As recently reported, the Landmarks Preservation Commission is now considering an 11th hour appeal to landmark Rizzoli Bookstore’s historic interior. Although the LPC had previously evaluated the exterior of the building, their evaluation report did not examine the interior.  Yet, in the wake of enormous public outrage over the building’s proposed demolition and a recent press conference where Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and leading preservationists called for reforming the Commission, the LPC has finally decided the interior warrants review.

When news broke in January that Vornado and LeFrak planned to demolish the three historic former Piano Row buildings on 57th Street, preservationists scrambled to mount a campaign to save them. Previously, Community Board 5 had voted unanimously in 2007 that these buildings should be landmarked, and City Council Member Daniel Garodnick had requested the Landmarks Preservation Commission designate the building a historic landmark. While the majority of preservation efforts have thus far focused on designating the exquisite facades of 29, 31, 33 W 57th Street, the very fine interior of 31 W 57th Street deserves special consideration.

To date, the petition to landmark the Rizzoli building has received over 16,000 signatures. The petition’s official objective seeks to “designate 31 West 57th Street as an individual and interior landmark.” As of 2014, over 31,000 buildings have been landmarked in New York City. However, landmark designation for interiors is rare. Since the Landmarks Law was signed in 1965, there have only been 115 interior landmark designations. Read more…

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