The Landmarks Preservation Commission this week calendared hearings for the extension of the SoHo and Greenwich Village Historic Districts and unanimously approved the creation of the Prospect Heights Historic District in Brooklyn.
The Prospect Heights Historic District contains 850 buildings and is the largest district created since the designation of the 2,020-building Upper West Side Historic District in 1990.
The commission also designed as individual landmarks 94 Greenwich Street, which is a 210-year-old Federal style row house, the John Pierce Residence at 11 West 51st Street and the Mount Olive Fire Baptized Holiness Church at 304-8 West 122nd Street in Harlem. The commission decided not to landmark the "highly altered" Federal style buildings at 94 ¿ and 96 Greenwich Street.
The commission noted that 94 Greenwich Street was built about 1799 at the corner of Rector Street in Lower Manhattan and was "one of only five surviving houses of what had been the borough's most fashionable neighborhood following the Revolutionary War," adding that "the 3 1/2-story building was built as an investment property by Augustine Hicks Lawrence, a banker and stock and insurance broker who co-signed the agreement that established the predecessor exchange to the New York Stock Exchange."
Chairman Robert Tierney said that "Prospect Heights is among Brooklyn's most distinguished, cohesive neighborhoods because of its architectural integrity and diversity, scale, tree-lined streets and residential character." It is located north of Prospect Park and is bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway to the South, Flatbush Avenue to the West and Washington Avenue to the east. The commission noted that "the first major battle of the American Revolution, the Battle of Brooklyn, took place in the vicinity of Prospect Heights in 1776." Its growth was fueled "by transportation improvements and the development of the 585-acre Prospect Park, which was completed in 1873," the commission declared.
The Mount Olive Fire Baptized Holiness Church was built as the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America and was designed in the Gothic and Romanesque Revival styles by James W. Cole.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation hailed the calendaring of the extension of the Greenwich Village Historic Distict, noting that it "puts preliminary protections in place" and that "once designated this 245-building, 12-block district will be the largest expansion" in the district since it was designated in 1969. The society also noted that it supported the designation of the former Germania Fire Insurance Company Building at 357 Bowery on which the commission held a hearing this week.
The Prospect Heights Historic District contains 850 buildings and is the largest district created since the designation of the 2,020-building Upper West Side Historic District in 1990.
The commission also designed as individual landmarks 94 Greenwich Street, which is a 210-year-old Federal style row house, the John Pierce Residence at 11 West 51st Street and the Mount Olive Fire Baptized Holiness Church at 304-8 West 122nd Street in Harlem. The commission decided not to landmark the "highly altered" Federal style buildings at 94 ¿ and 96 Greenwich Street.
The commission noted that 94 Greenwich Street was built about 1799 at the corner of Rector Street in Lower Manhattan and was "one of only five surviving houses of what had been the borough's most fashionable neighborhood following the Revolutionary War," adding that "the 3 1/2-story building was built as an investment property by Augustine Hicks Lawrence, a banker and stock and insurance broker who co-signed the agreement that established the predecessor exchange to the New York Stock Exchange."
Chairman Robert Tierney said that "Prospect Heights is among Brooklyn's most distinguished, cohesive neighborhoods because of its architectural integrity and diversity, scale, tree-lined streets and residential character." It is located north of Prospect Park and is bounded by Atlantic Avenue to the north, Eastern Parkway to the South, Flatbush Avenue to the West and Washington Avenue to the east. The commission noted that "the first major battle of the American Revolution, the Battle of Brooklyn, took place in the vicinity of Prospect Heights in 1776." Its growth was fueled "by transportation improvements and the development of the 585-acre Prospect Park, which was completed in 1873," the commission declared.
The Mount Olive Fire Baptized Holiness Church was built as the Second Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America and was designed in the Gothic and Romanesque Revival styles by James W. Cole.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation hailed the calendaring of the extension of the Greenwich Village Historic Distict, noting that it "puts preliminary protections in place" and that "once designated this 245-building, 12-block district will be the largest expansion" in the district since it was designated in 1969. The society also noted that it supported the designation of the former Germania Fire Insurance Company Building at 357 Bowery on which the commission held a hearing this week.
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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