Demolition of Chelsea buildings from
1840s has preservationists up in arms
BY MARK HALLUM
“It stinks,” if you ask Andrew Berman,
Executive Director of Village
Preservation.
What he was referring to are a set of
well-known buildings at the corner of Ninth
Avenue and 14th Street that date to the 1840s
and are protected as historic sites, but that
is not stopping city agencies from greenlighting
their demolition.
The circumstances that the structures
at 44-54 Ninth Ave., be deemed unsafe by
both the city Department of Buildings and
the Landmarks Preservation Commission in
the midst of a plan to redevelop the corner
by Tavros Capital, is simply too convenient,
according to Berman at a rally Thursday
morning.
“The city relies on the assumption that
we’re all pretty dumb. They will say, well,
here’s some pictures of some cracked bricks
in the building. That means these buildings
are too fragile, and too endangered to remain
up and they have to be demolished right now.
Many of us have worked with a historic
building or two. And we’ve seen conditions
like this. It is not uncommon in 175 year old
buildings,” Berman said.
Andrew Berman of Village Preservation speaks at a rally in front of 44-54
Ninth Ave. where demolition is underway on the 1840s buildings on Oct. 28.
According to the DOB, a registered design
professional documented the street facades
detaching from walls, the absence of ties connecting
the street facades to the fl oors, “very
erratic and ineffective” brick toothing, cracked
fl oor beams, compromised mortar and many
large openings the “demising” walls.
“The City must act quickly to keep the
public safe when emergencies occur. These
historic buildings were being restored and
renovated when structural engineers discovered
and reported dangerous pre-existing
conditions. Many of the structural failures,
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
which predated the recent work at the site,
were hidden by interior nonstructural walls
and surface fi nishes. DOB engineers confi
rmed dangerous conditions with a potential
collapse imminent and ordered immediate
corrective actions to protect the public and
workers at the site, including deconstructing
the street facades by hand,” the DOB and
LPC said in a joint statement. “All future
work will require review by LPC, and the
building owners have agreed to salvage the
bricks from the street facades and reconstruct
the historic buildings to the extent possible.”
Those street facades were currently under
demolition as of Thursday morning with old
time-y lettering beneath the facade indicating
that a dentist’s offi ce once existed there
many decades ago. The Old Homestead
steakhouse still has parts of its signage disappearing
beneath scaffolding. Projections of
the buildings that will spring in their place
have already been posted to the scaffolding
and depict brick structures of similar scale to
what has stood there for much of the city’s
past.
Tavros has been and continues to be
fully committed to renovate, reconstruct,
and restore the façades of the historic buildings
as an integral part of our work on this
site. We understand that there has been
an abundance of concern about how these
dangerous conditions came about and why
it is necessary to dismantle the façades.” Dov
Barnett, a founding partner at Tavros, said.
“At this time, the façades have been braced
to allow the demolition to proceed safely
in accordance with NYC DOB. Given the
dangerous state of these façades and clear
direct orders from NYC DOB, any suggestion
that the required demolition should be halted
is both uninformed and irresponsible.”
Tavros Capital also stated that while
the building is unsafe, the façades have
been “braced to allow the demolition to
proceed safely,” regarding calls for the demolition
to be halted “both uninformed and
irresponsible.”
Money-hungry bandit steals tip jar and
register cash at Chelsea Subway
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
Cops in Chelsea are looking
for the hungry crook who
robbed a Subway sandwich
shop earlier this month.
The NYPD released on Oct. 30
video footage of the perpetrator
sought for the Oct. 13 heist, which
occurred at about 3 a.m. inside the
eatery located at 221 7th Ave.
According to law enforcement
sources, the bandit walked into
the shop and asked a 22-year-old
male employee for money out of the
tip jar. The Subway worker then
reached into the tip jar and handed
the man a buck, but that apparently
didn’t satisfy the suspect, who expressed
displeasure at the paltry
sum and left the location.
Moments later, police said, the
crook returned to the Subway location
and demanded more money.
When the sandwich shop employee
refused, cops reported, the suspect
hopped over the counter and confronted
him — demanding that he
PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPD
The suspect behind the Oct.
13 robbery of a Subway
sandwich shop in Chelsea.
open the register.
Authorities said the thief threatened
to shoot the worker, though
no fi rearm was ever displayed.
Police said the worker complied
with the demand, opening the
register and allowing the suspect
to grab $800 in cash out of it. The
thief then fl ed the location on foot
in an unknown direction.
The incident was reported to
the 13th Precinct; there were no
injuries.
Video footage shows the suspect
apparently doing a quick change
near the robbery scene, removing
a hooded sweatshirt he had been
wearing, and stuffi ng what appeared
to be cash into his pockets.
Police described the suspect as a
partially-bald man in his 30s with
a light complexion and a medium
build, standing about 6 feet, 1 inch
tall and weighing about 190 pounds.
He was last seen wearing a black face
mask, a light-colored sweater with
the “I Love NY” logo on the front,
light blue jeans and black sneakers.
Anyone with information
regarding the robbery or the
crook’s whereabouts can call
Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS
(for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA).
You can also submit tips online at
crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, or
on Twitter @NYPDTips. All calls
and messages are kept confi dential.
Cops seek man who attacked
multiple Traffi c Enforcement
Agents in Hell’s Kitchen
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Police are looking for
a brute who assaulted
several traffi c agents in
Hell’s Kitchen on Oct. 7.
The bruiser and another
person, who has since been
arrested, argued with three
Traffi c Enforcement Agents
near West 40th Street and
11th Avenue around 6:30
p.m., before the war of words
escalated and they attacked the
uniformed workers and fl ed in
their car, according to NYPD.
Paramedics brought the
TEAs to a nearby hospital with
minor injuries, cops said.
Photos show the man in
question get out of his car donning
a red hat and a white shirt.
Anyone with information
regarding his whereabouts
can call Crime Stoppers at
800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial
888-57-PISTA). You can also
submit tips online at crimestoppers.
nypdonline.org, or on Twitter
@NYPDTips. All calls and
messages are kept confi dential.
PHOTO COURTESY OF NYPD
An image of the man police
are seeking for attacking
a traffic agent in Hell’s
Kitchen on Oct. 7.
Schneps Mediia November 4, 2021 3
/crimestoppers.nypdonline.org
/nypdonline.org
