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Landmarks
100-102 East 17th Street (aka 44 Union Square East), Tammany Hall, application for façade alterations and rooftop addition
WHEREAS, 100-102 East 17th Street (aka 44 Union Square East), the old Tammany Hall, is a 1929 Colonial Revival style building with a red brick façade and white granite, designed by architects Thomson, Holmes & Converse and Charles B. Meyers, to evoke the "days of early American architecture" (according to the 1928 Real Estate Record); and
WHEREAS, The building also has a significant cultural history since it was the headquarters of the "infamous" Democratic political machine known as "Tammany Hall" from 1929 to 1943, and thereafter, continued to be a center of the political and arts communities, housing first the international Ladies Garment Workers Union, then and currently an Off-Broadway theater, and the New York Film Academy; and
WHEREAS, Union Square has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the Federal government; and
WHEREAS, Tammany Hall was identified by the NYC Department City Planning as a "significant building" in the Union Square Special Zoning District; and
WHEREAS, Tammany Hall abuts the East 17th Street/Irving Place Historic District which starts on the east side of Tammany Hall; and
WHEREAS, Over many years the community support for the designation of Tammany Hall has been very strong, as has the substantial support from the area's political leaders and various organizations such as The New York Landmarks Conservancy, The Municipal Art Society of New York, The Historic Districts Council, The Gramercy Neighborhood Associates, and The Union Square Community Coalition; and
WHEREAS, The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as an Individual Landmark on October 29, 2013, and
WHEREAS, The current application proposes the removal of visible portions of the slate roof and replacing it with a large, modern, non-harmonious glass "tortoise shell" shaped "dome," and
WHEREAS, The removal of original, historic fabric and the addition of a visible rooftop addition runs counter to the basic tenets of historic preservation, and
WHEREAS, The facade restoration includes an extensive reconfiguration of the ground level store-fronts, and
WHEREAS, The applicant displayed extensive documentation regarding the original architectural configuration of the building, but proposes a modern storefront design, and
WHEREAS, Three historic bas-relief stone panels will be removed to accommodate three new window openings, and
WHEREAS, The proposed glass dome, although daring in design, is not contextual in style, scale, design, or material, and
WHEREAS, The removal of historic fabric to construct a rooftop addition and to alter the façade is inappropriate, and
WHEREAS, Approval of this non-contextual alteration of a designated landmark would set a dangerous precedent, therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends denial of the application to install a rooftop addition and alter the facade in this manner proposed at 100-107 East 17th Street (aka 44 Union Square East).