Random header image... Refresh for more!

Home

Welcome to the West 13th Street 100 Block Association website.

Who We Are

Village Presbyterian Church, now Greenwich Mews

Village Presbyterian Church, now Greenwich Mews

In September 1996, in response to a rat infestation, an increase in traffic congestion and noise, the neglect of our trees and flowers, and burned-out street lamps, we started the West 13th Street 100 Block Association. Our association is focused on one small piece of New York: West 13th St. between 6th Ave. and 7th Ave., the “100 block.”
 
 
We are located in northern Greenwich Village, New York City, near the border of Chelsea. It is a tree-lined block comprised of townhouses, large apartment buildings, small apartment buildings, several restaurants, and various small buildings. It is notable for its many trees and for the 1846 Village Presbyterian Church, a Greek revival structure in the center of the block that was converted to apartments in 1983. It was here that a preacher characterized Grover Cleveland’s Democratic Party as a hotbed of “rum, Romanism, and rebellion.”
 
 
Current officers of the West 13th St. 100 Block Association are Gary Tomei, President; Alan Jacobs, Vice President; Robert Kittine, Treasurer; and Judy Pesin, Treasurer.  The Gazette is edited by Bruce Meyer.


Continue »

Gary Tomei’s Corner

We Have Not Yet Begun To Fight
To view President’s Message archives, click here

The Landmarks Preservation Commission’s vote approving St. Vincent’s Hospital’s “hardship” application, allows it to raze the O’Toole building, which has been acknowledged by the LPC itself to be an architecturally significant building within the confines of the Greenwich Village Historic District.

This building was already landmarked when it was acquired by St Vincent’s in 1973. Authorities familiar with the Landmarks Law, say the commissioners who voted in favor of St. Vincent’s apparently failed to apply the proper statutory standards regarding the “hardship” application.

This decision, if allowed to stand, will ultimately mean the destruc-tion of the character of the Village. Furthemore, it will render the Landmarks Law moot.

“If a charity can acquire a building knowing that it is protected by the Landmarks Law and then turn around and demolish it by claiming hardship, the law is going to be followed more in the breach than in the observance,” said Delia Guazzo, Vice Chairperson of Protect the Village Historic District.

I ask, Where is the outrage? What has happened to our sense of duty to preserve the best of our culture for future generations?

We in the Greenwich Village Historic District will not, must not, stand idly by, and let this decision go unchallenged. We will appeal this travesty of justice and make sure it is overturned. To do so we need your support. I urge you to go to the Protect the Village Historic District website at protectthevillage.org to see what you can do to help our cause.

The LPC vote was supposed to be solely concerning the O’Toole building, and pursuant to the statute, O’Toole can only be torn down if it can no longer be used for its present purposes. The building is now being used for physicians’ offices and can continue to be so used.

Therefore, the application should have been rejected; however, by mixing apples with oranges, those voting in favor of the application, in reaching their decision relied on the alleged financial problems of the Hospital, its professed difficulty in renovating the present hospital building, located across from O’Toole, and the question whether any alternative sites were available to St. Vincent’s.

None of these considerations were relevant to the question before the Commission, yet the decision turned on just those issues. St. Vincent’s had not even applied for a financial hardship, nor had it opened its books to the Commission, which would have been necessary had it made such an application.

Furthermore, St. Vincent’s has always contended that the Hospital had to be one huge tower; however, prior to the October 28th meeting, the LPC had already decided that the size of the proposed hospital building was inappropriate for the Village. St. Vincent’s never reapplied for a Certificate of Appropriateness, so it would appear that the Commission has granted the Hospital the right to tear down a historic building in order to erect an edifice that it has already deemed inappropriate. In view of those facts, this decision defies common sense.

I have contended from the beginning of this process that the attempt by Rudin and St. Vincent’s to build two humongous buildings in the Village was driven by economic and political expediency. If those are the sole standards that we are to employ, what is the sense of having a Landmarks Law? The builders and developers would bury our historic, cultural and architectural past under a slew of undistinguished glass towers.

Let me be clear: I support St. Vincent’s need to modernize, but I see no inherent conflict between that need and the preservation of our beloved Village.

The St. Vincent’s catchment area is now the Westside from the Battery to 59th street. There is no valid reason that the Hospital remain here, in our limited communal area. Let St. Vincent’s build, without constraints, outside the Historic District where it can truly best serve the entire Westside community.

500 Steps with Alan

This is the second in a series of guides to things to see within 500 steps (according to my pedometer) of the 100 block of West 13th Street. To view 500 Steps with Alan archives, click here

Going north, I found God’s Country:

salvation_army198

The Salvation Army Centennial Memorial Temple : It’s right around the corner at 120 W. 14th St. We walk past it all the time, perceive something spectacular, but never go in. I called up our local emissary from the Salvation Army, Envoy Ian Anderson, and got an amazing tour, along with a dollop of Salvation Army history.

The Chapel is in an art deco style popular in the 20’s, also called “Ziggurat Moderne.” Originally the national headquarters, it is now headquarters for the New York region. Its name commemorates the centennial of the birth of Salvation Army founder William Booth. Its 1600-seat auditorium resembles a lovely old movie palace.

Envoy Anderson tells me that such a resemblance is intentional: the Army wanted to reach those who could not ordinarily be drawn into churches, so it often created theatrical events to entice sinners who then might be converted. So the building’s location on a block with three porn shops is appropriate: the more sinners in the vicinity, the better for the mission.

See this masterpiece for yourself at the “Christmas Extravaganza,” Sunday, December 14, at 6 p.m. Admission is free and Envoy Anderson says the music is terrific!

500 Steps with Alan

500 Steps with Alan


Continue »