After Neighboring Hotel Gets Landmarks Nod, Merchant’s House Braces for Construction

Earlier today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved the construction of a nine-story hotel next to the 182-year-old Merchant’s House—a beloved East Village museum and the only family home in the city to be landmarked both inside and out—ending one chapter of the two-year fight that preservationists waged to stop the development.

Now, the museum will begin second phase of the battle, director Margaret Gardiner told the Observer this afternoon—beginning the painstaking process of ensuring that the neighboring construction does not damage the historic home.