LPC approves revised rear‑yard addition for 157 East 70th Street with design caveat for upper windows

The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Aug. 12 approved a revised plan for a rear‑yard addition and front‑entry alterations at the individual landmark 157 East 70th Street after the applicant modified the rear‑elevation design to introduce a mansard‑style top floor intended to reduce the addition’s perceived height. The commission vote was 9–1 in favor. Applicants said the project restores a more contiguous rear façade line across the row of designated townhouses by enlarging horizontally and aligning with approved work at neighboring properties. The revised design replaces an earlier 4×3 fenestration grid with a three‑by‑three base and a differentiated top capped by a mansard‑style band with three projecting dormer‑like bays. The team said that treatment references the front mansard and reduces the perceived verticality of a full‑height rear addition while providing the requested floor area. At the front, the applicant removed a security gate that had been proposed earlier; commissioners had rejected the gate at a May hearing. Staff found the proposed parlor‑floor window replacements and a modest entrance surround compatible with the landmarked façade. Commissioners asked the applicant to work with LPC staff on the proportions and detailing of the top‑floor rear windows; the final vote included a direction to return refined top‑floor proportions to staff for review. Vice Chair Master read staff’s recommendation and the motion; Commissioner Quembe seconded. The motion approved the front façade window replacements and entrance decorative framing, and found the rear‑yard addition compatible with the row house typology and the block’s historic pattern of rear additions, with the additional request that the applicant refine the proportions of the upper‑floor windows in consultation with staff. The recorded vote was nine in favor, one opposed.