After more than 25 years in the Villard Houses on Madison Avenue, the Municipal Art Society is moving its headquarters to the Steinway Hall Building at 111 West 57th Street, as of February 2010. MAS President Vin Cipolla remarked earlier this week,
“Having a new home in such a storied building coincides perfectly with our plans to reaffirm our mission of advocacy for all New Yorkers. I am excited to call 111 West 57th Street MAS’ new home, and look forward to many productive years there.”

MAS signed a lease for the entire 16th floor at 111 West 57th Street, located between Avenue of the Americas and Seventh Avenue. The 17-story office building is owned by Steinway & Sons. Built in 1925, 111 West 57th Street was designed by legendary architects Warren and Wetmore. For more information about the building, read the press release here.

Plans are underway for the continuation of our exhibition programming and our bookstore operations.

Please stop by the Villard Houses to view our current exhibit, Re-Imagining cities: Urban Design After the Age of Oil, co-sponsored by PennDesign. The exhibition, which is free and open to the public, is on display at MAS through Friday, December 4. Click here for more information about MAS exhibits, including gallery hours.

The Vander Ende-Onderdonk House, located in the Ridgewood section of Queens near the Brooklyn border, is the oldest Dutch Colonial stone house in New York City. It was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for its connection to the 18th century history of Queens and for its story of neighborhood preservation advocacy.

The site of the Onderdonk house and farm was originally granted to Hendrick Barents Smidt by Dutch governor Peter Stuyvesant in the 1660s. However, the house that stands today was not built until after the Ende family acquired the land in 1709. According to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission’s designation report, the house was originally constructed in the mid- to late-18th century. It was built facing Flushing Avenue, the colonial road connecting the Dutch town of Bushwick with the English town of Newtown. The frame addition to the house was constructed in the 1820s by Adrian Onderdonk, who purchased the farm shortly after his marriage to Ann Wyckoff, a member of the prominent Dutch-American Brooklyn family. Continue Reading>>

Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Prospect Heights Historic District. At 850 buildings, it is the largest historic district designated in two decades.

“MAS applauds the Landmarks Preservation Commission for moving to protect this very special neighborhood,” said Lisa Kersavage, senior director of advocacy and policy for the Municipal Art Society. “This is an important act that will protect one of Brooklyn’s finest and well-preserved historic neighborhoods. Designation will protect the neighborhood from pressure from the Atlantic Yards project and other developments.”

Prospect Heights is rich in historic architecture, with blocks of beautiful Italianate and neo-Grec rowhouses, interspersed with churches, small commercial and apartment buildings. Continue Reading>>

The Landmarks Preservation Commission agenda is packed today with numerous worthy designation items. Check out our slide show of the items being calendared, heard, and designated today. MAS is particularly pleased with the proposed designation of the Prospect Heights Historic District in Brooklyn. For nearly three years, the MAS has worked closely with community members, elected officials and the LPC towards protecting the unique character of this largely intact neighborhood with landmark designation for over 800 buildings. Click here to read more about its history. Continue Reading>>

The La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, located in the East Village of Manhattan, was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for introducing new culture to an old setting.

In 1873, the Aschenbroedel Verein building was constructed to house the “Cinderella Society,” a German-American cultural association. When the group moved to Yorkville in 1892, another German organization, the Gesang Verein Schiller Bund, took over the space. As the large German population of Kleindeutschland began to migrate uptown, most of the East Village’s German institutions moved with them.

Though founded in 1961, it wasn’t until 1969 that the La Mama Experimental Theater Club converted the former Aschenbroedel Verein building into its off-off Broadway theatre. Led by Ellen Stewart, the world-renowned La MaMa has “passionately pursued its original mission to develop, nurture, support, produce and present new and original performance work by artists of all nations and cultures,” according to their website. Continue Reading>>

Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted in favor of designating 3 new individual landmarks: the Museum building and the Fountain of Life and Tulip Tree Allée at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; Jamaica High School in Queens; and the Rutan-Journeay residence in Tottenville, Staten Island.

In a disappointing turn of events, the Greek Revival-style Dissosway-Cole House on Arthur Kill Road in Staten Island was deemed too altered for NYC landmark status after incurring fire damage and subsequent replacement of some of the building’s original fabric. MAS had testified in favor of all four designations, stating in particular that there was enough remaining material and documentation at the Dissosway-Cole House to allow for an authentic restoration.

The commission also held public hearings on 11 designation proposals, and MAS testified in favor of all of them. Continue Reading>>

Joined by preservationists throughout the city, MAS is calling for the individual landmark designation of the IRT Powerhouse, which occupies the entire block running from 58th to 59th Street, 11th to 12th Avenues. The monumental building was originally constructed in 1904 to provide electricity to the Interborough Rapid Transit Construction Company’s (IRT) subway lines; power generated within the building was fed to eight substations to help run the subway’s signal and lighting systems.

By the 1950s, the building was no longer needed for the subway system and was given over to Con Ed, who still uses the building to provide steam for nearby property owners. The recent demolition of two other Con Ed powerhouses, the Waterside No. 2 Power Station on Manhattan’s east side and the Kent Avenue Power Plant in Williamsburg, have made the preservation of this structure all the more imperative. Continue Reading>>

St. Vincent’s can now check another item off the long list of approvals it needs to construct a new hospital. Today, the LPC, in another split vote, approved the design of the new hospital building and the design of the triangular accessory site across 12th Street.

The new hospital building will replace the 1960s O’Toole building, which the LPC determined last year could be demolished because of hardship. The design features an elliptical tower sitting on top of a rectangular base; overall the height of the building will be 286 feet, reduced from previous reiterations (shown here) of 330 feet and 299 feet. Eight of the eleven LPC Commissioners felt that this new height and the design are appropriate to the Greenwich Village Historic District.

Although a group of Greenwich Village neighbors filed a lawsuit recently to block the demolition of the O’Toole building, St. Vincent’s intends to more forward in seeking its zoning and other required approvals. The Municipal Art Society will continue to follow this project.

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>>

On Tuesday, February 17th, the LPC took the first step in the landmark designation process when it “calendared” five new items. The collection of potential new landmarks includes the Ridgewood Theater in Queens, the Brooklyn Union Gas Company Building, the West-Park Presbyterian Church, the Fort Washington Presbyterian Church and the proposed Audubon Park Historic District in Manhattan.
Check out the slide show above to learn more about the five new proposed landmarks.