There's some life left yet in the fight over 178 Bleecker Street, where a new eight-story building is planned in place of a historic row house that was demolished to preservationist dismay last year. Enter Vogue editor Anna Wintour. Wintour, who lives in a Sullivan Street townhouse, wrote to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to denounce the planned 178 Bleecker construction?a jazz club/cabaret, art gallery, and six apartments?as "totally out-of-scale" and "inappropriate." Nice to see a concerned, preservation-minded citizen! But Wintour conveniently failed to mention that the structure would also block the light to the private garden she shares with 21 other nearby townhouses. Whatever her motives, the Department of Buildings may be coming around to Wintour's view of things?the DOB has threatened to revoke the project's permits if developer John Wu does not address DOB concerns about the building's height. Showdown!
· Wintour freeze [NYP]
· 178 Bleecker Street coverage [Curbed]
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