The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's Andrew Berman sure is a busy guy. You'd think he'd be overloaded by the sticking it to Donald Trump thing, but that's not the only fight he's got going right now. Nope, Berman is rallying the troops in the form of a letter campaign to Landmarks boss Bob Tierney, trying to prevent the demolition of the 1903 Beaux Arts beauty at 126-28 East 13th Street, which artist Frank Stella recently sold to developers for $10 million (according to blogger Felix Salmon). You can see the building in its current state up top, as well as the seven-story condo building proposed for the site. The Stella connection isn't the only excuse for the hopeful landmarking, of course. According to Berman's letter:
This wonderful 1903 structure designed by Jardine Kent and Jardine was originally built as an auction mart for horses and carriages, where according to the New York Times "the Belmonts and the Vanderbilts and other families transacted their horse affairs." Later it was converted to a machine shop, and during World War II women were taught "assembly and inspection work, the reading of blueprints, and various mechanical aspects needed in defense industries."Berman also says "there is little time to save this building," so we should see a result in this battle fairly soon.
· 128 E 13th Street [Kutnicki Bernstein Architects]
· GV Society for HP [gvshp.org]