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Download the abridged Preservation Plan (as given to guests at the oral presentation)

Fourth to First Avenues

This neighborhood located between First Avenue and Fourth Avenue is characterized by surviving immigrant presence manifested in tenements, ethnic stores and cultural support networks. It is a transitional “valley” between Union Square and Stuyvesant Town, and still retains vestiges of affluent mid-nineteenth-century residential development.

Zoning Summary

The C6-3X designation is a general commercial district outside the central business district with a commercial FAR of 6.0. C6 districts are zoned for a wide range of high bulk commercial uses requiring a central location. C1 districts accommodate the retail and personal service shops needed in residential neighborhoods. C1-6A, in particular, is a contextual district requires that sixty five percent of the lot area has to remain open, resulting in buildings that are at maximum five to six stories.

Physical Conditions

The documented age range of the entire area is 1860-2006, and there are many mid-nineteenth-century row houses and tenements. Of the sixty-eight buildings included on these three blocks, fifty percent date from 1880 to 1930. Of the remaining thirty-four, sixteen percent date from before 1880 and fifteen percent date from after 1930. Nineteen percent of the buildings in the area are undocumented or unknown age.

The buildings are generally low-scale, five- to six-stories, mid-block, punctuated by large mid-twentieth-century apartment buildings and New York University dorms. The prevalent materials are brick and stucco which is applied either over brick or brownstone. Two exceptions to this rule are the Town and Village Synagogue, made of Tuckahoe marble, and Engine Company No. 5, which has surviving cast iron elements. On the block between Second and First Avenue on the north side, many cornices have been removed and facade alterations are the norm through the entire area. The conditions of the materials in this area range from average to very wellmaintained.

Historic Resources

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Issues

The Labor Temple

The building is currently marred by inappropriate storefronts which detract from its architectural magnificence. The Plan hopes that the Labor Temple’s proposed designation will lead to LPC review of the current storefronts, and that the recommendations for appropriate storefront designs—as highlighted in The Plan in Chapter V—will be taken into consideration in future design schemes.

The Town and Village Synagogue

The Synagogue has received poor conservation treatments in the past, such as insensitive re-pointing, which may indicate that the congregation’s priorities do not lie in preservation. This may translate into other future inappropriate actions on the building. The Plan proposes this building for New York City and National landmark designation in conjunction with application for the Sacred Sites Program.

Engine Company No. 5

Engine Company No. 5, as the oldest remaining Le Brun firehouse functioning today as it was intended, is one of the best examples of the newly standardized, “modern” concept of the function, organization, and visual statement to be made by a firehouse in the 1880s and 1890s. The fact that the firehouse is still used in its original capacity will help with its preservation. The Plan proposes this building for New York City and National Landmark designation.

Summary

The presence of the Ear and Eye Infirmary in the area might lead to development pressure, as the Infirmary expands within the area. In order to address the inappropriate signage in this area we are proposing the implementation of a Retail Assistance Program to be administered by the current Business Improvement District. In order to preserve the tenements, we advocate for the zoning in the area to remain unchanged. Also, an education program (pamphlets and seminars) would inform building owners about the maintenance required by their older building structures. The Conservation section in this Plan is a start in such an education program, and refers owners to various sources for additional information.

This area remains a residential “pocket” in the overall commercial thoroughfare that is 14th Street. Our goal for this area is to preserve the resources that contribute to this area’s distinctive character and to promote sensitive development of vacant lots and under-built corner sites which will in turn revitalize the overall area leading to a renewed interest in the improvement of the built fabric.