Landmarks legalizes reconstructed secondary west façade at 381 West End Avenue with coping detail follow-up

The Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to legalize the reconstruction of a secondary west façade at 381 West End Avenue after the work was completed without an LPC permit, concluding the rebuilt wall was a compatible secondary intervention given the façade’s prior condition and limited visibility.

Owner Altim Batska described the building’s troubled restoration history and explained the team scaled back an earlier approved scope, relocated an elevator shaft and reduced the height and visibility of a rooftop addition to avoid impacts on neighboring properties. The applicant said the earlier facade had been in very poor condition, required extensive rebuilding, and that the reconstructed brick treatment reads as a secondary surface relative to the primary front façade.

Historic Districts Council and HDC committee representatives supported legalization in this instance. Landmark West acknowledged that unauthorized work should normally be denied but recommended approval here, saying the owner’s reconstruction improved the façade and that the intervention is consistent with the building’s oblique and limited visibility. Several commissioners asked the applicant to work with staff on the coping material and edge condition at the rooftop, noting the built coping appeared to be sheet metal and recommended a more sympathetic finish.

The commission approved the legalization with those suggested staff follow-ups.