Last year, the city roundly rejected a push to landmark the 44-year-old Helmsley Park Lane Hotel. Now, despite the fact that renderings have just surfaced for a massive condo building set to rise on the Witkoff-owned site, the "strangest preservation campaign in history" appears to have returned.
In February, Juan Reyes (a Queens real estate attorney affiliated with the Save Park Lane NY group) filed another petition with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, who rejected it five days later. But now, according to Crain's, media attorney Charles Glasser has filed a Freedom of Information Law request asking for records related to the LPC's decision.
At the time, the campaign was criticized as frivolous, and some suspected that it was simply an attempt to halt development on Central Park South. [Editor's Note: A previous version of this article misquoted Margaret Newman with regards to this allegation.]
"Landmarking shouldn't be used as a tool to prevent development," executive director of the Municipal Art Society, Margaret Newman, told Crain's. "If we need better zoning, then we need better zoning. That's the lesson of the Park Lane Hotel."
· The crusade to get the Park Lane Hotel landmarked is still percolating [Crain's]
· All 36 Central Park South coverage [Curbed]
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