Designation 'Wish List'

Since 1985, LW! has spearheaded efforts to increase the number of designated Landmarks on the Upper West Side. Today, we are the proud curators of our neighborhood's nearly 2,700 protected buildings (up from only 337 twenty years ago). Despite these successes, many worthy buildings remain unprotected. LW! maintains a designation 'Wish List,' which we update and submit to the LPC on a recurrent basis.

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Zoning for Sale: Congregation Shearith Israel Plans Condos on its Landmark Site

"[The Congregation Shearith Israel proposal] will irreparably harm the balanced land use regulatory policy that has helped make this area one of America's leading urban neighborhoods."
- Dr. Elliott D. Sclar, director of the Department of Urban Planning, Columbia University

On August 26, 2008, the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals approved 7 zoning variances allowing Congregation Shearith Israel to construct 5 floors of luxury condominiums on top of a brand-new, 4-story community house on the midblock of West 70th Street, right next door to the Landmark Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, located in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District and the R8-B brownstone-scale, contextual zoning district.

Since October 2002, LW! has led the charge - together with neighbors, architects, planners, historians, elected officials and fellow civic organizations - to protect the special character of this historic brownstone midblock and, because this building would be precedent-setting, other historic, low-rise areas throughout the city.

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