Outrage and Rally to Save Historic Vanderbilt Building from Demolition

NEW YORK, May 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- FULTON-NASSAU HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMUNITY -- The Community Board 1's Landmarks & Preservation Committee voted unanimously to support designation of the Vanderbilt Building, located at 15-19 Beekman Street, as a New York City Landmark. This decision on May 14 lends its full support to a broader community effort to save the building from an imminent demolition project.

Built in 1892, the Vanderbilt is designed by McKim, Mead & White, the celebrated architectural firm for city landmarks such as Columbia University or the lost Penn Station.  The Vanderbilt is part of the Fulton-Nassau Historic District.  This federal designation was awarded to this Financial District neighborhood in recognition of both its historical significance and architectural value.  As both an example of very early New-York skyscrapers and a fine Classical Revival creation by McKim, Mead & White, the Vanderbilt completes the four corners of the Nassau-Beekman intersection, where three New York City landmarks occupy three corners (The Beekman, Potter and Morse buildings).

"Preservation planning is inherently sustainable. The Vanderbilt Building is an existing resource which can serve future New Yorkers in a variety of ways," said Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council. "The designation of a historic district within this area would serve our city immeasurably by pointing towards a future where these buildings would be treated as a valuable resource to be reused and improved, rather than placeholders for short-sighted schemes."

The Vanderbilt demolition project is planned by Pace University and SL Green Development. "It is incomprehensible that at a time of COVID-19, when our City is rattled by so much loss, Pace University and SL Green are fast-tracking the destruction of New York history," commented Marc Donnenfeld, member of the Fulton-Nassau community.

A community petition asking for the preservation of the Vanderbilt building as a New York City Landmark quickly garnered over 800 signatures upon its launch.

SOURCE FULTON-NASSAU HISTORIC DISTRICT COMMUNITY