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The Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America has proposed an expansion of the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District.
The expansion would consist of two areas directly adjacent to the existing district.
One area would include the buildings on the west side of West Broadway from just below Broome Street to West Houston Street.
The other area would include the buildings on the east side of Crosby Street from just below Spring Street to Howard Street and the south side of Howard Street between Broadway and Crosby Street.
In 1973, the city¿s Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the SoHo-Cast-Iron Historic District and ¿preserved the world¿s largest concentration of Victorian full and partial cast-iron-fronted facades,¿ according to the document outlining the proposed expansion.
¿Spurred by the work of the indefatigable Margot Gayle, the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District protected not only the area¿s cast-iron architecture, but also many outstanding masonry buildings. Over thirty years after designation, many of the cast-iron fronted and masonry buildings I the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District have been carefully restored, and the district is today one of New York City¿s most architecturally renowned neighborhoods. While the designation of the¿District ensured the protection of 26 blocks of nineteenth-century commercial and industrial structures, many similar and landmark-worthy buildings are situated just outside of the district¿s boundaries. Indeed, the boundaries of the designated historic district do not reflect either the full complement of distinctive cast-iron-fronted buildings or the natural borders of the nineteen-century commercial district that gave rise to this and other characteristic architecture,¿ the document continued.
At the requests of Ms. Gayle in early 2005, the Preservation Committee of the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society undertook a survey of buildings on the periphery of the existing historic district and that survey, according to the document, ¿proves that the historic district¿s boundaries are indeed arbitrary.¿
¿As a matter of principle,¿ it added, ¿historic districts should include both sides of a street....Only including one side of the street for West Broadway and Crosby Street - especially when both sides of these streets contain buildings of the same period, materials, quality, and architectural style ¿ destroys the inherent cohesiveness of the area. With development regulated within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, it is those buildings on the outside edges that are most at risk for inappropriate redevelopment. It is fortunate that over years after the designation of the Soho-Cast Iron Historic District, the areas that should have been originally been included within the boundaries of the district, but which were excluded, still retain much architectural integrity.¿
The expansion would consist of two areas directly adjacent to the existing district.
One area would include the buildings on the west side of West Broadway from just below Broome Street to West Houston Street.
The other area would include the buildings on the east side of Crosby Street from just below Spring Street to Howard Street and the south side of Howard Street between Broadway and Crosby Street.
In 1973, the city¿s Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the SoHo-Cast-Iron Historic District and ¿preserved the world¿s largest concentration of Victorian full and partial cast-iron-fronted facades,¿ according to the document outlining the proposed expansion.
¿Spurred by the work of the indefatigable Margot Gayle, the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District protected not only the area¿s cast-iron architecture, but also many outstanding masonry buildings. Over thirty years after designation, many of the cast-iron fronted and masonry buildings I the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District have been carefully restored, and the district is today one of New York City¿s most architecturally renowned neighborhoods. While the designation of the¿District ensured the protection of 26 blocks of nineteenth-century commercial and industrial structures, many similar and landmark-worthy buildings are situated just outside of the district¿s boundaries. Indeed, the boundaries of the designated historic district do not reflect either the full complement of distinctive cast-iron-fronted buildings or the natural borders of the nineteen-century commercial district that gave rise to this and other characteristic architecture,¿ the document continued.
At the requests of Ms. Gayle in early 2005, the Preservation Committee of the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society undertook a survey of buildings on the periphery of the existing historic district and that survey, according to the document, ¿proves that the historic district¿s boundaries are indeed arbitrary.¿
¿As a matter of principle,¿ it added, ¿historic districts should include both sides of a street....Only including one side of the street for West Broadway and Crosby Street - especially when both sides of these streets contain buildings of the same period, materials, quality, and architectural style ¿ destroys the inherent cohesiveness of the area. With development regulated within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, it is those buildings on the outside edges that are most at risk for inappropriate redevelopment. It is fortunate that over years after the designation of the Soho-Cast Iron Historic District, the areas that should have been originally been included within the boundaries of the district, but which were excluded, still retain much architectural integrity.¿
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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