One of the more controversial items in the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s 95-item backlog is the Douglaston Historic District Extension in Queens. The proposal got a public hearing on Thursday – the first since 2008. While advocates are supporting the designation, many homeowners are tired of being left in limbo and are against it.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has begun its public hearings for dealing with its backlog of items proposed for designation. It started on Thursday with the items in the Bronx. Among them was the Immaculate Conception Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and its convent and priests’ residence located, respectively, at 378 East 151st Street and 375-395 East 150th Street. While advocates support designating the campus as an individual landmark, the church itself says it wouldn’t be able to handle it.
There are 276 properties in Harlem that will now fall under the jurisdiction of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. On Tuesday, it designated the Mount Morris Park Historic District Extension. Put simply, the new historic district contains most of the blocks running from Lenox Avenue/Malcolm X. Boulevard until nearly Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard, and from the south side of West 123rd Street to the south side of West 118th Street.
The city is finally moving forward with plans to rebuild two unstable 19th century buildings at 321 and 323 Canal Street in Soho, which have been in administrative limbo for more than two years.
Back in June, YIMBY reported on filings to convert the eight-story Polhemus Building at 350 Henry Street, in Cobble Hill, into 17 residential units. Since the building is landmarked, approval from the LPC is required, and according to Brooklyn Daily Eagle, plans have received the green light. The units will likely be condos, averaging a spacious 2,520 square feet apiece in the 43,187 square-foot structure. Fortis Property Group is developing, and BKSK Architects is designing.
