Commission approves restoration-style marquee and door at 82 East Fourth Street

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Aug. 5 to approve a new marquee, entrance doors and transom at 82 East Fourth Street (the former 82 Club), a Romanesque-style apartment building in the East Village ' Lower East Side Historic District.

The applicant presented historic photos showing a marquee at the location and proposed a new marquee in a patinated-brass finish with minimal, down-lit illumination and magnetically mounted, non-illuminated lettering. The project includes restoration of damaged limestone capitals and granite bases, in-kind brick patching and new metal-clad single-light glass doors and an arch transom.

The design team told commissioners they had located new tieback anchors to align with surviving anchor evidence in the masonry and retained existing drain lines to incorporate a marquee gutter. The design uses a dark, muted finish so the canopy does not dominate the facade.

The Victorian Society of New York and the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative (LESPI) both testified in support, calling the work restorative and appropriate to the building's historic role as a cultural venue. The Historic Districts Council expressed support for the restoration but asked whether the marquee might be slightly lower to avoid encroaching on the restored arch.

Commissioners concluded the proposed entrance infill and marquee are appropriate in scale and material for this building, noting that historic photographs document a similar canopy. The motion to approve was made and seconded; the clerk recorded seven votes in favor and none opposed.

The approval included findings that the new doors and arched transom are consistent with doors commonly found at buildings of this type and age, that the marquee will reuse existing tieback anchors and match the historic canopy in basic design and placement, and that the patinated-brass finish and dark sign panels will not draw undue attention.