Community Board 9 Resolution

October 1, 2022

Hon. Sarah Carroll

Commissioner

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

David N. Dinkins Municipal Building

1 Centre Street, 9th Floor North

New York, NY 10007

Re: Resolution reaffirming support for extending and expanding a comprehensive Morningside Heights Historic District

Dear Commissioner Carroll,

At its regularly scheduled General Board meeting held on Thursday September 15, 2022 Manhattan Community Board 9 approved the following resolution affirming support for extending and expanding a comprehensive Morningside Heights Historic District by a unanimous vote. It is noted that Community Board 9 previously passed a resolution on October 16, 2008, affirming support for the current Morningside Heights Historic District, established in 2017. It is further noted that Manhattan Community Board 9 voted on February 15, 1996 to support “the efforts of the Landmarks and Historic Preservation Committee and the community to develop an application to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission for the designation of a comprehensive Morningside Heights Historic District.”

Whereas the following proposed five designated areas include

  • Morningside Heights Historic District Extension — Sixty-two properties roughly bounded by West 114th Street to the north, Amsterdam Avenue to the east, West 112th Street to the south, and Broadway to the west reflects two successive waves of speculative development: single-family dwelling construction and multi-family dwelling construction;
  • Amsterdam Avenue-Morningside Drive South — Thirteen properties roughly bounded by West 116th Street to the north, Morningside Drive to the east, West 115th Street to the south, and Amsterdam Avenue to the west reflects a variety of speculative, mostly mid- rise, multi-family dwellings;
  • Amsterdam Avenue-Morningside Drive North — Eighteen properties roughly bounded by Morningside Drive to the north and east, West 118th Street to the south, and Amsterdam Avenue to the west reflects a variety of speculative multi-family dwellings that encompass mid- and high-rise buildings;
  • Broadway-Amsterdam Avenue — Forty properties roughly bounded by West 123rd Street to the north, Amsterdam Avenue to the east, West 121st Street to the south, and Broadway to the west reflects a district of predominantly working-class, multi-family dwellings, along with a small concentration of middle-class, multi-family dwellings, and a discreet religious complex;
  • Riverside Drive-Claremont Avenue — Twenty-three properties roughly bounded by Tiemann Place to the north, Claremont Avenue to the east, West 122nd Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west reflects a host of predominantly working-class, multi- family dwellings, along with a moderate concentration of middle-class, multi-family dwellings; and

Whereas the five areas have been professionally evaluated against the criteria for significance, as enumerated in the New York City Landmarks Law, and yielded the following findings:

  • Special Character that Constitutes a Distinct Section of the City in the Area of Architectural History for their harmonious juxtaposition of row houses, tenements, French flats, apartment houses, dormitories, apartment hotels, and a boarding house, ranging from four to ten stories high, and constructed during a peak period between 1896 and 1912 in a variety of styles, such as Renaissance Revival, Renaissance Revival incorporating Colonial Revival, Beaux Arts, Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival, Tudor Revival incorporating Romanesque Revival, and Secessionist;
  • Special Historical Interest in the Area of Architectural History for their association with three prolific architecture firms in Morningside Heights that included Neville & Bagge, George F. Pelham, and Schwartz & Gross, who together exerted an enormous influence on the architectural character of the neighborhood; and for their association with Emery Roth in the Broadway-Amsterdam Avenue and Riverside Drive-Claremont Avenue Study Areas, who is an acknowledged master in the field of architecture and whose work has been recognized on the Upper East and West Sides of Manhattan for his significant contributions to the architecture of the apartment hotel and the apartment building;
  • Special Historical Interest in the Area of Social History for their association with the development of a middle-class community, reflecting various socio- economic strata, consisting of lower middle-class tenants inhabiting tenements, solidly middle-class tenants inhabiting French flats and six-story elevator apartment buildings along the cross streets and secondary avenues (e.g., Amsterdam Avenue, Morningside Drive, and parts of Claremont Avenue), and upper middle-class tenants inhabiting the larger apartment buildings along the more exclusive drives and avenues (Broadway, Riverside Drive, and parts of Claremont Avenue); and for the Morningside Heights Historic District Extension Study Area’s association with student life at Columbia University through multiple conversions of its row houses into fraternities and sororities;
  • Special Aesthetic Interest that Constitutes a Distinct Section of the City in the Area of Architectural History for its high concentration of vernacular multi-family dwellings, melding two popular, yet disparate, styles of the early twentieth century: Italian Renaissance Revival and Colonial Revival, and in doing so, emulating the architectural precedent set by their institutional counterparts, such as Columbia University and Barnard College;
  • Representative of One or More Periods or Styles of Architecture Typical of One or More Eras in the History of the City for its embodiment of a single period of construction of roughly sixteen years between 1896 and 1912, resulting in multiple styles (e.g., Beaux Arts, Arts and Crafts, Tudor Revival, etc.) that are largely unified by a single style (Renaissance Revival); and

Whereas City Councilmember Shaun Abreu, Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell, and Borough President Mark Levine have advocated for extending and expanding a comprehensive Morningside Heights historic district designation;

Be it resolved that Manhattan Community Board 9 reaffirms its full support for Landmarks Preservation Commission and State/National Register listing for extending and expanding designation to complete a comprehensive Morningside Heights Historic District, W. 110th to 123rd Streets. between Riverside and Morningside Drive.

If you have any questions and/or further information is needed, please do not hesitate contacting me or District Manager, Eutha Prince, at the board office (212) 864-6200.

Sincerely,

Barry Weinberg

Chair

cc: Hon. Eric Adams, Mayor
Hon. Jerrold Nadler, Congressman
Hon. Adriano Espaillat, Congressman
Hon. Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Hon. Cordell Cleare, State Senator
Hon. Robert Jackson, State SenatorHon. Daniel O’Donnell, Assemblymember
Hon. Shaun Abreu, City Councilmember
Mr. Zead Ramadan, Executive Director, West Harlem Development Corporation