A major preservation triumph in northern Manhattan
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved the Morningside Heights Historic District, a preservation triumph for the area on the heels of the landmark designation of The Cathedral of St. John the Divine and the Cathedral Close.
The Morningside Heights Historic District includes 115 buildings with boundaries that roughly stretch from West 108th Street to West 119th Street and along parts of Amsterdam Avenue, Riverside Drive, and Broadway. The area was so chosen for the character of its residential buildings—called a cohesive neighborhood of middle-class apartments by the LPC research staff—mostly dating from the 1890s to 1920s.
The Morningside Heights Historic District most recently appeared in front of the LPC in December, when a series of preservationists and neighborhood residents, and even representatives of the Real Estate Board of New York, testified in favor of the creation of the district.
Objections to the district were few, but included representatives of the Congregation Ramath Orah at 550 West 110th Street and the Broadway Presbyterian Church at 601 West 114th Street, both within the proposed boundaries, which argued that protections bestowed on their buildings would create too much of a financial burden on the institutions.
Columbia University largely backed the district, but argued against the inclusion of a row of seven townhouses located at 604-616 West 114th Street. The university believed that the townhouses had no architectural merits, and that its inclusion in the district would make it hard for the university to use the building for future student housing needs. The LPC research staff returned on Tuesday to argue that the inclusion of the townhouses is indeed merited in the district, owing mostly to its status as the most intact row of townhouses in the proposed district.
Shortly before voting, LPC Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan said that the inclusion of the religious institutions "create amazing streetscapes" meriting of preservation—and the commissioners agreed. The group unanimously approved the historic district, making it New York City's 141st landmarked enclave.
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