DESIGNATION REPORT Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 503 Commission IRT Powerhouse LP-2374 December 5, 2017

DESIGNATION REPORT Interborough Rapid Transit Company Powerhouse LOCATION Borough of Manhattan 855-869 Eleventh Avenue (aka 601-669 West 58th Street, 600-648 West 59th Street) LANDMARK TYPE Individual SIGNIFICANCE Opened in 1904 to power the pioneering IRT Subway, this immense powerhouse represents a unique integration of 20th-century engineering and classical architectural expression, featuring an opulent Neoclassical exterior designed by the renowned architect Stanford White. Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 503 Commission IRT Powerhouse LP-2374 December 5, 2017

IRT Powerhouse, Rendering, c. 1902 Interborough Rapid Transit, The New York Subway: Its Construction and Equipment (New York: IRT Company, 1904), 22 IRT Powerhouse, 1978 (David Sagarin, Historic American Engineering Record, 1978) Landmarks Preservation Designation Report Designation List 503 Commission IRT Powerhouse LP-2374 December 5, 2017 3 of 36

Interborough Rapid Transit American Institute of Architects, the Friends of Terra Cotta, Historic Districts Council, Hudson River Company Powerhouse Powerhouse Group, Landmark West!, Metropolitan 855-869 Eleventh Avenue Chapter of the Victorian Society in America, (aka 601-669 West 58th Street, Municipal Art Society, New York Landmarks 600-648 West 59th Street), Manhattan Conservancy, Riverside South Planning Corporation, Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Society for the Architecture of the City, and Women’s City Club of New York, and 16 individuals. Two people, both representatives of the owner, spoke in opposition to the proposed designation. The Commission also received 203 Designation List 503 written submissions in support of the proposed LP-2374 designation, including submissions from New York State Senator Bill Perkins, Manhattan Community Built: c. 1902-05 Board 7, the Alliance for the Arts, the Beaux Arts Engineers: S. L. F. Deyo, Lewis B. Stillwell, and Alliance, the Committee for Environmentally Sound John Van Vleck Development, Friends of the High Line, the Institute Architect: Stanford White of McKim, Mead & of Classical Architecture and Classical America, and White several individuals. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan, Tax Map On November 5, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Block 1106, Lot 1 in part, consisting of the original Commission held a special public hearing on circa 1902-05 building (and excluding the circa Backlog Initiative Items in the Borough of 1949-51 addition at the western portion of the lot), Manhattan, including the Interborough Rapid Transit and the land upon which this portion of the Company Powerhouse (Item I-Borough of improvement is sited. Manhattan Group A, 8). The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. On July 14, 2009, the Landmarks Preservation Twenty-two people testified in favor of the proposed Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation, including New York State Senator Brad designation as a Landmark of the Interborough Rapid Hoylman, New York State Assemblymember Linda Transit Company Powerhouse and the proposed B. Rosenthal, and Manhattan Borough President designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. Gale Brewer, as well as representatives of Manhattan 2).1 The hearing had been duly advertised in Community Board 4, the American Institute of accordance with the provisions of law. Thirty-three Architects New York Chapter, Guides Association of people testified in favor of the proposed designation, New York City, Historic Districts Council, Hudson including Councilmember Gale Brewer and New Powerhouse Group, Landmark West!, New York York State Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, as Landmarks Conservancy, Save Harlem Now!, well as representatives of New York State Senator Society for the Ar

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