TESTIMONY TO NYC LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION: March 17, 2026
(Limit of 2 minutes)
Good afternoon Commissioners, I’m Richard Moses, President of the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, also known as LESPI.
LESPI has very serious concerns regarding this proposal for a 9 story building adjacent to the Merchant’s House Museum, particularly considering some of the engineering testimony we heard earlier today.
The Merchant’s House Museum is one of New York’s most important historic buildings. This is a beautifully preserved architectural gem that gives us a rare and remarkable insight into a slice of 19th century New York life. Additionally, the building has such an important example of underground railroad construction.
However the building, including its exterior masonry but particularly its beautifully ornate interior plasterwork, is extremely fragile. Erecting the new building will require intensive excavation, which can undermine foundations and cause serious vibrations; concrete pours which can overflow formwork; heavy equipment which can malfunction and collide; and other heavy structural work which can suffer a variety of mishaps, easily damaging or destroying the Merchant’s House Museum’s historic masonry, ornamentation and finishes.
We recommend that if at all possible the City purchase the site to protect the Museum. However, for any approval of a new building, the LPC should require for the duration of the project, the owner retain an independent preservation engineer to review the new building’s architectural and structural design, and the contractor’s means and methods for erecting the building. During construction, the engineer should provide ongoing site monitoring to help ensure that the Merchant’s House Museum remains unharmed. If the independent engineer observes inadequate structural or monitoring design or any damage to the Merchant’s House, work must immediately stop and the damage be fully documented and, if caused by the developer’s negligence, remedial work carried out at the developer’s expense.
The Merchant’s House Museum has educated adults and children on NYC history for almost a century. The LPC should take all steps to ensure that this irreplaceable historic resource is not damaged or destroyed by new construction.
Thank you,
