Row House Plans Panned

Six dilapidated row houses on East 76th Street may finally get a much-needed facelift, but preservationists aren"t thrilled with the owner"s vision for the buildings. The neo-Greco style row houses, which face Lenox Hill Hospital on East 76th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues, are landmarked. On Jan. 5, Joseph Chetrit, who bought the buildings from the hospital, presented a restoration plan to the city"s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Chetrit proposed adding modern features to the structures" façades, building two-story rooftop additions and converting the six homes to three large single-family residences. The plan, presented by Macrae-Gibson Architects, includes a second entrance to the three homes to preserve the â??memory of the other six. Referencing the surrounding historic district, architect Gavin Macrae-Gibson said that the new façade would have â??three layers of history, that is, a mix of the original elements, modifications made in the 1920s and Chetrit"s modern additions. The row houses, constructed between 1883 and 1885, were used by the hospital for a few decades but have since been left to deteriorate. In 2007, the cash-strapped hospital unloaded the buildings to Chetrit Group for $26 million. Preservationists at the public meeting agreed that the row houses are in need of restoration after a long period of neglect. The restoration plans, however, were panned. â??Neglect should not be an argument for inappropriate alterations, said Nadezhda Williams of the Historic District Council, at the meeting. â??The only acceptable solution to this terrible problem is to stabilize, rebuild and restore the façades to their present configuration or their historic one. Robert Atkins, a neighbor at 103 E. 75th St., called the proposed houses, â??bloated, oversized McMansions at the meeting. Chetrit, however, argues that he is trying to clean up an eyesore, and said that his company would break even on the project, rather than make a profit. â??We are trying to deliver something nice, he added. But the commissioners said the design should be more consistent with the historic district, and one of them, Frederick Bland, described the two-story roof top additions as â??overwhelming. â??I think this design does fall short, added Pablo Vengoechea, vice chair of the commission. â??The memory of the six townhouses is fading in this proposal. The commission recommended that Chetrit alter his plans to address their concerns and return with a revamped proposal. The Chetrit Group did not return calls for comment. Although the commission did not vote on the façade plan, it approved demolition of the rear façade at the request of the Department of Buildings, which is concerned that two row houses in particular's 112 and 114 E. 76th St.'s have severe structural damage and signs of deterioration. The department will monitor the other row houses and recommend additional demolition if necessary. â??My fear is that if we have an uncontrolled collapse of the rear façade, this collapse mechanism will cascade, said Timothy Lynch, director of the forensic engineering unit at the buildings department, at the hearing. â??An uncontrolled collapse is overdue.