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Landmarks
224 West 57th Street (7th & Broadway), (The Argonaut) application for interior alterations, replacement of windows and enlargement of window openings
WHEREAS, 224 West 57th Street, located at the Southeast corner of Broadway and 57th Street and also known as The Argonaut, was built in 1909 as two distinct buildings for the AT Demarest and Peerless Motor Companies by Francis H. Kimball; and
WHEREAS, They were designed to complement the Broadway Tabernacle Church built by Barney & Chapman at the Northeast corner of 56th Street and Broadway, which was demolished in the 1960s; and
WHEREAS, The two buildings were bought by the General Motors Corporation and combined by J.V. Phelan in 1919; and
WHEREAS, 224 West 57th Street received landmark designation in 2000; and
WHEREAS, The portion of work that will be visible to the public is on the South elevation, facing 56th Street, and including the expansion of the westernmost windows on the fifth, seventh and eighth stories to regularize the fenestration, matching the width and height of the windows on the third, fourth and sixth stories enlarged prior to designation; and
WHEREAS, The work will also include replacing the window materials with one-over-one aluminum double-hung sash to match the existing windows on the street façades on Broadway and on 57th Street; and
WHEREAS, The apartment building on the former site of the Broadway Tabernacle blocks the majority of the South elevation, with only the most Western vertical line of windows easily visible to the public on Broadway and only a second line of windows visible from parts of West 56th Street; and
WHEREAS, This blockage has greatly affected the Southern views of the Argonaut; and
WHEREAS, The renovation in the application will have no impact on the public views of the visible facades; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application to renovate the window openings and materials on the Southern elevation of 224 West 57th Street.
The above resolution passed by a vote of 35 in favor; 0 opposed; 1 abstaining.