Architecture

Boerum Hill Historic District Could Be Expanded

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote Tuesday on whether to “calendar” a long-in-the-works extension of the Boerum Hill Historic District.

Wyckoff Street between Bond and Nevins streets. Photo by Susan De Vries

by Craig Hubert

10/30/2017 0

Preservationists may soon have another reason to celebrate. The Landmarks Preservation Commission will on Tuesday, October 31, decide whether to “calendar” a long-in-the-works extension of the Boerum Hill Historic District.

If they vote yes to calendar, they will then hold a public hearing on whether or not to designate the extension.

boerum hill historic district expansion — Bergen Street between Bond and Nevins streets. Photo by Susan De Vries

If approved, the extension would enlarge the existing historic district by several blocks and include a stretch of historic shops on Atlantic Avenue as well as modest early and mid 19th century brick row houses.

The extension has been a long time coming. One was proposed back in 1977.

boerum hill historic district extension — Atlantic Avenue at Bond Street. Photo by Susan De Vries

The Boerum Hill Association proposed an extension of the district again, in 2016. That proposal would extend the line of the district north to State Street and further south past Wyckoff Street.

“Residents asked us to extend the current district as a reaction to the increased development activities,” said Howard Kolins, the President of the Boerum Hill Association. “Some new buildings have massed bulk and height in ways that don’t integrate with the historic buildings. They would like to see more respect for the character of Atlantic Avenue’s small town feel.”

What is being evaluated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday is slightly smaller than the 2016 proposal.

Last week, the LPC unexpectedly designated a standalone Colonial Revival mansion in Bushwick, the Peter P. and Rosa M. Huberty House at 1019 Bushwick Avenue, calling it a “striking reminder of the avenue’s historic character.”

Meanwhile, time is running out to designate East New York’s remarkable Empire State Dairy Co. building, which sports large American Majolica tile murals. The building was calendared in March 2016. Under a recently passed modification to the landmark law, the time to designate it runs out in December.