Not long ago, we compiled a list of some of the best Landmarks Preservation Commission disses of all time. Turns out we should have waited a month. Architect Gregg Rothstein's proposal for a three-story brick building in the rear yard of 747 Greenwich Street, which would be connected to the main building by a tunnel, was met with predictably outraged protests from the neighbors, but also with uncharacteristic rancor from the commissioners, one of whom declared the proposal, "the most cynical application I've seen in my four plus years on this commission." Another commissioner remarked, "I have not seen anything that is more prison-like. I'm just nearly speechless."
The neighbors also had some good cracks, including:
"No building should be allowed in this area, but definitely not this building. The presenters should be ashamed of themselves."
"The owner had never lived there. I believe he is in New Mexico or someplace. It is basically a slum landlord situation."
"This type of nonsense may be right for James Bond with the tunnels and all, but it is not right for Greenwich Village."
And so forth. The proposal was unanimously denied, a rarity for LPC, which is almost always in favor of working with architects and developers to improve their designs. Not this design, though.
· Landmarks Preservation Commission coverage [Curbed]
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