Landmarks: Finding Long-Term Solutions for Short Term Issues
By Brian J. Pape, AIA
The 446 Broome Street façade, the tallest one at this corner and connected to 491 Broadway, still features historic double-hung-type windows. Credit: Brian J. Pape, AIA.
The Landmarks Committee members of the Manhattan Community Board Two (CB2) were presented with two difficult submissions for our historic districts at their December meeting.
The first of these was for 491 Broadway and 446 Broome Street, a ca. 1897 L-shaped mixed-use building that wraps around a smaller corner building, with narrow exposures on the two streets. The building now has the 9th floor residential owner applying to replace the older wood-framed windows with new high-performance windows. The applicant presented several styles of new windows, some for each façade.
Most of the floors have the older style double-hung windows, which maintain the historic original character. It was difficult to tell if other floor units had recently changed their windows, but since the dominant style is like the original double-hung windows, the committee did not recommend approving the suggested windows unless they were changed to the double-hung style, still in the high-performance quality.
Equally concerning for CB2 is the lack of a Master Plan. A Master Plan would be a cooperative effort by the building’s owners to present a type of window that would then be recommended for all window replacements, avoiding every future applicant from going through the long review process for approval and avoiding the crazy quilt of unmatched windows. Although CB2 could not demand a Master Plan before proceeding, it did make a strong recommendation to consider it, since that is a better long-term solution.
The 491 Broadway façade, the tallest one at this corner, still features historic double-hung-type windows. Credit: Brian J. Pape, AIA.
The second application with long-term considerations was for 54 Greene Street, a ca. 1873 corner 6-story loft building also facing Broome Street in the SoHo Cast-Iron Historic District. When the building was granted an occupancy change from manufacturing lofts to mixed-use residential, the city’s stipulation was that “the application includes a report from the Landmarks Preservation Commission stating that a continuing maintenance program has been established that will result in the preservation of 54 Greene Street and that the proposed use and bulk modifications contribute to a preservation purpose.”
These sidewalk vault lights are at 54 Greene Street at the Broome Street corner. The circles are glass beads that allow daylight into the basement vaults. Credit: Beyhan Karahan & Associates.
This close-up of the 54 Greene Street vault lights shows broken glass beads and cracked metal frames, allowing water to penetrate into the basement vaults. Credit: Beyhan Karahan & Associates.
That referenced maintenance program included preserving the vault lights. Vault lights are panels of glass beads set into metal frames that provide a walking surface at the sidewalk but also give daylight to the basement vault below it. This application requested covering the leaking and deteriorated vault lights. The damage in the basement is extensive. The applicant’s architect, Beyhan Karahan & Associates, is well experienced working with SoHo buildings, and described the methodology of preserving the original vault lights in place by waterproofing and covering them with diamond plate, a heavy metal plate. Although there may be several manufacturers of these vault lights, the quality or warranty or price couldn’t be confirmed at the meeting (except to say they are quite expensive).
CB2 was encouraged that should circumstances in the future allow the building owners to reverse the work and replace or preserve the vault lights, it can be done. This preserve and cover method could be a template for all vault lights, whether there are other special restrictions or not.
