Resolutions: March 2007

WHEREAS, 111 Fifth Avenue, located at 111 Fifth Avenue at 18th Street, is a distinguished Renaissance store and office building in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District; and

WHEREAS, It was designed by the noted architect William Schickel and Company, and built in 1894-95; and

WHEREAS, In presenting his application, the applicant failed to mention the illegal new entrance infill, but only mentioned the illegal signage; and

WHEREAS, The two very large illegal illuminated signs on either side of the entrance, each 5’4” by 42” are attached to the exterior of the glass on either side of the Fifth Avenue and 18th Street entrance, projecting out from the store by 6” and containing large H&M illuminated red logos; and

WHEREAS, In December of 2006, just before Christmas, the applicant applied to the Commission for permission to install the signage, but did not wait for a permit but withdrew his application and proceeded to do the illegal work, well aware that what he was doing was not legal; and

WHEREAS, The illegal signage is in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District, entirely too large and illuminated and thus altogether inappropriate, and was knowingly put up illegally without a permit, and furthermore the applicant failed to mention to the Board the illegal work that was done at the entrance; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five requested that the applicant return before the Full Board on Thursday, March 8th to discuss the illegal entrance, the applicant said they were unable to do so; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of application to legalize the installation of illegal signage at 111 Fifth Avenue without Landmarks Preservation Commission permits; and be it further

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five request that Landmark Preservation Commission not act on the illegal entrance until the Board has had a chance to review that portion of the application.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 33 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The building is a 6 story Renaissance Revival store and office building, originally the Corndiac Building, designed by prominent architect Alfred Zucker and built in 1893-1894; and

WHEREAS, The applicant wishes to build a 2 story rooftop addition; and

WHEREAS, The addition will be made of limestone and cast iron with a cast iron cornice to mimic the storefront of the building with sides clad in bricks; and

WHEREAS, This addition will be 23 feet high, with a 12 ½ stair bulk head, and it will be set back 25 feet from the front and 20 feet from the rear; and

WHEREAS, The applicant has represented that the addition will be minimally visible from Fifth Avenue, fairly visible from East 20th Street through the side and not visible from Broadway; and

WHEREAS, After a mock-up was installed, it was evident that the addition will be very visible from Broadway; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That despite visibility, Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for a certificate of appropriateness for a 2 story rooftop addition.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 23 in favor, 11 opposed, 1 abstention.

In the first half of the 19th century, the area now known as Midtown Manhattan, (represented by Community Board Five) was developed as a middle class residential district. During the building boom that followed the Civil War, four-story brick and brownstone-faced rowhouses went up on the streets of the West 40’s and 50’s. By the turn of the century, the area had become home to many of the city’s most affluent citizens. By the early 20th Century, several townhouses on the block between 5th and 6th Avenue had been built for bankers and became known as “Bankers Row.”

10 West 56th Street

WHEREAS, The lot at 10 West 56th Street was purchased in 1899 by a prominent N.Y. financier, Frederick C. Edey, for his wife Birdsall Otis Edey, a leader in the Women’s Suffrage Movement and later the National President of Girl Scouts of America. The building was to be designed by McKim, Meade & White, but construction was delayed due to a pre-existing covenant prohibiting building out to the lot line; and

WHEREAS, In 1901, the covenant ended and Edey hired the firm of Warren & Wetmore to design 10 West 56th St., one of the few surviving townhouse built by this nationally significant architectural firm (designers of Grand Central Station, N.Y. Yacht Club, and Steinway); and

WHEREAS, This elegant Beaux-Arts style building with its mammoth grand sculptural second-story Palladian window capped by an elegant cartouche and keystone at the centerpiece of the design; and

WHEREAS, A smaller tripartite window at the third level is succeeded by the attic that has a balustraded parapet and a dormered copper mansard roof; and

WHEREAS, The first floor of the townhouse was designed in the modern French mode and retains its rusticated piers at either side which serve as a base for this slender building; and

WHEREAS, Despite alterations in 1940 to the first floor storefront, the upper stories are well preserved reflecting its original Beaux-Arts design; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends that 10 West 56th Street be designated a New York City Landmark.

30 West 56th Street

WHEREAS, 30 West 56th Street was designed and built in 1899-1901 by the noted architect C.P.H. Gilbert for prominent investment banker Henry Seligman and his wide Adelaide and stands today as a particularly grand and well-preserved example of the townhouses that once lined the side streets off Fifth Avenue; and

WHEREAS, At the time, Gilbert also designed Seligman’s summer house in Deal, NJ and received many commissions from New York’s leading families, designed in a variety of architectural styles; and

WHEREAS, For Seligman,(known as the American Rothchild) Gilbert employed the Beaux-Arts style on a limestone façade spanning two lots, giving the townhouse an imposing presence compared to the narrower buildings on the block; and

WHEREAS, Above the rusticated ground floor are original second-story wood windows and an intricately-carved stone balcony supported by brackets, and adorning the second, third and fourth floors are stone quoins and window surrounds with broken lintels over the central windows on the third and fourth floors, and a fourth story balcony and large cornice further enhances the look of the elegant Beaux-Arts façade, along with an elaborate mansard roof; and

WHEREAS, Although the ground floor window openings have been altered to provide additional entrances, and the areaway walls have been removed, the façade, according to the Landmarks Commission, remains remarkably intact today; and

WHEREAS, Although the Seligmans continued to live there until their deaths in the 1930’s it remained a single family residence until 1941 when it was converted to apartments, and is now an office building; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends that 30 West 56th Street be designated a New York City landmark because of its extraordinary Beaux-Arts elegance, still very much in tact.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 35 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstention.

WHEREAS, The following applications were presented for Community Board Five's recommendation:

• Jeff Thomas, application to hold a musical performance on May 12th and June 16th, in Union Square Park South end.

• Times Square Church, application to hold an outreach event on Saturday, April 21in Madison Square Park and on Saturday, July 7 in Union Square Park.

• VP Samulnori, application to hold an event on April 14, 2007 in Union Square Park.

WHEREAS, Community Board Five takes its role in the review of applications for Parks Special Events seriously; and

WHEREAS, The applicants were invited to, but did not attend the Parks Committee Meeting to present their proposals for review and, therefore the committee was unable to determine the answer to a number of questions; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of the above applications.

WHEREAS, The Madison Square Park Conservancy has applied for a special event permit to host a Kingsford Spring Forward: Get Grilling Barbecue event in Madison Square Park on Monday, March 12, 2007 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and

WHEREAS, The event would involve smoking, grilling and barbecue demonstrations by champion and celebrity barbecue chefs in the gravel area near the Shake Shack; and

WHEREAS, The proposed exhibition will require a Sunday setup involving two tents (10x10 and 10x20) as well as seating for 100 people with an anticipated attendance of five thousand visitors; and

WHEREAS, Community Board five is on record as being extremely concerned by the high number of commercially sponsored events in area parks; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five has established the policy that such proposals be submitted for review in time for them to be fully vetted by the Parks Committee along with the full Board; and

WHEREAS, The scope, scale, timing, and late presentation of the event were problematic; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of this event application for the Madison Square Park Conservancy to host a Kingsford Spring Forward Get Grilling Barbecue event in Madison Square Park on Monday, March 12, 2007, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 27 in favor, 9 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The City Department of Transportation has a franchise agreement with Cemusa, Inc. to place 20 automated public toilets throughout the City; and

WHEREAS, The Department's Coordinated Street Furniture Franchise Unit has identified 50 possible locations that conform to a comprehensive set of criteria; and

WHEREAS, The City would like the very first facility to be placed in Madison Square Park in June of 2007, and

WHEREAS, The facility will offer comfort, hygiene, accessibility and security to the public; and

WHEREAS, All fifty facilities will be of the same design unique to New York City; and

WHEREAS, The Art Commission will be reviewing the design of the facility; and

WHEREAS, Those structures that are placed in parks will not include advertising and the Board will oppose any such advertising; and

WHEREAS, The cost to use the facility will be twenty-five cents; and

WHEREAS, A space for the 6'-7" by 12' structure was specified in plans for the park's most recent renovation, facing Madison Avenue near the corner of 23rd Street; and

WHEREAS, The Parks Department and Madison Square Parks Conservancy, consider this a desirable park amenity; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Transportation has proposed the hours of operation from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and has agreed to modify those hours to suit community needs; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval to place an Automatic Public Toilet in Madison Square Park.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 34 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions.

WHEREAS, There exists a serious stray animal and dangerous dog problem in New York City and hundreds of unwanted dogs and thousands of cats continue to wander our streets reproducing at alarming rates; and

WHEREAS, Many of the stray animals suffer from exposure to the elements, disease, lack of food, water, shelter, and veterinary care, mistreatment, vehicular accidents, and the risk of rabies; and

WHEREAS, Many of the dogs that live on the streets have attacked children and the elderly, causing serious physical injury and the possibility of disease transmission; and

WHEREAS, Stray animals pose a serious public health threat and danger to people, children, and other animals; and

WHEREAS, Pet overpopulation continues to plague the city, and thousands of dogs and cats are brought to our city shelters each year, costing New York City residents upwards of $7.5 million to house and euthanize approximately 48% of the animals; and

WHEREAS New York City spends only $0.93 per capita on animal control, one of the lowest in the nation; and

WHEREAS, The pet industry generates approximately $106 million in tax revenues annually for New York City, yet only allocates approximately 7% of these monies on animal control services each year; and

WHEREAS, The city licenses only 10% of the estimated 1 million dogs residing in the city, and is losing close to $8 million in revenue annually to fund its animal control program, and

WHEREAS, Although inroads have been made New York City does not have a comprehensive, adequately funded animal care and control program; and

WHEREAS, The ASPCA proposes legislation calling for increased dog licensing revenue, collection of fines through enforcement, and additional revenue collected from unrelated funding sources; and

WHEREAS, The proposed legislation would also create a new bureau of animal care and control services, animal care officers and establish a comprehensive program; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five supports legislation proposed by the ASPCA that would create animal control officers and fund sufficient levels of services to retrieve animals, maintain shelters in each borough for lost, stray, and homeless animals, license the estimated one million dogs residing in the city, promote and further spaying and neutering of dogs and cats, and help enforce animal neglect laws.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 28 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, Carlisle 839 LLC is seeking permission to build a below grade attended public parking garage at 839 Sixth Avenue, between West 29th and West 30th Streets, in a C6-4X and M1-6 zoning district, pursuant to Section 13-562 and Section 74-52 of the Zoning Resolution; and

WHEREAS, The proposed public parking garage will be part of a new as-of-right development that will include a 46-story, 388,900 square-foot, mixed-used building as permitted in the C6-4X and M1-6 zoning district, that will include a combination of rental residential, hotel, and retail space as well as a through-block 10,819 square-foot urban plaza located west of the building, running between West 29th and West 30th Streets, under which the below grade parking garage will be located; and

WHEREAS, In order to construct the new mixed-use development, a three-story public parking garage with 560 parking spaces and entrances on Sixth Avenue, West 29th Street and West 30th Street, which had most recently been granted a special permit for operation in 2001, is being demolished; and

WHEREAS, The proposed public parking garage, which will be entirely below grade, will have 529 parking spaces, a reduction of 31 spaces; and

WHEREAS, Entrances and exits for the new, below grade public parking garage will be located only on West 29th and West 30th Streets, thereby not creating traffic impacts on Sixth Avenue; and

WHEREAS, The ventilation system for the below grade public parking garage will be supported by the garage's open air entrances and exits as well as a vent located 12 feet above the roof of the garage's entrance on West 29th Street; and

WHEREAS, The new parking garage will be entirely open to the public, in operation 24-hours a day, and with all parking done by attendants and no self-parking; and

WHEREAS, The application meets the Location of Access to Street regulations required by the City Planning Commission of public parking garages in C6 zoning districts;

WHEREAS, Due to the increased development in the neighborhood, the site's proximity to the busy Herald Square area, as well as the anticipated demand for parking from the 839 Sixth Avenue development itself, the proposed new public garage would help accommodate the demand for parking in this neighborhood; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of the application of Carlisle 839 LLC for a below grade attended public parking garage at 839 Sixth Avenue.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 29 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.