Endangered NYC - Lost & Threatened Treasures

[RandySavage]

This thread fills the need for a one-stop, up-to-date, visual clearinghouse of all the landmark-worthy buildings that have been destroyed/replaced in recent years and those that are in the crosshairs for near-future razing. Here, in one thread, we can see what is happening to the City’s architectural heritage. Maybe this will motivate people to contact the Landmarks Preservation Commission or the Mayor’s Office. Civil debate on landmark-worthiness is welcome.

If you're going to add a building, please post in a consistent format: Building Name(Address); Lifespan; Destroyer or Developer; Current Status; Photos: Past/Present/Future. That will keep the thread as informative as possible.

Uncredited photos were taken/posted by WiredNewYork members including Antinimby, ZippytheChimp, Derek2k3, LondonLawyer, MidtownGuy, NYGuy, etc.. I hope you don’t mind my using them here.

I’ll start with some recently destroyed buildings that I think should have been preserved:

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Drake Hotel (50 E. 57th St.); 1926 – 2007; Macklowe; building razed, empty lot, in limbo
Past:


Present:


Future(pending? early massing):


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Newsweek Building (1775 Broadway/3 Columbus Cr.) ; 1928 – 2008; Moinan Group; in progress, old façade being ripped off.

Past:

photocredit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jim-in-times-square/

Present:


Future:



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YWCA (610 Lexington Ave) ; 1915-2007; Aby Rosen; Demolished, Shangri-La construction in limbo
Past:


Present:


Future(pending?):



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Hotel Pennsylvania(401 7th Avenue) ; 1919-????; Vornado Realty Trust; Proposed for demolition, in limbo
Past/Present:


Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/scalleja/

Future(Pending?):



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Centurion(33 West 56th Street) ; 19th Century-2007; Antonio Dev., Stillman Dev.; Soon to be completed
Past:


Present:



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57th Street Townhouses; Pre-1864-????; Macklowe; Associated with Drake site, slated for razing/development?

Past:


Present: ????

Future:



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Many more to come...

[RandySavage]

50 West Street; 1912-2008; Time Equities; On hold due to economy

Past:


Present:



Future:

[RandySavage]

Penn Station; 1910-1963; ----; plans for relocation to Farley Post Office in limbo

Past:


Present:

[RandySavage]

Studebaker Building(1600 Broadway); 1902-2004; Sherwood Equities;

Past:



Present:

[avngingandbright]

Maybe not a treasure, but certainly a relic.

[RandySavage]

30 Great Jones St.; 1898-2007; Edison Properties; Fully demolished as of 2008, replacement not known

Past:


Present:

[RandySavage]

Patterson Silks Building(8 Union Square South); 1949-2005; Claremont Group

Past:



Present:

[RandySavage]

Ziegfeld Theater; 1927-1965;

Past:


Present:

[RandySavage]

Roosevelt Hotel(Madison at 45th); 1924-Present; Pakistani Airlines; Off-again, on-again rumors that hotel will be put up for sale-demolition-development

Past/Present:



Future (Possible):

[RandySavage]

Dakota Stables(350 Amsterdam Ave.); 1894-2006; Related Companies; “The Harrison” nearing completion

Past:


Present/Future:

[RandySavage]

50 Trinity Place; ????-2008; McSam Hotel Group; On hold??

Past:



Present:



Future:

[RandySavage]

Wilkie Memorial Building(14 W. 40th St.); 1907-1985
Past:


Present:



Future (on hold?):

[RandySavage]

Times Building (1 Times Sq.); 1905-1963 (original façade);
Past:


Present:

Photo credit: http://www.nyc-architecture.com/

Amazingly this is the same building as the top. The façade was ripped off in the 1960s and the once landmark tower is now used as a giant, empty billboard holder.

[NYC4Life]

Gotta love NYC's style of self-destruction.

[antinimby]

There are tons of gems that were mindlessly razed/stripped/recladded/defaced over the years and replaced by modern junk.

There is just too much to cover but I'll start with this relatively recent one: the Sheraton Russell hotel @ 45 Park Ave.

It was torn down (2006) and replaced with a Costas Kondylis special (2007).


Before...




...after...