a history of flagrant neglect and disregard of the historic property, are asking for special consideration before they have shown that they intend to repair and stabilize the house as required by the courts. Although the applicant before the commission ?claims to have no relation to the owner who has allowed this building to deteriorate to the point of near-collapse, it must be pointed out the owner, by leasing the land to this developer, will certainly profit from the proposed and extremely large 177-foot-tower that the developer is asking the commission to support."
The commission took no action on the application and Ken Lowenstein, an attorney for Marc Altheim and Peter Fein, the principals of General Atlantic Development which has leased the property, said that the plans for the tower by Gerner Kronick + Valcarel are now being revised. The plan calls for rental apartments.
The building was owned by Sol Goldman who died in 1987 and afterwards his estate, which also owned the corner lot on one side of the house now used for parking and two row houses on the other side that were demolished around 1989. The estate was in litigation for several years and according to the District Lines Winter 2004 issue published by the Historic Districts Council "Neighbors watched as homeless people moved in, built fires in the reception rooms, trashed much of the interior." In the fall of 2002 the roof collapsed.
The two vacant lots to the west of the Skidmore House are being used for the city's water tunnel construction and will eventually be converted to a small park on the other side of which is the Merchant's House Museum. The air-rights for the vacant lots and the Skidmore House are to be used in the new construction project.
Last December 20, New York County Supreme Court Justice Walter B. Tolub ruled that the owners of the Tredwell Skidmore house had failed to maintain it in "good repair," the first time that a court upheld the requirement of owners of official New York City landmarks to keep their properties in "good repair." The Skidmore House, built in 1845, was designated a City landmark in 1970 and described as an "unusually impressive" Greek Revival residence that was characteristic of its East Village neighborhood in the mid-19th century.
After a portion of the roof collapsed into the building in 2002, the landmarks commission initiated a lawsuit to force the owners to return the building to the condition of "good repair" required by the Landmarks Preservation Law.
In his decision, Justice Tolub described the building as being in "dismal state of disrepair" and ordered the owners to make all the repairs required by the Commission in order to stabilize and preserve it.
On July 12, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation testified before the commission that an application for a certificate of appropriateness for the property was "premature," adding that "the owner of the property has not even started the necessary stabilization work and repairs to the 1845 house,?but...is asking for permission to build a large, out-of-scale development on the adjacent property." "It is incredibly disconcerting that these owners, who have such a history of flagrant neglect and disregard of the historic property, are asking for special consideration before they have shown that they intend to repair and stabilize the house as required by the courts. Although the applicant before the commission ?claims to have no relation to the owner who has allowed this building to deteriorate to the point of near-collapse, it must be pointed out the owner, by leasing the land to this developer, will certainly profit from the proposed and extremely large 177-foot-tower that the developer is asking the commission to support."
The commission took no action on the application and Ken Lowenstein, an attorney for Marc Altheim and Peter Fein, the principals of General Atlantic Development which has leased the property, said that the plans for the tower by Gerner Kronick + Valcarel are now being revised. The plan calls for rental apartments.
The building was owned by Sol Goldman who died in 1987 and afterwards his estate, which also owned the corner lot on one side of the house now used for parking and two row houses on the other side that were demolished around 1989. The estate was in litigation for several years and according to the District Lines Winter 2004 issue published by the Historic Districts Council "Neighbors watched as homeless people moved in, built fires in the reception rooms, trashed much of the interior." In the fall of 2002 the roof collapsed.
The two vacant lots to the west of the Skidmore House are being used for the city's water tunnel construction and will eventually be converted to a small park on the other side of which is the Merchant's House Museum. The air-rights for the vacant lots and the Skidmore House are to be used in the new construction project.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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