manhattan board 5
TRANSCRIPT
www.cb5.org [email protected]
Manhattan Community Board Five
January 23, 2014
Hon. Robert B. Tierney
Chair
Landmarks Preservation Commission
One Centre Street, 9th Floor North
New York, NY 10007
Dear Chair Tierney:
Manhattan Community Board Five is very disturbed that the building located at 31 West 57th Street is
slated for demolition.
In 2007, Community Board Five passed a resolution calling for immediate designation of the building, as
well as its neighbors 29 West 57th Street, 33 West 57
th Street & 35 West 57
th Street.
31 West 57th Street is a prime example of French Classical architecture. Known as the Sohmer Building,
it was constructed for Hugo Sohmer, founder of Sohmer Piano Company, in 1919 as a 6-story piano
showroom, designed by architect Randolph Almiroty in the French Classical style, featuring a single
broad archway framed by quoins.
The building was home to the Sohmer Piano Company’s showroom. A company that made some of the
finest pianos in the world, its famous clients include Jean Harlow, Al Jolson, Ramon Navarro, Victor
Herbert (owned several), Irving Berlin (owned three), and President Calvin Coolidge.
The building’s fine architecture was given a careful restoration in 1986 by the noted N.Y. architectural
firm of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates and the Rizzoli Bookstore is now the sole tenant.
However, all four buildings, 29, 31, 33 and 35 W 57th, amply deserve to be designated as individual
landmarks, for their architectural merits, as well as for their historical significance.
Community Board Five is alarmed that the Landmark Preservation Commission ignored CB5’s request
for an evaluation since 2007, but ruled last week that it deemed the Midtown Manhattan property at 31
West 57th Street “lacks the architectural significance necessary to meet the criteria for designation as an
individual landmark,” according to an article published by the International Business Times.
Community Board Five is urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to reconsider these comments.
The building should be evaluated by the commission, based on its many merits, regardless of the intention
of developers to demolish it to make way for a large tower.
Vikki Barbero, Chair 450 Seventh Avenue, Suite 2109 Wally Rubin, District Manager New York, NY 10123-2199
212.465.0907 f-212.465.1628
www.cb5.org [email protected]
Community Board Five is urging the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a hearing on the
designation, so as to provide an opportunity for public input. LPC’s ruling, which could lead to the
demolition of a century old building, cannot be made behind closed doors.
The decision should be reached after a careful review, and should be communicated to the various
stakeholders directly.
Ultimately, your goal and commitment is one and the same as ours: the preservation of yesterday, for a
better tomorrow.
Respectfully,
Vikki Barbero Layla Law-Gisiko
Chair Chair, Landmarks Committee
Cc: Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development
Letitia James, Public Advocate
Gale A. Brewer, Manhattan Borough President
Dan Garodnick, Councilmember
Liz Krueger, State Senator