March 9, 2026
Angie Master, Vice Chair
NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission
253 Broadway, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10007
Via email: testimony@lpc.nyc.gov
Re: NYC LPC Certificate of Appropriateness: Application for a New Building, 375 Lafayette Street, Noho Extension Historic District. LPC-26-07016
Dear Vice Chair Master:
Lower East Side Preservation Initiative — LESPI — has reviewed the referenced application for 375 Lafayette Street, and is opposed to the proposed design due to its inappropriate massing and facade articulation.
We are not opposed to a substantial size new building at this location. However, we believe that at this specific location on Lafayette Street the building’s mass overwhelms the surrounding streetscapes. The size should be significantly reduced.
Although the applicant uses setbacks as an attempt to soften the bulk of the building, the result is instead a very pedestrian design that is commonly seen when the architect in effect needs to “apologize” for the bulk of the building. A building with its own strong design vocabulary should not need these divisions, which ape the massing of a row of shorter buildings, as a way to soften the aggressive impact of a banal contemporary design.
We applaud the use of terra cotta for cladding the building’s street facades. The color, based on the renderings, appears to be appropriate, and harmonize with the historic buildings within the district. However, the articulation should be further refined to provide a greater sense of articulation and depth to the facade, allowing the masonry to read as more substantial, in harmony with the surrounding historic structures, rather than as a thin facade veneer.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Richard D. Moses
President
Cc: Deborah Wye, LESPI
