The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing today on an application to remove the exposed rooftop watertank atop the 9-story neo-Renaissance-style, commercial building at 133 Fifth Avenue on the southeast corner at 20th Street.
Dezer Properties plans to convert the building to residential condominiums and argued that zoning required such a conversion to provide recreational space and Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC told the commission that a rooftop addition was needed but that the existing watertank needed to be removed.
A spokesman for the developer told the commission that a new watertank would have to be 10 feet higher and 30 percent larger than the existing one.
The developer plans a restoration of the building's facade and a commitment for a maintenance program for it. It was designed by Robert Maynicke and erected in 1899.
On May 11, Community Board 5 voted to recommend that the commission deny the developer's application for a certificate of appropriateness unless the developer agrees to keep the watertank.
Jack Taylor, the head of The Drive to Protect the Ladies' Mile District, told the commission that "this proposal is, as the Brits might say, too clever by half." "If approved, it would set in motion a phenomenon that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the commission's rules and regulations concerning the visibility from the public way of new rooftop structures on designated buildings. It boils down to this: to get your money's worth on adding necessarily limited living space, make sure it's invisible and position to the mechanicals that service it on top of the new habitable structure. What results - at least in this case of a slender nine-story corner building...- will be a rooftop addition of immense visibility that is theoretically immune from the rules."
Mr. Taylor said his organization does "applaud the intention to clean its limestone skin, install new wood windows in the historical configuration, and repair the cornices," but he added "What we cannot applaud is the intention to remove the existing historic water tank- that now fast-disappearing icon of the Manhattan skyline, and especially that of the ladies' Mile Historic District. It's time to send a message that the willy-nilly destruction of water tanks that are protected features of designated properties will not longer be tolerated."
A spokesman for the Historic Districts Council said it was for denial of the application, and that the addition should be made less visible.
In their comments, some commissioners did not object strongly to the removal of this particular watertank, but others did and Commissioner Pablo E. Vengoechea told the applicants to rethink the rooftop design and return.
Commissioner Richard Olcott suggested that "there is no such thing as an historical watertank," noting that they are replaced periodically, and Commissioner Libby Ryan said she did not find the bulkhead issue that serious.
Commissioner Roberta Brandes Gratz said she was "troubled by the watertank issue" and strongly urged the commission to meet with the City Planning Commission to discuss regulations relating to mandated rooftop recreational space" especially on small "footprint" properties, adding that perhaps off-site recreational space should be considered. "We're being back into a corner," she said.
In other actions, the commission voted to deny a certificate of appropriateness for a proposed roof-top addition to 200 Fifth Avenue.
Dezer Properties plans to convert the building to residential condominiums and argued that zoning required such a conversion to provide recreational space and Rogers Marvel Architects PLLC told the commission that a rooftop addition was needed but that the existing watertank needed to be removed.
A spokesman for the developer told the commission that a new watertank would have to be 10 feet higher and 30 percent larger than the existing one.
The developer plans a restoration of the building's facade and a commitment for a maintenance program for it. It was designed by Robert Maynicke and erected in 1899.
On May 11, Community Board 5 voted to recommend that the commission deny the developer's application for a certificate of appropriateness unless the developer agrees to keep the watertank.
Jack Taylor, the head of The Drive to Protect the Ladies' Mile District, told the commission that "this proposal is, as the Brits might say, too clever by half." "If approved, it would set in motion a phenomenon that violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the commission's rules and regulations concerning the visibility from the public way of new rooftop structures on designated buildings. It boils down to this: to get your money's worth on adding necessarily limited living space, make sure it's invisible and position to the mechanicals that service it on top of the new habitable structure. What results - at least in this case of a slender nine-story corner building...- will be a rooftop addition of immense visibility that is theoretically immune from the rules."
Mr. Taylor said his organization does "applaud the intention to clean its limestone skin, install new wood windows in the historical configuration, and repair the cornices," but he added "What we cannot applaud is the intention to remove the existing historic water tank- that now fast-disappearing icon of the Manhattan skyline, and especially that of the ladies' Mile Historic District. It's time to send a message that the willy-nilly destruction of water tanks that are protected features of designated properties will not longer be tolerated."
A spokesman for the Historic Districts Council said it was for denial of the application, and that the addition should be made less visible.
In their comments, some commissioners did not object strongly to the removal of this particular watertank, but others did and Commissioner Pablo E. Vengoechea told the applicants to rethink the rooftop design and return.
Commissioner Richard Olcott suggested that "there is no such thing as an historical watertank," noting that they are replaced periodically, and Commissioner Libby Ryan said she did not find the bulkhead issue that serious.
Commissioner Roberta Brandes Gratz said she was "troubled by the watertank issue" and strongly urged the commission to meet with the City Planning Commission to discuss regulations relating to mandated rooftop recreational space" especially on small "footprint" properties, adding that perhaps off-site recreational space should be considered. "We're being back into a corner," she said.
In other actions, the commission voted to deny a certificate of appropriateness for a proposed roof-top addition to 200 Fifth Avenue.
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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