The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to hold public hearings for six Manhattan sites, a step that typically results in designating the properties as landmarks.
The buildings include two Federal-style brick houses at 190 and 192 Grand Street in Little Italy, constructed in 1820. The pasta company Piemonte Ravioli occupies the ground floor at 190 Grand, and Florio’s Ristorante is next door at 192 Grand Street.
A 12-story tower at 35 West 39th Street was built in 1912 as the headquarters of the accounting firm Haskins and Sells, founded by Charles Haskins, a nephew of Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Elijah Watt Sells. The firm was a predecessor to Deloitte, one of the “Big Four” auditors.
A 12-story loft building at 154 West 14th Street, at Seventh Avenue, was built in 1913. It was designed by architect Herman Lee Meader, and is a “spectacular example of the use of polychrome terra cotta. The base consists of golden terra cotta tiles with white floral relief work and green diamonds with blue surrounds,” in the words of Columbia University’s Historic Preservation Studio.
Loew’s Canal Street Theater at 31 Canal Street was completed in 1927, and designed by architect Thomas Lamb. The Post reported in January that an Asian-American arts group wanted to convert the 2,300-seat theater, which has been unused for 30 years, into a cultural center.
Ridley & Sons Department Store expanded in 1886 to include 315 and 321 Grand Streets and 59 Orchard Street. The Lower East Side retailer had a total of five acres of floor space and 2,400 employees at the time.
The Japan Society Building at 333 East 47th Street was built in 1971, and designed by Junzo Yoshimura, making it the first New York building designed by a Japanese architect, according to the LPC. The land, across the street from the United Nations, was donated by John Rockefeller III, president of the Japan Society, according to its Web site.
The dates of public hearings have not been scheduled. The LPC on Tuesday also landmarked the Brill Building in Times Square, the Germania Fire insurance Company Building in the East Village and a five-story brownstone in midtown. It also extended the Upper East Side Historic District to include 74 additional buildings.
