The Rudin Management Company presented a revised and shorter new residential building plan to the Landmarks Preservation Commission today as part of the planned expansion of St. Vincent's Hospital in Greenwich Village.
The hospital plans to demolish the Edward and Theresa O'Toole Medical Services Building designed by Albert Ledner in 1964 for the National Maritime Union on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 12th Street and to replace it with a new, 266-foot-high hospital building that will replace most of its facilities across the avenue between 11th and 12th Streets.
The expansion has been a major controversy in the Village and the proposal has gone through a few major revisions.
Initially, the hospital planned a 329-foot-tower for the O'Toole site and the Rudins planned to raze most of the hospital's properties across the avenue to make way for new residential properties that would help finance the hospital's expansion. The initial plans call for mid-block townhouses on 11th and 12th Streets and a 266-foot-high apartment building on Seventh Avenue.
That plan was substantially revised to meet some community objections and some of the existing hospital buildings were retained in a new and shrunken residential plan.
In the plan presented today by Dan Kaplan of FXFowle Architects for the Rudin residential section of the planned the height of the new residential building on Seventh Avenue was reduced to 218 feet, 15 feet lower than the previous plan.
The commission did not vote on the revised proposed, but an article by Glenn Collins in the on-line edition of The New York Times late this afternoon said that "several of the 11 commissioners peppered the architect...with critical questions suggesting that the new redesign might also be modified."
Last month, the commission voted to approve the demolition of the O'Toole building and approved the plans for the new hospital building, which has a curved facade and has been designed by I. M. Pei's architectural firm.
The hospital's sites are in the Greenwich Village Historic District and the commission initially disapproved its plans to demolish the O'Toole Building which was notable for its cantilevered form with scalloped edges and use of glass blocks. The hospital, however, reapplied, claiming hardship and prevailed on the commission to approve the demolition.
Some community and preservation groups, however, have filed suite to block the demolition on the grounds that the commission did not follow standards used in some other famous preservation cases such as Grand Central Terminal and St. Bartholomew's Church.
The hospital plans to demolish the Edward and Theresa O'Toole Medical Services Building designed by Albert Ledner in 1964 for the National Maritime Union on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 12th Street and to replace it with a new, 266-foot-high hospital building that will replace most of its facilities across the avenue between 11th and 12th Streets.
The expansion has been a major controversy in the Village and the proposal has gone through a few major revisions.
Initially, the hospital planned a 329-foot-tower for the O'Toole site and the Rudins planned to raze most of the hospital's properties across the avenue to make way for new residential properties that would help finance the hospital's expansion. The initial plans call for mid-block townhouses on 11th and 12th Streets and a 266-foot-high apartment building on Seventh Avenue.
That plan was substantially revised to meet some community objections and some of the existing hospital buildings were retained in a new and shrunken residential plan.
In the plan presented today by Dan Kaplan of FXFowle Architects for the Rudin residential section of the planned the height of the new residential building on Seventh Avenue was reduced to 218 feet, 15 feet lower than the previous plan.
The commission did not vote on the revised proposed, but an article by Glenn Collins in the on-line edition of The New York Times late this afternoon said that "several of the 11 commissioners peppered the architect...with critical questions suggesting that the new redesign might also be modified."
Last month, the commission voted to approve the demolition of the O'Toole building and approved the plans for the new hospital building, which has a curved facade and has been designed by I. M. Pei's architectural firm.
The hospital's sites are in the Greenwich Village Historic District and the commission initially disapproved its plans to demolish the O'Toole Building which was notable for its cantilevered form with scalloped edges and use of glass blocks. The hospital, however, reapplied, claiming hardship and prevailed on the commission to approve the demolition.
Some community and preservation groups, however, have filed suite to block the demolition on the grounds that the commission did not follow standards used in some other famous preservation cases such as Grand Central Terminal and St. Bartholomew's Church.
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.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
