Letter on Gansevoort Marketplace Demolition
October 28, 2021
Commissioner Melanie La Rocca
NYC Department of Buildings
280 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
Commissioner Sarah Carroll
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, floor 9
New York, NY 10007
Dear Commissioners La Rocca and Carroll:
October 27th, 2021:
We write in regard to the preservation of 44-54 Ninth Avenue and 351-355 West 14th Street. We understand that while working on the renovation of these historic, also known as the Gansevoort Marketplace, Tavros Capital, the developer, discovered that the buildings were structurally unstable. As a result, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Department of Buildings (DOB) allowed the developer to continue demolition of these buildings and to change the means and methods of how this work gets done. We have many questions regarding the state of the buildings and request that both agencies halt work at this site until the development team can have a conversation with the community and advocates and present options for preservation.
While we understand that the DOB and LPC have determined that the structural conditions of the buildings are the result of how they were constructed, we also believe that it is incumbent on the developer to consider all options and take all measures necessary to prevent any further damage or deterioration to these historic structures. Manhattan Community Board 4, in their October 12th letter to LPC Commissioner Carroll, provided examples of how the facades may still be preserved. That option, along with any others, should be thoroughly explored by the developer.
Furthermore, we request that you provide us with a full accounting of the events leading up to this change in course, including what information was provided by the developer in their engineering report to LPC. Our offices need to know which measures your agencies have in place so we can address this situation and prevent any similar occurrences in other historic properties.
Sincerely,
Gale A. Brewer
Manhattan Borough President
Brad Hoylman NY State Senator
Deborah J. Glick Assemblymember
cc: Lowell Kern, Chair, Manhattan Community Board 4 Executive Committee, The Historic Districts Council Andrew Berman, Executive Director, Village Preservation Pam Wolff, Chair, Save Chelsea
Bill Borock, Chair, Council of Chelsea Block Associations Tavros Capital
