More on Landmarks Preservation
---
"Honey, what landmarks should we visit while we're vacationing in New York?"
"Well, let's see -- the Empire State Building, Central Park, the New York Public Library ... oh, and of course the Pippen Building!"
No, the Addams Family's house was "mysterious." The Fortress of Solitude is "mysterious." The Pippen Building is a square slab of concrete, the exact opposite of "mysterious." It is about as intriguing as a plastic Monopoly house.
And it now, by force of law and in defiance of property rights, will remain standing -- forever and ever...
(Incidentally, one wonders whether that gaudy radiator sign was also declared a landmark.)
It is an insult to the legacy of Penn Station and to New York's true (i.e., objectively demonstrable) landmarks to afford that status to structures like the Pippen Building. That alone is reason enough for the LPC's landmark mania (23,000 structures and counting) to be reined in. The economic cost, both to individual property owners and to the City as a whole, is undisputed.
(Via Gothamist.)
"Well, let's see -- the Empire State Building, Central Park, the New York Public Library ... oh, and of course the Pippen Building!"
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission today unanimously voted to landmark the former New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company building at 360 Third Avenue, a pioneering example of concrete construction in the United States. The 2 ½-story, Italianate-style structure on the corner of Third Avenue and Third Street in the Gowanus section of [Brooklyn] was designed by William Field and Son and built between 1872 and 1873 to house the concrete manufacturer's main office. The building is adjacent to the future site of a Whole Foods supermarket.
"This mysterious, elegant, small building commands the attention of everyone who passes by it," said Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney.
No, the Addams Family's house was "mysterious." The Fortress of Solitude is "mysterious." The Pippen Building is a square slab of concrete, the exact opposite of "mysterious." It is about as intriguing as a plastic Monopoly house.
And it now, by force of law and in defiance of property rights, will remain standing -- forever and ever...
(Incidentally, one wonders whether that gaudy radiator sign was also declared a landmark.)
It is an insult to the legacy of Penn Station and to New York's true (i.e., objectively demonstrable) landmarks to afford that status to structures like the Pippen Building. That alone is reason enough for the LPC's landmark mania (23,000 structures and counting) to be reined in. The economic cost, both to individual property owners and to the City as a whole, is undisputed.
(Via Gothamist.)
Related Posts (on one page):
Posted by Kip on
3 July 2006
To comment on this post, please visit the new blogsite.