landmarking Sohmer Piano Factory
Up to Neighborhood Discussion
Old Sohmer Piano Factory Up For Landmarking; Owners Resist by Neille Ilel, Western Queens Editor Mar 17, 2005 "Queens Chronicle"
The massive Sohmer Piano Factory, located at Vernon Blvd. and 31st St., is nominated for landmarking. (photo by Ethan Fischer)
At first glance, the former Sohmer & Company Piano Factory on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City looks like just another giant red brick warehouse that dot the old industrial areas of New York City.
But preservationists say that industrial architecture like this is quickly disappearing in Queens, and they want to get the building landmarked as quickly as possible. At a hearing on Monday, the Landmarks and Preservation Commission called it one of very few buildings left in the American Round Arch style.
Built as a piano factory in 1886, the building is now owned and used as a warehouse and storage space by the Adirondack Chair Company. The architecture is influenced by German Romanesque style, likely owing to the fact that piano manufacturers had German ancestry. The Sohmers are not as well-known as their counterparts, the Steinways. A new building was built near the Steinway factory, and now isn’t intact enough to be eligible for landmarking.
According to the commission, the only other building in this style left in Queens is an old pipe manufacturing building east of P.S.1. Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, said landmark status was “urgently needed for the preservation of our great industrial heritage.”
But officials at the Adirondack Chair Company say it’s the current industrial landscape that people should be worried about. “We are currently not profitable,” said Randolph Mittasch, the chief financial officer of the company. He said Adirondack was hit hard after 9-11, and a landmark designation of the building “might actually cause us to go out of business.”
Adirondack, which sells office furniture to businesses, schools and churches, employs about 80 people, and is one of only a handful of light industrial businesses that remain anywhere in New York City. Borough President Helen Marshall opposes the landmarking designation for this reason.
In a letter she sent to the commission, Marshall wrote, “I have serious concerns that landmarking this building would cause considerable hardships for the owner...(The company) employs over 100 people, many of whom live in the nearby community.”
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. sent a similar letter, suggesting that the commission only landmark the clock tower, the most significant feature of the structure from an architectural standpoint.
The mansard-roofed clock tower is the most prominent aspect of the building. Its original copper roof was replaced with tin, and then painted green some years ago. John Pupa, vice president of operations for Adirondack, said the tower was in severe disrepair, due to leaks and mold. He said that if repairs had to be made according to the landmark designation, it would be too expensive for them to survive. “We just won’t be around anymore.”
John Jurayj, board member of the Historic Districts Council, called the Adirondack Chair Company’s warnings about closing up shop “very disingenuous.”
“What they’re interested in is their property value,” he said. “It’s a potential tower site.” Jurayj pointed out that residential development along the Long Island City waterfront was pushing northward, and if the city didn’t do something soon, an old building like the piano factory would be razed to make way for a glass skyscraper full of condominiums.
He added that although landmarking may bring down property values in the short run, it could be a boon to the owner later on. “The owner of the Starrett-Lehigh building is laughing all the way to the bank,” he said of the iconic warehouse-turned-offices on the west side of Manhattan.
The Landmarks Commission is keeping the next few weeks open for public comment before it makes a final decision.
The massive Sohmer Piano Factory, located at Vernon Blvd. and 31st St., is nominated for landmarking. (photo by Ethan Fischer)
At first glance, the former Sohmer & Company Piano Factory on Vernon Boulevard in Long Island City looks like just another giant red brick warehouse that dot the old industrial areas of New York City.
But preservationists say that industrial architecture like this is quickly disappearing in Queens, and they want to get the building landmarked as quickly as possible. At a hearing on Monday, the Landmarks and Preservation Commission called it one of very few buildings left in the American Round Arch style.
Built as a piano factory in 1886, the building is now owned and used as a warehouse and storage space by the Adirondack Chair Company. The architecture is influenced by German Romanesque style, likely owing to the fact that piano manufacturers had German ancestry. The Sohmers are not as well-known as their counterparts, the Steinways. A new building was built near the Steinway factory, and now isn’t intact enough to be eligible for landmarking.
According to the commission, the only other building in this style left in Queens is an old pipe manufacturing building east of P.S.1. Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society, said landmark status was “urgently needed for the preservation of our great industrial heritage.”
But officials at the Adirondack Chair Company say it’s the current industrial landscape that people should be worried about. “We are currently not profitable,” said Randolph Mittasch, the chief financial officer of the company. He said Adirondack was hit hard after 9-11, and a landmark designation of the building “might actually cause us to go out of business.”
Adirondack, which sells office furniture to businesses, schools and churches, employs about 80 people, and is one of only a handful of light industrial businesses that remain anywhere in New York City. Borough President Helen Marshall opposes the landmarking designation for this reason.
In a letter she sent to the commission, Marshall wrote, “I have serious concerns that landmarking this building would cause considerable hardships for the owner...(The company) employs over 100 people, many of whom live in the nearby community.”
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. sent a similar letter, suggesting that the commission only landmark the clock tower, the most significant feature of the structure from an architectural standpoint.
The mansard-roofed clock tower is the most prominent aspect of the building. Its original copper roof was replaced with tin, and then painted green some years ago. John Pupa, vice president of operations for Adirondack, said the tower was in severe disrepair, due to leaks and mold. He said that if repairs had to be made according to the landmark designation, it would be too expensive for them to survive. “We just won’t be around anymore.”
John Jurayj, board member of the Historic Districts Council, called the Adirondack Chair Company’s warnings about closing up shop “very disingenuous.”
“What they’re interested in is their property value,” he said. “It’s a potential tower site.” Jurayj pointed out that residential development along the Long Island City waterfront was pushing northward, and if the city didn’t do something soon, an old building like the piano factory would be razed to make way for a glass skyscraper full of condominiums.
He added that although landmarking may bring down property values in the short run, it could be a boon to the owner later on. “The owner of the Starrett-Lehigh building is laughing all the way to the bank,” he said of the iconic warehouse-turned-offices on the west side of Manhattan.
The Landmarks Commission is keeping the next few weeks open for public comment before it makes a final decision.
landmarking Sohmer Piano Factory
Posted by
paulie
at
April 05. 2005
Green, Is there no assistance available for a smaller company such as Adironack as far as remaining and maintaining the building in which it occupies if it should be declared a landmark? I know the building and it would be a shame to loose it especially for reasons of greed. The building is worth preserving and I'm sure it can be done without anyone losing their livelihoods.