70 Washington: Is That Legal? .:. grubbykid.com

70 Washington: Is That Legal?

orange, originally uploaded by overunder

From the how-long-until-Curbed-links-to-this-post Dept

Tired of Landmark Preservation Commission gossip? Well, here is one last tidbit. Everyone knows about 70 Washington in DUMBO - check out Curbed's extensive coverage. It is the Walentas huge condo conversion which is currently under construction.

Last week construction began on the Penthouse apartments, which to my knowledge, consist of a single floor vertical extension (that's roof addition to outsiders) set back approximately 11'-0" from the edge of the building. The set back was most likely done to satisfy the LPC mandate that any roof addition is minimally visible from public thoroughfares.

Alright, enough with the back story, you say, what is this so-called gossip you are about to dish? Well, it seems that some members of certain Community Boards are questioning the legality of the addition. Namely, questioning LPC whether or not the roof addition was included in the LPC-approved design. For those on the edge of your seats, yes, the addition was included in the approved design.

This just illustrates what lengths community boards (and their constituents) in New York City go through when protecting their historic districts. And what happens when people don't have the opportunity to go to School Board meetings or join the PTA.

Update - 30 June 2005
From reader nudge:
the picture shown in the 70 Washington commentary is NOT of 70 Washington - it's of 55 Washington

We stand corrected - we just like Keith's work and jumped the gun.

Comments

Lock says:

What is this 70 Washington? I must learn more about it!

Posted by: Lock at June 28, 2005 12:08 PM #

plemeljr says:

I don't know Lock... I think it is some super-secret low-income housing project. I'm not sure any New York-centric blog has ever mentioned it, at all.

It is very much like an information black hole.