Condemned building shadows a landmarked mural in Yonkers
To cheers and applause from arts and historic preservation supporters, the Yonkers City Council approved landmark status for an acclaimed triptych of outdoor murals only hours after the city”™s buildings department condemned one of the three downtown buildings on which artist Richard Haas painted his colorful historic panorama of the city on the Hudson nearly two decades ago.
The 79-year-old artist, who had returned to his hometown Yonkers earlier in the day from travels in India, was in the council chambers on Feb. 23 when legislators by a 5-2 vote approved the Richard Haas Mural Historic District at 35 and 36 Main St. and 5 Riverdale Ave., at the heart of the city”™s downtown redevelopment area. But the council”™s action ”“ which later was backed by Mayor Mike Spano with a pledge to sign the law creating the mural district – and the savor of victory for three Yonkers residents who applied for the landmarking designation and their numerous supporters were shadowed by the prospect that the centerpiece of the 14,000-square-foot mural might still be endangered by demolition.
At 36 Main St., a vacant commercial building owned by developer Nick Sprayregen and his Rising Development Yonkers LLC and slated for redevelopment as live-work lofts and retail and restaurant space, a city engineer earlier in the day condemned the brick building as structurally unstable and a threat to public health and safety. The city inspection followed a private structural engineer”™s report submitted to council members by Rising Development five days before their scheduled vote on landmarking.
In a visual inspection of the property, Neil Wexler, president of Wexler Associates Investigative Engineers in Manhattan, found that mortar bonds on the building”™s brick walls had deteriorated to “sand and dust,” he told the city council. Wexler in his report said the eastern wall – on which the towering Haas mural depicts Henry Hudson”™s arrival on the Half Moon among resident Native Americans framed by trompe l”™oeil architectural elements of former Yonkers buildings ”“ was the “main concern” where bricks “are visibly un-bonded.”
“The smallest ground shake,” he told the council, “will send the bricks tumbling to the ground.”
Wexler recommended demolition and replacement of the building rather than repairs in unsafe working conditions caused by the extent of the property”™s “distress.” Â The owner”™s consultant said the existing mural should not be maintained in its current location.
Wexler drew the ire of some council members and spectators when he claimed that the mural had “aggravated” the deterioration because it had been applied “in an unprofessional way.”
“It was done with all the correct methods and materials,” Haas said during a council recess. He said he has used the same mineral paint, a material developed in Germany in the 18th century for the Bavarian castle of King Ludwig I, on about 100 buildings on which he has painted murals across the U.S.
“It is the best material of its kind in the world,” Haas said. As with frescoes, “It bleeds into the wall and stays porous and open and allows it to breathe, therefore allowing water to pass through.”
Council Minority Leader Michael R. Sabatino called Wexler”™s criticism of the mural”™s application “an insult” to the artist. “I”™ll have you know that Mr. Haas does murals all over the world and I would believe that they”™re all standing and all in great shape,” the Democratic leader said.
Terry Joshi, one of three Yonkers residents who applied to the city Landmarks Preservation Board and collected 450 signatures on a petition in support of the mural district, accused Sprayregen of “demolition by neglect” since his purchase of 36 Main St. in 2007. A leaky roof and open windows have not been repaired for several years, she said.
“I think it is a clear-cut case of neglect,” said Haas. “The building was let go by the owner; it wasn”™t maintained.”
Both council members and landmarking supporters questioned the timing of the structural engineer”™s report and of the building condemnation.
Council Majority Leader John J. Larkin said the council real estate committee that he heads in November requested a report on the building”™s structural condition from Rising Development. The committee granted the owner an extension but no report was produced, leading the committee to recommend in February that the council proceed with the landmarking application “on its merits alone.”
“It seems almost ironic that once it was put out to the council, a report was done” and only received by council members on the Friday before their Tuesday vote, the Republican leader said.
Larkin also noted that the condemned building “withstood Hurricane Sandy when there were so many other problems around the city” from flooding and related damage.
“This building has been standing through two hurricanes recently and nobody has condemned it,”Joshi said.
Tim Rutledge, director of Rising Development, defended the downtown developer against the criticism. “We”™ve always maintained that there were structural issues to the property,” he told the council. Following the structural engineer”™s inspection, they were surprised, however, by “how significant the structural issues were and are.”
Council Member Dennis E. Shepherd, one of two Republicans who opposed the landmarking, said, “I hated the timing of the report. It should have been here sooner to us.” But the report was prepared by a professional whose assessment should be accepted, he added. “You always have to err on the side of safety for the people of Yonkers,” he said.
“We always have to stop and think, is this privately owned?” Shepherd suggested city officials could be “overstepping our bounds” by landmarking the developer”™s property.
Council President Liam J. McLaughlin noted that a previous developer at the Boyce-Thompson Institute property on South Broadway had argued that that historic brick building was structurally unsound, beyond repair and should be torn down. Yet the building is now being restored and expanded in a $35 million, 85,000-square-foot mixed-use redevelopment project by Simone Development Cos.
“The loss of the mural would be a tragedy,” said McLaughlin, who cast the fifth vote that gave the landmarking law supermajority support on the council and prevented a possible veto by the mayor.
Spano in a statement following the council”™s vote said he was “pleased” to support the mural district and will sign the legislation. “For so many residents and visitors, the Haas murals have become the gateway to our downtown and they should be preserved,” he said.
Spano said he “will work to encourage the building”™s developer to save the building from the structural issues compromising the murals, so we can protect the artwork as well as the safety of the surrounding community.”
Rising Development”™s Rutledge said the owner would immediately erect a sidewalk shed below 36 Main St. to protect pedestrians from any falling bricks.
Before the council vote, Rutledge told the Business Journal the condemned building will fall to the wrecking ball of a demolition crew.
“We have to remedy it,” he said of the city’s condemnation order, “and the remedy is to demolish the building.”
Fearing that outcome, Joshi tempered jubilant supporters”™ congratulations after the landmarking vote. “Now the hard part begins,” she said.