Bay Ridge

Bay Ridge block seeks special status from city

‘Doctor’s Row’ boasts limestone row houses

July 10, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Residents of Bay Ridge Parkway between Fourth and Fifth avenues want their street to be named a Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Eagle photo by Paula Katinas
Share this:

A tree-lined Bay Ridge block that boasts beautiful limestone row houses built in the early 20th century would be granted special status by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission if a proposal being put forth by the block association succeeds.

The Bay Ridge Parkway 400 Block Association is seeking to have the street designated as a Historic District by the commission.

The proposal covers Bay Ridge Parkway, also known as 75th Street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues, a block that many local residents refer to as “Doctor’s Row” due to the large number of doctor’s offices located there.

Community Board 10 recently voted to send a letter to the commission to support the notion of having the commission take a look at it.

The community board’s vote was based on a recommendation from its Zoning and Land Use Committee, headed by Chairman Brian Kaszuba.

If the commission agrees to take a look at it, the proposal to actually grant Historic District status to the block will likely come back to the community board for its consideration at some point in the future, Kaszuba said. “If it came back, I would be in favor of it,” he told the Brooklyn Eagle.

The Historic Districts Council of New York City is providing support and guidance to the block association. Kelly Carroll, the council’s director of advocacy and community outreach, has been the point person in the block association’s efforts in dealing with the city.

Carroll serves as the council’s liaison to a network of over 500 local activist groups and works to facilitate local and citywide preservation campaigns, according to the council’s website, www.hdc.org.

There is a difference between historic district status in New York City and being listed on the National Registry of Historic Places, according to Kaszuba, who is the managing editor of CityLand, a publication that focuses on land use issues in New York.

“NYC has the strongest preservation laws in the country,” Kaszuba told the Eagle.

If historic district status is granted, a homeowner on the block who would want to make major changes to the façade of the house would have to obtain the approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. But the restriction does not cover the interior of the building, meaning that homeowners are free to renovate the inside of the building.

Getting the commission’s approval is not a draconian process, Kaszuba said. “Landmarks works very well with individual homeowners,” he noted.

The step taken by the Bay Ridge Parkway group could be a harbinger of the future, Kaszuba said, adding that other block associations in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights may follow. “This is not the only block that could qualify for historic district status. We would be open to other blocks doing it,” he said.

“We have a great district. We are lucky to have the Bay Ridge Special District,” Kaszuba said.

Back in the1970s, the City Council amended the zoning law in Community Board 10 to create the Bay Ridge Special District, which prohibits large scale development on residential blocks containing detached and semi-detached homes. The move was made in an effort to preserve the character of the residential community.

“We have Landmarks as another tool,” Kaszuba said. He meant that declaring a building as a landmark is another way of preserving the building.

The Historic Districts Council has long recognized the beauty of Bay Ridge’s housing stock.

On Saturday, July 15, the council will sponsor a tour of Bay Ridge’s Art Deco structures.

The tour will begin with a ferry ride from Wall Street to the 69th Street Pier. From the pier, participants will take a tour of the neighborhood’s Art Deco sites led by Carroll, Victoria Hofmo, founder of the Bay Ridge Conservancy and Meghan Weatherby of the Art Deco Society of New York. 

The highlights will include stops outside 1920s and ’30s apartment buildings that have original and ornate lobbies, row house blocks, historic wood frame farmhouses, Victorian mansions and churches.

Interesting tidbit: Bay Ridge, which was once a resort for wealthy people, was considered part of Long Island until 1896, when it became part of Brooklyn, according to the council.

 

Subscribe to our newsletters


Leave a Comment


Leave a Comment