As people might be aware, the New York Public Library recently received an extraordinary gift of $100 Million Dollars from Stephen Schwarzman, the largest single gift to the Library ever (Andrew Carnegie gave $5.2 Million Dollars over 20 years to help build the system - but that's when $5.2 Million really meant something). Any way, the NYPL proposed to prominently engrave Schwarzman's name on the landmark Main Branch.
Here are HDC's comments:
Statement of the Historic Districts Council
Certificate of Appropriateness Hearing
4/22/2008
Item 15
BINDING REPORT
BOROUGH OF Manhattan
086850- Block 1257, lot 1-
476 Fifth Avenue - Individual Landmark Historic District
A Beaux-Arts style library building designed by Carrere & Hastings and built in 1898-1911. Application is to install signage.
The Historic Districts Council is the advocate for New York City’s designated historic districts and neighborhoods meriting preservation. Its Public Review Committee monitors proposed changes within historic districts and changes to individual landmarks and has reviewed the application now before the Commission.
HDC applauds the generous donation of Mr. Stephen Schwarzman, but we feel there is a need to keep the acknowledgment of this gift in historic, and aesthetic, perspective. Signage is not so much a part of this proposal as is carving into historic fabric. The amount of inscriptions and their proposed language, design and location take away from the restrained classical, austere grandeur of the Carrere & Hastings landmark and overshadows the original gifts of the Astor Library, the Lenox Library, and the Tilden Trust.
These organizations and their founders, without whom we would not have this world-famous institution, are mentioned only once on the building's facades, not five times as is proposed for this new donation. They are found in the attic of the main façade (the traditional location for such inscriptions in classically inspired architecture), not twice at eye-level at each entrance and on the floor of the portico. Those proposed for the Fifth Avenue façade are to be cut directly into areas designed to be blank, massive bases for impressive pairs of columns, not locations for inscriptions. They are to be read as part of the continuous line of large blocks that delineate the ground floor from the basement. In addition to the disruption of the original design, we are concerned about the fragile nature of the stone (illustrated by the condition of the ornament in the area just above proposed location) and question the desire to carve into the fabric of this landmark. The 42nd Street façade was treated originally as the secondary façade and no permanent inscriptions exist here. The inclusion of the new inscriptions would be inappropriate, and they should be kept instead to the primary façade.
From a design standpoint, the proposed inscriptions do not reference the Beaux Arts design idiom. Other inscriptions on the building are framed with ornament and stand out as stone plaques. We are also a bit troubled by the wording. The date of the donation should be part of whatever is approved, as the dates are included in the design of the original plaques for Tilton, Astor and Lennox. It should be made clear to visitors, now and in the future, that Mr. Schwartzman's generosity did not build the library originally, but has enabled the library’s continued growth as it proceeds into its second century. The floor plaque could possibly simply read "Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in recognition of his exceptional generosity to the library, 2008" or say "re-named" rather than "named" so as not to confuse the history of the library.
In the future, the New York Public Library will certainly grow and develop to meet the changing needs of its patrons much as it has for over a century. In those future years, untold projects sponsored by generous donors will enable the library’s continuous evolution, and these gifts will also no doubt need to be recognized. Rather than setting a precedent of carving into the library’s façade and disrupting its original design, this generosity should be recognized in other locations such as the portico floor and the interior.
However, the Landmarks Commission voted to allow the engraving to take place - perhaps reassured by President Paul LeClerc's statement that this is the last time the building will be renamed.
Well, that's let's hope that's true and the Library doesn't end up going the way of Shea Stadium.
For more coverage, see:
Public Library To Honor $100 Million Donor With Engravings, New York Sun
Public Library To Bear Name Of Donor, NY1
After Big Gift, a New Name for the Library, New York Times
Wall Street financier gets his name alongside New York lions, The Associated Press
Donor name will be library must-read, New York Daily News
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, New York Observer
The Gift Is Huge. But How Many Thanks Are Enough?, New York Times
