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Landmarks
1271 Avenue of the Americas, application to modify the lobby and the West 51st Street façade.
WHEREAS, The Time & Life Building located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas and part of Rockefeller Center is a historically important 48-story building, opened in 1959, designed by the architects Harrison, Abramowitz & Harris, and was the first expansion of Rockefeller Center west of the Avenue of the Americas; and
WHEREAS, The lobby of the Time & Life Building, designated an interior landmark on July 16, 2002 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, includes the general lobby, corridors, breezeways, elevator doors, staircases, works of art, signage, entrance doors, wall surfaces, ceiling surfaces, floor surfaces, and lighting fixtures; and
WHEREAS, Some notable features of the mid-century Modernist lobby interior include its white marble walls, tinted-glass ceiling tiles, stainless steel wall cladding, abstract works of art by noted artists Fritz Glarner and Josef Albers, and the gray and white serpentine-pattern terrazzo flooring inspired by the world famous Avenida Atlântica sidewalk in Copacabana (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) designed by Roberto Burle Marx; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes lobby renovations to accommodate new security and safety needs, building codes requirements for sprinklers and ADA building accesses, and to improve lobby appearance in an effort to attract new tenants; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes total replacement of the terrazzo flooring in materials exactly matching the original industrial materials in an effort to avoid "patchwork" repairs when addressing current cracks and damage caused by removal of turnstiles, security desks, planters and entryways, and will install new flooring in the exact same manner and design as the current flooring; and
WHEREAS, The applicant will clean, patch or selectively replace with matching materials the terrazzo base moldings; and
WHEREAS, The applicant will clean and/or repair the existing zinc dividers used in the flooring and base molding dividers; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes total replacement of the tinted-glass tile ceiling in material, size, and color exactly matched to the original industrial materials in an effort to avoid patchwork repairs when addressing the need for new lighting, installation of a sprinkler system and water lines, installation of security cameras, and to create a removable ceiling tile system for ease of access to mechanicals and plumbing in the future which currently does not exist; and
WHEREAS, The applicant will take great care in planning to utilize the glass tile joints and replaced rosettes to locate new sprinkler heads, new lighting, and new security camera; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to relocate the revolving doors and swing doors on the west side of the 50th Street entrance from inside the lobby to just outside of the building's exterior façade to not only match and become symmetrical with the current configuration of the east side of the 50th Street entrance, but to accommodate ADA regulations; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to install new ceiling lighting that will be more energy efficient and also be more closely related to the original lighting scheme and quality, as well as new cove lighting along the perimeters that will be non-visible; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to install new breeze-way lighting to be more closely related to the original fixtures in size and shape; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to install two reception desks on the south side of the lobby made of marble to match the existing marble on the lobby walls as closely as possible, rounded on the top front edge to match the rounding of the stainless steel wall cladding of the lobby, and each will sit on stainless steel base that matches the stainless steel wall cladding as closely as possible; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to install new "Fastlane plus 400AS" turnstiles at each point of elevator bank entry; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to re-open a breezeway/arcade on the east side of the existing breezeway/arcade on the 51st Street side of the lobby and install similar globe lighting to match the new proposed breezeway it connects to; and
WHEREAS, The applicant proposes to remove two commercial areas on the south side of the lobby which are not currently in the landmark-designated area, and will extend the new terrazzo flooring material and pattern, new ceiling tiles and lighting into this area; and
WHEREAS, All existing materials to be replaced are industrial man-made materials that can be easily replicated in a factory setting to match the current original materials in material, composition, color and texture; and
WHEREAS, The applicant has agreed to take extra care when doing this renovation and to go above and beyond normal efforts to match materials as closely as possible; and
WHEREAS, CB5 understands the delicate nature of proposed alterations to a landmark property, and does not want to see a great example of mid-century Modernism tainted by extensive patchwork repairs that will further take away from the intended beauty of the original design; and
WHEREAS, The applicant will move forward with the renovation utilizing historical accuracy and understands that all new materials introduced into the lobby will be deemed "original" for all future purposes and subject to landmark guidelines and restrictions; therefore be it
RESOLVED, Community Board Five recommends approval of the request by the applicant to renovate the lobby of the Time & Life Building located at 1271 Avenue of the Americas, and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, Community Board Five requests that LPC revise the scope of landmark designation to encompass the opened up portion of the lobby that will match the existing lobby design.