What is more enigmatic than the history of the mews on Sylvan Court (top photo) is that the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission does not see their value in relationship to other historic mews districts in the city. Mews are typically former 19th century stable yards that end abruptly in an alley-like layout. The carriage houses are only two levels or so and have historically been converted to cottage-like living quarters for the lower middle classes. In the New York City area, there remains the Sniffen Mews (lower photo) in Murray Hill, the Washington Mews by Washington Square Park, Sylvan Terrace in upper Harlem and the Brooklyn Heights Mews. All of the four have been landmarked and restored.
One of the East Harlem community sites mentioned its desire to have Sylvan Court landmark designated but expressed that there is not much left to protect that is original. We disagree. From the looks of it, only windows have to be replaced and the dirt road needs some paver stones or cobblestones for these charming houses to be complete. There are also government subsidies for this type of restoration if the property is part of a historic district in a low income area. Sylvan Terrace (see previous post) forty blocks north was in worse condition by the time it was landmarked a couple of decades ago, so there should be no problem restoring this rare bit of 19th century history in East Harlem to its former glory. The Sylvan Court Mews is on the street north of the landmarked Harlem Courthouse on 121st Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. Take the 4,5,6 to 125th Street or the 6 train to 116th Street.
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4 comments:
Do the owners of those homes want them landmarked? I thought that the church next door on 122 owned a bunch of the houses and didn't necessarily want the restrictions of landmark status so they'd have flexibility in repairs... although I agree that the street is an unappreciated gem in East Harlem. I had a friend who lived on it, and said that people would often wander down the court and ask about buying one of the houses, but he didn't think the church wanted to sell.
I think these are treasures that need to be preserved for posterity. They don't make them like that anymore.
I lived on Sylvan Court for 4 years. It was an incredible place to be -- I remember when Max Bond, the famous Harlem-based architect who died recently, visited our home, and was astonished at the beauty of the mews.
Of the seven townhouses on the mews, I believe that a pair of them are owned by a nearby church & the rest are owned by individuals. While both landmark status & also investment could help improve the mews (three houses are currently boarded up), I think that a major social challenge is that many of those who expressed interest in purchasing the buildings were realtors who seemed intent on selling the houses at large profits, which would significantly change the character of the community. It is a middle-class community of primarily black & brown residents, and those demographics would be at risk based on the rapidly gentrifying real estate market in the neighborhood.
Generally, though, I would support such efforts to promote the preservation of this NYC treasure.
Ethan - you are bordering racism. It is a capitalist society and if a white realtor wants to buy, then they should buy if it is for sale. Obviously the people in the neighborhood have neglected these lovely buildings and private investment from rich upper class people either save these building or they disappear forever.
This is what is wrong with plenty of the institutions in Harlem - racism. The church who does not sell to white people yet preach against racism are hypocrites.
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