City Council May Reverse Status of Austin, Nichols & Co. Building
MANHATTAN — The recent decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to designate the Austin, Nichols & Co. building at 184 Kent Ave. in Williamsburg an individual landmark has aroused mixed feelings within the City Council.
The subject was discussed at a meeting Tuesday at City Hall of the Council’s Landmarks Subcommittee.
No action was taken at the meeting, according to Evan Thies, press secretary for Council Member David Yassky. But it may come to a vote sometime next week, he said. Yassky, who represents the Williamsburg area, is one of those opposed to the designation.
Reached Wednesday, Thies said Yassky believes that “the building is not a significant work and does not merit landmark approval.”
But many local residents do.
“Dozens of local residents joined with esteemed architectural historians, neighborhood groups and local and national preservation organizations to testify at the Landmarks Commission,” said Phil DePaolo of the People’s Firehouse.
DePaolo said in an email that Yassky is leading an effort to overturn the designation.
“The Council Member believes that the interests of one building owner outweigh the interests of the community and the city,” he said.
The issue is the existing plan by the builder’s owner to convert the six-story waterfront building to 240 condominiums, adding four additional floors at the top and inserting an interior open-air courtyard.
In its designation announcement in September, the LPC noted that the building was built in 1915 and designed by Cass Gilbert, who was also the architect for the U.S. Custom House and the Woolworth Building.
“Cass Gilbert’s Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse is one of the most visually prominent structures on the Brooklyn waterfront,” said LPC Chairman Robert Tierney in a published statement. “This influential and innovative commercial building undoubtedly merits recognition as a New York City landmark.”
The building was described at the time as a “model of modern construction and efficiency,” integrating piers, railway tracks, freight elevators, conveyor belts and pneumatic tubes, according to the LPC statement.
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