The two brownstone shells just east of Sylvia's on 126th Street and Lenox appear to be losing their battle against the elements as the lower photo taken just this past week shows. DOB files reveal that these two standing walls were originally planned to be one condo building back in 2008 but nothing happened except for the entire demolition of the property on the back end. In the following years, the owner at least tried to preserve the front of the building by adding steel braces for support but now it appears that cornices finally had to go. There have not been any new permits posted since April 2010 so the fate of this development is still a mystery. The Red Rooster is just south of this location so one would think that the owner would be able to get things started again based on the renewed interest on the immediate block.
The cornice is easily replaced and the steel beams will stabilize the existing faced. So I expect it to last some time in this state. If converted to apartments, this will make interesting homes as there is only need for a single stairwell leaving double a width floorplate to provide spacious layouts as opposed to the usual brownstone narrow apartments. Heres hoping it falls into the hands of a creative developer.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what westsider means by "the cornice is easily replaced"? With that logic, we could also say, the whole facade is easily rebuilt... At this point, what is left is brownstone. Let's face it, brownstone is an inferior building material, as we can see all over the city. It's soft, it flakes, and it doesn't hold up well against the elements. The way that it is being restored these days, the color and texture look nothing like it would have originally. And we cover it completely in restoration stucco so the original brownstone isn't even visible. What's the point? What is left of the facades of these particular buildings is not worth keeping.
ReplyDeleteBuilding technology today is in many ways superior to yesteryear. The drawback, the way I see it, is that nowadays, buildings are not built with the expectation that they will last to eternity. Things are built with the knowledge that tastes change every decade, and it's possible to easily deconstruct and dispose of. We have the capability to build in a manner that has longevity. It is just cost prohibitive, and we ultimately choose not to.
I personally love to see original detail, and feel it is a shame when owners choose to not restore. But we also have to remember that the quality of some of this original detail is not good quality by today's standards, and that it was, in fact, "off the shelf", Home Depot kinda ornamentation of the time.
We need to put these thing in perspective.
Darlene, replacing the cornice is a two part process, the cornice is simply pressed metal and can be purchased in the south Bronx and it is secured to the vertical masonry. The masonry behind the cornice is simply a short vertical wall which again is easily rebuilt. So the two part process is 1) rebuild the top missing façade masonry, 2) purchase and attach a cornice. Hope that helps.
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