Regarding yesterday's item on rats overruning Annie Leibovitz's adjoining/collapsing townhouses at 305-307 West 11th Street, a Curbed reader points us to this brilliant Fall 2003 report by the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation that rips Leibovitz (hereafter "the owner") a new one:
In the days and weeks that followed the near-collapse of the buildings, cracks appeared in the buildings' facades, bricks fell, and walls visibly buckled. The houses were left open to the elements during some of the heaviest rains and snows in recent memory, and pipes which could have frozen and burst were left unflushed. Only after vigorous lobbying by GVSHP and our elected officials did the City get the responsible owner to install exterior shoring to prevent a collapse of the buildings... And, amazingly, the responsible property owner responsible for the damage has only received $500 in fines from the City!Mmmm, what we'd give for an artful photograph of this little tableau.
· Landmarked, But Still Under Threat [GVSHP.org via Google]
· Download Fall 2003 GVSHP Preservation Report [GVSHP.org, PDF]