WHEREAS, A request was made by Walter & Samuels, Inc. to rename 26th Street, between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue “Madison Square North”; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five has traditionally opposed such installations unless certain criteria are met, including a special relationship between the honoree, New York City and the location where the blade is to be installed; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five does not feel that such a relationship exists in this case; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five is also concerned with the impact of additional street blades on the city landscape;

WHEREAS, Community Board Five’s Consents and Variances Committee voted against this request in September 2005 but was asked to withdraw their resolution in order for another presentation to be made in October; and

WHEREAS, The applicant did not attend the October 2005 meeting to address the committee’s concerns; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five does not support the request for street renaming of 26th Street, between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue “Madison Square North”.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 25 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, Molo Lounge Inc. has filed an application for an unenclosed sidewalk café for 10 tables and 20 seats at 676 Sixth Avenue; and

WHEREAS, This application is for fewer tables/seats than previously approved sidewalk café requests at this location; and

WHEREAS, The tables will be set up in a single row in order to lessen the impact on sidewalk/pedestrian passage; and

WHEREAS, The applicant has agreed to provide a telephone number of the Manager in case of emergency; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of the application by Molo Lounge Inc., for an unenclosed sidewalk café at 676 Sixth Avenue for 10 tables and 20 seats.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 25 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The building located at 7 East 20th Street in the Ladies' Mile Historic District is a neo-Renaissance-Modern French style store and loft building, designed by William C. Frohne, constructed in 1907; and

WHEREAS, The building currently is occupied by commercial tenants on the first through fourth floors, and is occupied by residential tenants on the fifth through fourteenth floors; and

WHEREAS, There have been previous alterations to the ground level, which have included installation of commercial aluminum doors at the west-building entrance and at the east-retail space entrance, and the partial blackening out of the storefront window, which have not been sympathetic to the original design; and

WHEREAS, The future tenant of the first and second floors and applicant, Waterworks, and their architect, Taylor Associates, now seek to execute the repair and restoration of the existing limestone facade from sidewalk to third floor, to repair and restore the wood and beveled glass windows on the second floor, to install a new storefront glazing system within the existing masonry, and to install new painted metal and glass entry doors with transom windows; and

WHEREAS, Signage for Waterworks plumbing & fixtures retail showroom will be 8-1/2" high pin-mounted white glass letters above the storefront, vinyl appliqué lettering applied to the new transom window, and a new bracket sign mounted to an existing masonry pilaster; and

WHEREAS, The installation of new painted metal and glass entry doors, are in accordance with current codes on accessibility; and

WHEREAS, The design of the new storefront glazing system within the existing masonry, and new painted metal and glass entry doors with transom windows is somewhat sympathetic to the original design; therefore be it

Resolved, That Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for the repair and restoration of the existing limestone facade from sidewalk to third floor, repair and restoration of the wood and beveled glass windows on the second floor, installation of new storefront glazing system within the existing masonry, installation of new painted metal and glass entry doors with transom windows.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 26 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, This application is for the Certificate of Appropriateness for the construction of a two story tax payer building at 7-9 West 17th Street; and

WHEREAS, The lot, currently used as a parking lot, is owned by William L. Haines; and

WHEREAS, The architect for the project is Shawn Charles Basler, AIA, of BMDG Architecture PC; and

WHEREAS, The proposed building is composed of a basement, a first and a second floor; and

WHEREAS, The proposed building will occupy 100% of the lot on the first floor, and be recessed 20 feet on the second floor; and

WHEREAS, The total height of the building to the roof slab will be 35 feet, matching the height of the building behind it; and

WHEREAS, The adjacent buildings are respectively 12 stories to the left and 10 stories to the right; and

WHEREAS, The façade will be composed of cast limestone and metal, with clear glass windows, in context with the architecture of the neighborhood; and

WHEREAS, The base will be red granite, matching all the buildings on the block; and

WHEREAS, An 8 foot deep, 25 foot long, 16 inch deep, aluminum canopy with indirect lighting fixtures will be installed; and

WHEREAS, Backlit signage, bearing the name of the commercial tenant will be installed on the face of the canopy; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Manhattan Community Board Five recommends approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness for the construction of a new two story retail building at 7-9 West 17th Street.

WHEREAS, The building located at 1234 Broadway, also known as 1232-1238 Broadway, at the southeast corner of West 31st Street, is a French Second-Empire style structure, designed by Henry Engelbert, and constructed as the Grand Hotel in 1868; and

WHEREAS, The building was constructed with a Tuckahoe White Marble facade and domestic, gray-colored, slate mansard roof and wood-framed windows, with semi-arched masonry at the fourth and fifth floors, and full-arched masonry at the sixth and seventh floors, and porthole windows at the seventh floor/attic; and

WHEREAS, 1234 Broadway is a building officially designated as an Individual Landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1983; and

WHEREAS, Previous owners of this building have neglected the maintenance, and have been non-sympathetic to the original design having painted the Tuckahoe Marble facade and slate mansard roof; and

WHEREAS, Many of the windows have deteriorated, and are in a condition beyond repair; and

WHEREAS, The building is currently occupied as a single-room occupancy hotel and rooming house; and 

WHEREAS, The current owners and applicant, 1234 Broadway LLC and their architect, Building Conservation Associates, Inc., are currently involved in an extensive building restoration of this structure, including removal of the paint and cleaning of the Tuckahoe Marble facade, and removal and replacement of the slate mansard roof; and

WHEREAS, The applicant now seeks to replace all of the existing, wood-framed, window sashes and one-over-one double-hung windows between the second and seventh floors, with aluminum-framed, window sashes and one-over-one double-hung windows with thermo-pane glass; and

WHEREAS, The applicant now seeks to replace all of the existing, wood-framed, round porthole windows at the seventh floor/attic with wood-framed, round, pivot windows with thermo-pane glass with wood-framed, window sashes; and

WHEREAS, The design of the aluminum-framed replacement window minimizes the loss of glass to less than 10%; and

WHEREAS, The applicant demonstrated good faith efforts to comply with the requirements of the Committee and the Landmarks Preservation Commission; and

WHEREAS, The Certificate of Appropriateness was approved in the Landmarks Preservation Commission Public Hearing on Tuesday, September 27, 2005, prior to the applicants meeting with the committee on Tuesday, October 11, 2005; and

WHEREAS, While the committee has expressed a preference for the replacement windows to be constructed with wood frames, which would be historically appropriate; the design of the new windows is somewhat sympathetic to the original design; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five has expressed a preference that the Landmarks Preservation Commission refrain from granting approval of the Certificate of Appropriateness in advance of the committee's review of the application; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for the window replacement proposal at 1234 Broadway - Grand Hotel.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 26 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, 133 Fifth Avenue, a neo-Renaissance, stone face store and loft building designed by Robert Maynicke, built in 1898-99; and

WHEREAS, The applicant-owner seeks to remove the original wood frame windows from the third through seventh floors, as well as the segmented arched windows on the eighth floor, and the full arch windows on the ninth floor on both facades of the building; and

WHEREAS, The replacement windows will have aluminum frames, double-hung with insulated glass; and

WHEREAS, The owner expects to use this building and occupy all units as a family residence when current tenants' leases expire, and, at that time, central air-conditioning will be installed, allowing the removal of existing, window air-conditioning units; and

WHEREAS, The committee is concerned with the diminution of glass when replaced by aluminum sashes, and the applicant states that the manufacturer of the replacements has been charged with producing windows with the smallest loss of glass as possible; and

WHEREAS, The applicant states that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has already approved the removal of the existing windows and their replacement with aluminum; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Manhattan Community Board Five recommends approval of the application for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the removal of existing windows on the third through ninth floors and installation of new replacement windows with aluminum double hung units at 133 Fifth Avenue.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 21 in favor, 6 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The building at l68 Fifth Avenue, the Gertner Building, was built in 1851 (original architect unknown) as two buildings and converted to one building when redesigned  as an early 20th century commercial-style loft building in 1921 by architect Rudolph C.B. Boehler; and

WHEREAS, Only one half of the lower two floors of the five-story building is being renovated for a women’s clothing store, leaving the other half untouched, with both in very bad condition; and

WHEREAS, The applicant intends to restore and use the double-height, limestone pilasters and will remove the 1921 red-colored granite that is currently on the storefront, replacing it with limestone; and

WHEREAS, The original building entrance included a decorative arch which the applicant does not plan to recreate, and their design for the building entrance, the store window as well as the store entrance is glass and aluminum; and

WHEREAS, The applicant had no 1940 tax photo which would indicate what the 1921 storefront looked like, and how it should be recreated, and the applicant was unsure as to whether or not they would increase the height of the storefront; and

WHEREAS, The plans were not complete and little effort was made to restore or recreate the historic storefront; and

WHEREAS, The Board hopes that the adjacent left half of the ground floor not being restored at this time, be included in a master plan, so that when it is restored, it would be similar to the proposed storefront; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends denial of the application and that the applicant come back to the Board after completing the plans, making an effort to restore or at least recreate the original storefront façade from the tax photo.

The above resolution passed with a vote of  26 in favor, 0 opposed, 2 abstentions.

WHEREAS, this application is for a Certificate of Appropriateness for the construction of a new industrial/office building in the rear, with partial visibility from the street at 929/931/933 Broadway, in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District; and

WHEREAS, The three Italianate dwellings, constructed in 1846, (architect unknown), each three-stories high, 18 to 20 feet-wide, are located in the middle of the block; and

WHEREAS, The buildings have a modern glass and metal storefront on the first floor, and above the first floor the façade is made of brick; and

WHEREAS, The buildings are showing rows of three, continuous, show-windows framed in wood, the row at the second story is topped by a row of wooden recessed panels, and a detailed and modillion metal cornice surmounts the whole; and

WHEREAS, The buildings were converted to commercial use between 1869 and 1890; and

WHEREAS, The applicant is Bear USA, a garments company that manufactures t-shirts; and

WHEREAS, The buildings will become the headquarters of the company and will host a light manufacturing assembly line of garments which will bare the label “Made in NY”, creating fifteen jobs; and

WHEREAS, The complete restoration of the existing landmark facades also includes removal of the blue paint from brick and building details, demolition of the existing non-historic storefronts, selection of new materials to match the existing for all new storefront construction, repair of any damaged landmark bricks, complete repainting of the existing brickwork, repair and replacement of all existing architectural work to match the existing historic detail work, installation of new thermal insulated glass and wood frame windows for the second and third floors, to match the existing window and frame details, and installation of new storefronts to integrate with the existing landmark façade restoration; and

WHEREAS, This complete restoration has already been approved; and

WHEREAS, The applicant is proposing the construction of a new “stepped-back” building profile on the fourth floor and the fourth floor mezzanine; and

WHEREAS, This new addition, made of grey-painted, anodized aluminum will be set back 27 feet, 6 inches, and will slope from 22 feet 6 inches to 7 feet 2 inches; and

WHEREAS, The new addition will not be visible from the sidewalk directly across the street, but will be visible from other points of Broadway and the adjacent streets; and

WHEREAS, At the Board’s request, a markup was installed, and shows that the new construction will be partially visible from Broadway at the corner of 22nd Street, and almost entirely visible from 22nd Street; therefore be it,

RESOLVED, That Manhattan Community Board Five recommends denial of the Certificate of Appropriateness for the complete renovation of three landmark facades previously approved and the construction of a new industrial/office building in the rear with partial visibility from the street.

The above resolution failed with a vote of 12 in favor, 16 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, 1501 Broadway, an individual landmark built in 1926-27 by Rapp and Rapp, Architects and altered in 1997 and 2001, is a French Beaux-Arts style-inspired skyscraper; and

WHEREAS, A platform with pipe railings that can be seen at either end of the marquee was recently illegally installed without Landmarks Preservation Commission approval on the top of the marquee; and

WHEREAS, The platform is 26'6" long and 12'1" deep and sits 3'2' in front of the decorative historic windows, and an access door already in the facade will serve as entry through a 3' wide area; and

WHEREAS, A recent promotion for a clothing company included the use of a two-level scaffold, the base being 10' wide and 25' long, placed upon the platform; and

WHEREAS, The applicant further informed the committee, on Tuesday, October 18, 2005, that while some events would require the use of the two-level scaffold, others would only require the use of an additional riser placed upon the first platform to raise the performers above the central arch of the marquee; and

WHEREAS, Although the platform is not secured to any part of the facade however, at 3'2 inches, it is dangerously close to the windows; and

WHEREAS, A master plan with schedule of forthcoming events indicates the scaffold would be used 51 days (including set up and breakdown days) from November 2005 through November 2006, and the platform 35 days, but does not seem to reflect programs associated with bands or performers from the Café; and

WHEREAS, The Committee is concerned that these structures jeopardize the decorative historic window facade of the building and the integrity of the Marquee; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Manhattan Community Board Five recommends denial of the application to legalize a platform, riser or scaffolding on the marquee at 1501 Broadway.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 25 in favor, 1 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, Noise is a problem in New York City and Community Board Five and studies have shown excessive noise impacts the health of residents and their quality of life; and

WHEREAS, New York City was one of the first cities in the nation to adopt a Noise Code in 1972 and that noise code has not been updated since its enactment; and

WHEREAS, The Mayor and reports from 3-1-1 have identified noise as one of the major quality of life issues in the city and undertaken a revision of the Noise Code which has been introduced in the City Council as Intro No. 397; and

WHEREAS, This revision in most instances lowers the decibel level for ambient noise and would help address the noise problems many communities face; and

WHEREAS, Specifics of the proposed Noise Code include:

WHEREAS, Community Board Five believes that the following changes need to be made to strengthen the Noise Code:

WHEREAS, Enforcement of the Noise Code is the key element to its effectiveness and we encourage that the Department of Environmental Protection provide adequate resources for this; therefore be it

RESOLVED, Community Board Five supports enactment of the new Noise Code with the above recommended changes.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 27 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The premises at 111–113 West 28th Street are conjoined buildings located in a manufacturing zone with residential use; and

WHEREAS, The request before the board is an amendment to a previously approved variance to permit residential use in an M1-6 Zoning District; and

WHEREAS, The current ceiling to floor height of both penthouses is 17 feet; and

WHEREAS, Owners of both residential penthouses would like to add an interior mezzanine at the rear of each penthouse, cutting the floor space to 8.5 feet per floor and providing more flexibility for the living space; and

WHEREAS, The Department of Buildings does not permit the addition “as of right” in a M1-6 Zoning District; and

WHEREAS, The proposed amendment would add approximately 1,075.4 square feet; and

WHEREAS, There is no change to the exterior envelope; and

WHEREAS, There is no change to density; and

WHEREAS, The building currently has a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) 4.76, and with the additional mezzanine space, would have an FAR 5.19, well under an FAR 10 for a building in an M1-6 Zoning District; and

WHEREAS, No additional apartment will be added; and

WHEREAS, No other apartment in the building nor the first and second floor retail businesses will be affected;

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval to amend the previously approved variance for the construction of a mezzanine floor in both penthouse apartments.

WHEREAS, The applicant, 340 Madison Owner LLC, requests an amendment to a variance previously granted by the Board of Standards and Appeals, and supported by a resolution in favor by Manhattan Community Board Five on December 12, 2003; and

WHEREAS, This building, located between 43rd and 44th Streets, is 75 years old and has been converted to a modern office building with a glass curtain wall and regularly shaped floor plates; and

WHEREAS, The requested amendment will allow the applicant to fill in two small outer court areas on the 17th and 18th floors, providing an additional 300 square feet on each floor, and will regularize the floor plan, and to remove small bump-outs on the 19th through 21st floors, with a loss of 1943 square footage thereby providing regular floor plans; and

WHEREAS, A second part of the amendment is to regularize the service entrance on East 43rd Street, reducing it from the required 15' width to 11', thereby enlarging the commercial tenant’s space that contains mechanical equipment for the store which cannot be moved; and

WHEREAS, The 10' depth of the entrance will remain, but the existing height of the entry which is 12'5” instead of 15', due to the configuration of the original building that has been incorporated into this merged zoning lot, must be approved because the floor area for the building is from the Grand Central Special District; and

WHEREAS, The variance is the minimum variance necessary to afford relief; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Manhattan Community Board Five recommends approval of the amendment to the variance to regularize floor plates on the 17th and 18th floors by infill of outer courts and removal of bump-out masonry on the 19th through the 21st floors, and to regularize the dimensions of the service entry on East 43rd Street.

WHEREAS, The applicant located at 299 Seventh Avenue seeks to erect and maintain a mixed use building that permits the upper floors, 2 through 12, for residential use; and

WHEREAS, The current site is a 2-story building located on the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 27th Street that houses Rose’s Pizza and Manhattan Deli, with no residential use, and is in an M1-6 district.  This corner lot measures 25 feet wide by 68 feet long; and

WHEREAS, The applicant/owner proposes to demolish the building and rebuild it into a 12-story building.  The first floor would house Rose’s Pizza and floors 2 through 12 would feature loft apartments, one per floor; and

WHEREAS, Along Seventh Avenue on this block, properties are developed with multiple dwellings with retail on the first floor.  Various other lots in this vicinity featuring buildings 17 stories and higher were recently developed with multiple floor dwellings; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five recommends approval of the variance to enable residential occupancy of a mixed use building.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 27 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.

WHEREAS, The MTA has proposed to construct the 50th Street Ventilation Facility (VF) which will house ventilation fans and related equipment, loading docks and freight elevators, cooling towers, emergency generators and fuel storage; and

WHEREAS, The New York City Department of Buildings has taken the position that it lacks jurisdiction over buildings constructed by the MTA and therefore expresses no opinion on the VF (pursuant to Public Authorities Law Section 1266(8)); and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five believes that the building proposed by the MTA falls within an exception for facilities such as the proposed VF; and

WHEREAS, Community Board Five believes that businesses and residents within the District have a legitimate interest in the health and safety of the area which requires review by the New York City Department of Buildings; therefore be it

RESOLVED, That Community Board Five supports the application for an interpretive appeal at the Board of Standards & Appeals to deny the MTA an exemption from the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Buildings to review and approve the MTA’s proposed ventilation facility located at 44-50 East 50th Street.

The above resolution passed with a vote of 26 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.