Archives

New Apollo Theater Interior, Manhattan

Address: 215 West 42nd Street;
Architect: DeRosa & Pereira;
Constructed: 1920;
LPC Action: Public Hearings 2/8/1966; 3/8/1966; 7/8/1980;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice|

LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File 

From AIA Guide to NYC:

Behind all those signs and lightbulbs lurks a tiny but ornate facade leading to the bulky body of the theater on 43rd. Inside, reincarnations provide a massive three-dimensional collage of recycled parts, incorporating elements of the Lyric and Apollo theaters (domes, arches, vaults, boxes).

To learn more about the New Apollo Theater click here

Lyric Theater, Interior and Exterior, Manhattan

Address: 213 West 42nd Street;
Architect: Victor Hugo Koehler;
Constructed: 1903;
LPC Action: Public Hearings 6/14/1982; 6/15/1982; 10/19/1982|

LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File

The Lyric Theater was completed in 1903 by architect Victor Hugo Koehler. Like many Times Square area theaters, the Lyric struggled financially during the Depression and became a movie theater in 1934 and remains as such today. The theater’s building envelope goes through the block, from 42nd to 43rd street and thus has two facades. Its primary 43rd Street entrance is polychromatic and exuberantly decorated in rusticated brickwork and intricate terra cotta ornament, while the 42nd Street entrance is hidden in plain sight and is the dimensions of a brownstone. Portions of the interior were removed along with the interior of its adjoining neighbor, the Apollo, in 1996.

To learn more about the Lyric Theater click here

Liberty Theater, Manhattan

Address: 256 West 42nd Street;
Constructed: 1904;
LPC Action: Public Hearings 6/14/1982; 6/15/1982; 10/19/1982
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice

LPC- Fact Sheet (UPDATED 9/2/15) | Research File

The Liberty Theater was a Broadway theater from its opening in 1904 until 1933. During the Depression, the theater was converted to a movie theater and became vacant and derelict by the 1990s, when it was purchased by the City of New York. Its facade has become absorbed into an entertainment complex, while the interior has been converted into a restaurant and rental event space.

To learn more about the Liberty Theater click here

Loew’s 175th Street Theater, Manhattan

Address: 4140 Broadway;
Architect: Thomas W. Lamb;
Constructed: 1930;
LPC Action: Public Hearing 2/3/1970;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Prioritized for designation|

Designated December 13, 2016

LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File

The Loew’s 175th Street Theater was built as one of the Loew’s Wonder Theatres, five extravagant flagship movie palaces constructed in 1929-30 in the vicinity of New York City. The theater is a veritable palace, its exterior a flamboyant display built during a time of extreme austerity, undoubtedly meant to uplift Depression-era audiences. When it opened in 1930, the massive, freestanding theater had seats for roughly 3,600. Its architectural style is difficult to pinpoint due to its extravagant terra-cotta ornament featuring iconography from an array of cultures. The same treatment is found on the interior, itself another masterpiece. After Loew’s closed in 1969, the United Christian Evangelistic Association purchased the theater for use as a worship space, restoring the building and renaming it the Palace Cathedral. In 2007, it also began functioning as a performance space and cultural center: the United Palace, as it is widely known today.

To learn more about the Loew’s 175th Street Theater click here

St. Joseph’s Church, Manhattan

Address: 401-403 West 125th Street;
Architect: ;
Constructed: 1860;
LPC Action: Public Hearing 6/14/1966 |

Designated on June 28, 2016 |

Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is the oldest church in Harlem and the oldest church north of 44th Street, completed in 1860. The modest Romanesque structure was originally built for German immigrants, and was expanded in 1889 by the Herter Brothers.

To learn more about St. Joseph’s Church click here

150 East 38th Street House, Manhattan

Address: 150 East 38th Street House;
LPC Action: Public Hearing 12/27/1966;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice

LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File |

In 1934, Mr. Pettengill, an engineer and antiques dealer hired architect Robertson Ward to combine 150 and 152 East 38th Street into an office and home. House & Garden praised the design in 1936, called the “Pettengill Project,” which placed offices and a conference room in the front house and living quarters in the set-back house at 152. Robertson Ward later designed resort buildings in Acapulco and Barbados, and the Mill Reef Club in Antigua. Eventually, the two properties were severed, although the LPC designated 152 East 38th Street in 1967.

To learn more about 150 East 38th Street click here

President Chester A. Arthur House, Manhattan

Address: 123 Lexington Avenue;
Built: c.1860s;
LPC Action: Public Hearing 12/27/1966
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice

LPC- Fact Sheet | Research File

123 Lexington Avenue is the former residence of President Chester A. Arthur and his wife, Ellen. Arthur served a short term as Vice President of the United States, and became president after taking the Oath of Office in this house in 1881 after President Garfield was assassinated. Arthur left Lexington Avenue during his presidency in Washington, and returned after his term and lived in the house until he died there in 1886. The entire block of once-elegant brownstone townhomes remains along this stretch of Lexington. All of the buildings have converted storefronts, speaking to the evolution of Lexington Avenue from upper-class residential to a commercial corridor.

To learn more about the Chester A. Arthur house click here

 

St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church & Rectory, Brooklyn

Address: 116-130 6th Avenue, Brooklyn;
Architect: Parfitt Brothers;
Constructed: 1888;
LPC Action: Public Hearings 2/8/1966; 3/8/1966; 7/8/1980;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Prioritized for designation (as part of the Park Slope Extension);

Park Slope Historic District Extension II Designated on April 12, 2016|

 LPC- Fact Sheet |Research File

HDC Testimony 

The Gothic Revival, High Victorian style church is known as “the Cathedral of Park Slope”. When it opened,The Brooklyn Daily Eagle declared St. Augustine Church “one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the country,” and later, “one of Brooklyn’s most picturesque church.” The church’s architectural significance placed it as one of the first slew of properties heard by the then-new Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966. The Diocese of Brooklyn opposed any landmark designation and the church remains calendared ever since. St. Augustine’s is today a landmark of Brooklyn and Park Slope in all except official designation.

To learn more about St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church & Rectory click here

 

Vanderbilt Mausoleum, Staten Island

Address: Moravian Cemetery, 2205 Richmond Road;
Architect: Richard Morris Hunt;
Constructed: 1885-86;
LPC Action: 1980;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Prioritized for designation;

Designated on April 12, 2016|

Fact Sheet |Research File

HDC Testimony

Cornelius Vanderbilt and his son William Vanderbilt donated roughly 12 acres (which was later greatly expanded) for Moravian Cemetery, setting aside a private section for a grand family mausoleum. For its design, they commissioned Richard Morris Hunt, a noted architect and champion of the Beaux-Arts style in America. Hunt’s extant works are rare in New York City, but include the Fifth Avenue façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Romanesque Revival style stone mausoleum, abounding in round arches and intricate carvings, is capped by two small domes. The private lot is approached through a massive stone arch with an inset iron gate, referencing the arches of the mausoleum beyond. The surrounding landscape was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, considered to be the father of landscape architecture in America, who often collaborated with Hunt. In fact, their collaboration on the mausoleum and its grounds would inspire the Vanderbilts to hire the pair to design the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, perhaps the most famous landmark associated with the Vanderbilt family.

To learn more about the Vanderbilt Mausoleum click here

Sailors Snug Harbor Historic District, Staten Island

Address: 1000 Richmond Terrace;
Architect: Minard Lafever and Richard P. Smyth; chapel designed by R. W. Gibson;
Constructed: c. 1830-80;
LPC Action: Calendared in 1984;
LPC Backlog Hearing: Removed from the calendar without prejudice|

LPC-Fact Sheet | Research File

HDC Testimony

Sailors’ Snug Harbor, a home for retired seamen, was founded in 1801 by Captain Robert Richard Randall and operated on Staten Island from 1833 to the 1960s, when it relocated to North Carolina. In 1965, several buildings and interiors were designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and in 1972, the complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The listing describes the 40-acre campus as “…a rare surviving example of mid-19th-century urban planning, architecture, and landscaping, scarcely equaled in the nation.” In 1976, Snug Harbor reopened as the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, which is home to the Staten Island Museum, a botanical garden and a theater. In 1984, a historic district to encompass more than just individual buildings was calendared for a public hearing.

To learn more about the Sailors Snug Harbor Historic District click here