Westbeth was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for both its past role as the home of Bell Laboratories and its current role as a thriving artists’ housing project. Occupying the entire block bounded by West, Bank, Washington, and Bethune Streets, Westbeth is a remnant from the time when the Greenwich Village waterfront was an industrial neighborhood and is an early example of the rebirth of industrial spaces for artists’ live-work housing.

The Bell Laboratories, originally known as Western Electric and part of the larger American Telegraph & Telephone Company (AT&T), moved its headquarters to a newly-constructed building on West and Bethune Streets in 1898.  Over the years, the company expanded on the block while developing some of the most important technological advances of the first half of the twentieth century.  Continue Reading>>

In light of the City’s plan to rezone 25 blocks of the Gowanus Canal corridor, MAS is conducting an investigation of the area’s historic resources, including the canal itself. Although the Gowanus Canal is sometimes better known for the pollutants from decades of heavy manufacturing and industrial use which earned it the nickname “Lavender Lake,” the canal should also be considered a historic industrial landscape. In fact, the waterway has been officially recognized as eligible for inclusion on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.  MAS recently completed a historic resources survey of the Gowanus Canal rezoning area, and will expand the study to include the other blocks along the canal and adjacent to the rezoning area that may be affected by the rezoning. The survey has already identified several unprotected potential historic buildings and structures, many of which are featured in this slide show.  Continue Reading>>

The Municipal Art Society yesterday testified before the City Planning Commission expressing our concern about an 18-story building adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO.

While 18 story buildings are not un-common in DUMBO, this site on Dock Street between Water and Front Streets, across the street from the Empire Stores at left (MAP), is exceptional because it abuts the Brooklyn Bridge — a local, state, and national landmark. In fact, a portion of the development site even runs underneath the Bridge’s span.

The Brooklyn Bridge is one of New York’s most iconic historic structures, and it is one of only 11 National Historic Landmarks — the highest recognition a building can receive in America — in Brooklyn. As such, it should be protected from large-scale development encroachments. MAS believes that the development proposed for the site will mar iconic views both of the bridge from DUMBO’s streetscapes, and from the bridge of DUMBO, the Manhattan Bridge, and the East River. The development is currently going through the city’s land use review procedure for zoning changes. Continue Reading>>

MAS is pleased to announce that our efforts to preserve the threatened historic resources of the South Street Seaport, namely the buildings of the Fulton Fish Market, have recently been rewarded. It remains unclear when (or even whether) the plan by developer General Growth Properties will proceed, but just last week we received word that, at our behest, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has agreed to list the New Market Building as a contributing element within the State and National Register Historic District.

Upon reviewing research we submitted, the SHPO concurred that the La Guardia-era New Market Building is a significant resource within the South Street Seaport and will now be afforded the same landmark protection as the rest of the district. Read our New Market Building report here. Continue Reading>>

Joining founder of the Waterfront Preservation Alliance of Greenpoint and Williamsburg Ward Dennis were: moderator and president of the Society for Industrial Archaeology Mary Habstritt; MAS director of advocacy and policy Lisa Kersavage; president & chief operating officer of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Andrew Kimball; and preservation consultant to the Austin, Nichols, warehouse rehabilitation Robert Powers. Continue Reading>>

MAS convened experts and community members in an August brainstorming session to develop alternatives to the proposed demolition of Admiral’s Row. The principles for developing the site established during the session and the alternative plans that came out of it are displayed in the slide-show above.

Visit www.mas.org/preservation/admirals-row for more MAS advocacy on Admiral’s Row.

A Civil War-era graving dock, along with associated high-wage jobs, are threatened on Brooklyn’s waterfront if current plans for an Ikea store proceed. But alternative plans commissioned by the Municipal Art Society show that the new development can coexist with the historic structures and the working waterfront. (Click here to learn more about a related MAS lawsuit.)In 2004, the MAS learned that five significant buildings and a ship-repair graving dock in Red Hook were in jeopardy. The National Register-eligible structures, some dating to 1866, were set for demolition to make way for the store’s parking lot.

Demolition of the buildings on the site began in late December 2004, despite the fact that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had not even begun to review Ikea’s plans. The Army Corps is obligated to review the impact of the proposal under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act. By the summer of 2006, the five buildings had been leveled and the debris removed. Continue Reading>>