Disappearing Act in 1st Street (What the LPC Likes, pt. 2)

The photograph below will be familiar to anyone who walks uphill in 1st Street between 7th & 8th Avenues in Park Slope. All of these buildings are within the current Park Slope Historic District.

475-475A-477-479-481 1st Street - Park Slope Historic District

To the left, #475 & #475A 1st Street are the last two of a row of six two-story-over-basement houses built in 1877. The Park Slope Historic District Designation Report characterizes these houses as "rather modest".

To the right is the beginning of a long row of fourteen brownstones built from 1887 to 1889. As originally built, these houses were two-and-a-half stories over a basement floor, with small windows set into the cornice on the 3rd floor. At the rear, these houses rise to a full third story.

The house in the center, at #477 1st Street, once matched its companions to the right. But in another example of a long-ago remuddling that would probably not be allowed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission today, someone pulled down the cornice and built up the front of the third floor to create a full three-stories-over-basement house.

Very recently, however, and with the full approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, its neighbor to the left at #475A, originally a "rather modest" two-story-over-basement house, has seen substantial alteration too. Within the last year or so, the owners have added a half-story at the rear of the roof, to create a two-and-a-half stories over basement house. In addition, the house has gained a very handsome and spacious full-width rear extension at the basement and first stories. Thus this "rather modest" house has become rather more spacious indeed.

The casual observer will note none of these changes from the sidewalk. Below is the view from the sidewalk, directly across the street:

475-475A-477-479 1st Street, Park Slope Historic District

Only when one ascends from sidewalk level does the roof extension become visible. See if you can pick it out in the photograph below, which was taken from the top of the stoop directly across the street:

475A-477 1st Street, Park Slope Historic District

Here is a closer view in case it is difficult to make out:

475A 1st Street, Park Slope Historic District - detail

The additional half-story -- understated, tastefully done, and completely invisible from the sidewalk, in contrast to its remuddled neighbor to the right -- exemplifies the kind of substantial change that the Landmarks Preservation Commission permits. This case also exemplifies how the LPC does not "freeze" development within historic districts. In combination with its new rear extension, this house has been greatly expanded, but at no impact to the historic district.

Our congratulations to the owners of #475A 1st Street on a successful and sensitive transformation. And welcome to Park Slope!

11th Street: Another One Bites the Dust

A reader has brought to our attention news that the old building at 561 11th Street, on the north side of the block between 7th and 8th Avenues, is no longer with us.

Below is the original building, as captured in our comprehensive photo archive of Park Slope, winter 2007-2008:

561 Eleventh Street - 2008

We don't have the "vital stats" (date, builder, architect) on the original building, a two-story-over-basement single-family house. The stoop appears to have been a modern reconstruction. It was clearly a historic, "vintage" building, dating from the late decades of the 19th century, during Park Slope's first wave of construction.

Thus we suspect the original building would have been considered a "contributing" building, had it been included in a historic district, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission would have given careful review, and would perhaps have denied, an application for a permit to demolish this building. In which case it would have still been with us today.

Instead, a new, small apartment house is rising on the site:

561 Eleventh Street - 2010

We have no idea if the new building is great architecture or not. Personally we prefer the old building. One wonders, though, what has really been gained in this process? The new building is not dramatically larger than the old one. The old building could have been a 1- or 2-family; the new building appears to be a 3-family. Perhaps we have managed to squeeze another couple of people into Park Slope, which is great. Probably someone has made a lot of money in this transaction, or hopes to.

But the one certainty is that we have lost a bit more of Park Slope's historic fabric and unique "sense of place".

If you know of any other losses underway in Park Slope, or if you would like to help us expand the Park Slope Historic District, please let us know through the contact link on the Park Slope Civic Council's website.

White & Willensky on Park Slope

Whilst remembering the inimitable Norval White over the past few days, we pulled our copy of the AIA Guide to New York City off the shelf to see what he and co-author Elliot Willensky had to say about Park Slope and its historic district:

The first draft of the Historic District originally included only the park blocks. The Slope, emerging as the latest brownstone rediscovery of the upper middle class, was soon recognized as a precinct containing a rich fabric of row housing both within and beyond those initial arbitrary boundaries. The district finally designated reaches northwesterly from the park blocks to encompass part of the richness of Sixth Avenue between Berkeley and Sterling Places. And even with the expansion, good and great architecture thrives on the Slope outside the district lines.

6th Avenue & 3rd Street, southwest corner - unprotected

Transitions: Norval White, 1926-2009

Today's Times brings news of the passing of Norval White, co-author (with Elliot Willensky) of the incomparable AIA Guide to New York City.

The Times writes:

First published in 1968, the AIA Guide tapped into and fostered a growing national awareness that America had an architectural past worth preserving, a present worth studying and a future worth debating.

Indeed, here in New York City, that past is still all around us, growing ever more precious and preservation-worthy every day. Thanks to Norval White for enlightening us all, and helping us to see what is "hidden in plain sight".

Permitted Changes in Historic Districts - Part 1

We've devoted some previous posts to changes that might not have been permitted by the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, which issues permits for proposed changes within historic districts.

So what kinds of changes does the LPC allow?

Perhaps we might gain some understanding by reviewing changes that the LPC has already permitted within the current Park Slope Historic District.

Minor changes might include a new iron stoop handrail, such as the one below, on the south side of Garfield Place between 7th & 8th Avenues. The original brownstone stoop is only 14" high, and the owner added a new iron handrail in 1999. The permit application was submitted by the contractor, and a "Permit for Minor Work" was forthcoming from the LPC in about a week:

234 Garfield Place - Park Slope Historic District

In 14th Street one finds a modern stoop elevator, installed to facilitate access via wheelchair. We've heard an LPC spokesperson state that these kinds of accessibility modifications are approved "all the time":

484 14th Street - Park Slope Historic District

At the other extreme are entirely new buildings.

In 1992, the Berkeley-Carroll School constructed an addition on its Lincoln Place campus, which is within the Park Slope Historic District. The AIA Guide to New York City characterizes the addition, by Fox and Fowle, as "conservative brick and limestone":

Berkeley-Carroll School addition, Lincoln Place, Park Slope Historic District

More recently, Poly Prep constructed a new addition to its lower school building on Prospect Park West, within the current historic district. The original building, a white limestone high Romanesque Revival extravaganza ("cadaverous" - AIA Guide) designed in 1889-91 by Montrose Morris for industrialist Henry Hulbert, was one of only two free-standing mansions remaining on Prospect Park West, so the recent addition was subject to a particularly exacting review:

Poly Prep Lower School addition, 1st Street, Park Slope Historic District

Both school additions were built on empty land. But sometimes the LPC will permit demolition of an existing building, as long as the existing building does not "contribute" to the historic district. A small apartment house recently replaced an existing, "non-contributing" garage at 127 8th Avenue, between Carroll Street and Montgomery Place:

121-123-125-127 8th Avenue, Park Slope Historic District

In short, historic district designation does not "freeze" development. It does, however, control development and direct it in ways that enhance, rather than degrade, Park Slope's unique "sense of place"... at least in contrast to some of the changes outside the Historic District!:

12th Street - outside the Park Slope Historic District

Historic District is Civic Council Membership's Top Issue

This fall, the Park Slope Civic Council conducted a survey to discover which local issues were most important to our membership. The survey was actually undertaken by the PSCC's Membership Committee, in an effort to better engage with the community.

The results were presented at the December 3, 2009 meeting of the Park Slope Civic Council. Approximately 135 members took the time to complete the survey. The top 5 issues are shown in the graph below (another 5 "lesser" issues were on the next slide):

Park Slope Civic Council - Membership Survey Results

Topping the list is Historic District Designation. 68% of respondents considered the historic district to be a "very important" issue for the Park Slope Civic Council, nudging out "Safe Streets", at 67%, for first place.

Thanks to the PSCC Membership Committee for conducting the survey and preparing the presentation.

Anyone who cares about Park Slope should definitely consider joining and becoming involved with the Civic Council... a vital local organization is of paramount importance to any community, and we need all the help we can get. Is there an issue you feel we are not addressing? Join us and make it happen! It's your community, and your organization.

What Designation Might Not Allow - Part 2

Our last post reviewed examples of modifications to existing buildings that might not have been allowed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Today we will feature examples of new development in Park Slope that might have been examined very closely by the LPC.

Keep in mind that Park Slope is nearly fully built up; there are not many empty lots left to develop. Each of the buildings shown below most likely replaced an earlier structure that stood on the same spot. The first hurdle to constructing a new building in a historic district is whether the existing building contributes to the historic character of the district. The LPC will include such assessments in the detailed "Designation Report" that it compiles for each historic district. The LPC would most likely be reluctant to permit the demolition of a designated building that contributes to the character and "sense of place" of a historic district.

The next hurdle for new construction in a historic district, assuming a developer can gain control of an empty building site, is that the LPC will consider whether the proposed building detracts from the historic fabric of the district. The proposed new building should not be an ersatz replica of a historic building. But it seems reasonable that the LPC will seek to protect the quality of the designated historic district, and will expect any new building to be sensitive to and respectful of the larger district, and to not detract from the integrity of the historic district in which it is placed.

Some examples...

Generic "little box" stores, which as we have seen are great at annihilating sense of place, might not be permitted in a historic district:

5th Avenue - Rite Aid

9th Street - CVS

5th Avenue - Key Food

Mid-block buildings that tower over their neighbors might not be allowed:

11th Street

Some buildings seem like maybe they're trying to fit in, but just don't for some reason:

6th Avenue

Update: Commenter "slopefarm", writing on Brownstoner, says that the building above is not in fact new construction: "That is not infill construction -- they busted open the brownstone facade, put in a front extension with a stone face, and stuccoed up the rest of the exterior. Marred an otherwise neat row of small brownstones."

Some buildings seem to go out of their way to contrast with their neighbors:

13th Street

Developers often gain control over multiple contiguous lots, replacing smaller buildings with larger ones that can overwhelm the streetscape:

8th Street

15th Street

And finally some new buildings are just totally weird:

12th Street

We suspect that all of the buildings shown above might have come in for close scrutiny by the LPC, had they been proposed within the boundaries of a historic district. Most of them seem to detract, at least in our mind, from the unique "sense of place" that characterizes Park Slope. It might have been preferable had the original buildings been left alone.