New York Life Insurance Building in Manhattan Receives Lucy G. Moses Award
Photo Credit: New York Life Insurance Building Ben Roberts
Honored at Awards Ceremony on April 10th at 6:00 pm at The Plaza
The New York Landmarks Conservancy has announced the winners of the 2024 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards, the Conservancy’s highest honors for excellence in preservation. The Award recipients demonstrate the amazing and challenging preservation projects that occur throughout the City.
Projects in Manhattan include: New York Life Insurance Building at 51 Madison Avenue ; James Earl Jones Theatre at 138 West 48th Street; La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club at 74 East 4thStreet; Masonic Hall NYC at 71 West 23rd Street; 424 Fifth Avenue; Lever House at 390 Park Avenue and 35-37 West 23rd Street will receive the Awards at a ceremony on April 10 at The Plaza Hotel. The ceremony attracts an audience of more than 500 every year.
“The ‘Lucy’s’ are a joyous celebration of impressive preservation work occurring throughout the City,” said Peg Breen, President of The New York Landmarks Conservancy. “This is our largest and liveliest gathering.”
New York Life Insurance Building
The glittering gold roof of the New York Life Insurance Building is a touchstone for the area all around Madison Square Park. Cass Gilbert designed the neo-Gothic tower, which opened its doors in 1928. The 34-story limestone building is topped by an eight-sided pyramid approximately 80 feet tall. It’s clad in gold-leafed Ludowici clay tiles.
The company has long taken pride in this building. The entire roof was replaced in gold leaf tile in 1994. When a wind weather event shook the roof in 2012 and displaced many tiles, the ownership was determined to not only repair the roof but understand what caused the tile failure and prevent it from happening again.
Long before new tiles could be installed, Wiss Janney Elstner Architects & Engineers and the project team undertook an extensive pre-construction phase. The roof’s steep pitch meant that options for up-close access to complete the investigation and repairs were very limited. The team tested several options before deciding on a custom-designed access rig with soft, low-pressure tires that would minimize the possibility of damage. Once the rig was in place, the architects performed hands-on, close-up inspections of the tiles, to determine how many would be replaced.
Next, the team tested several samples of tile under artificial weathering conditions to ensure that they would last and to prevent future displacement. They developed a custom-designed clip to attach new tiles, and tested adhesion and application methods. The last step before installation was application of the gold leaf by a special artisan form.
The new tiles meet all necessary safety and design standards and they ensure that the New York Life Insurance Building remains a golden beacon in the City skyline.
James Earl Jones Theatre
The historic James Earl Jones Theatre, part of the Shubert Organization, has undergone a metamorphosis. This project has restored the stunning interior, upgraded theatrical and building systems, improved the façade, and integrated an annex that reflects the Neoclassical architecture while providing essential theater services.
Renowned theater architect Thomas Lamb designed the former Cort Theatre, which opened in 1912. Inspired by Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon at Versailles, the lush rose and gold interior featured Tiffany art glass, murals, and elegant plasterwork.
After decades of use, those elements have been brought back to their original appearance. Lost plaster details replicating those at Versailles were re-established. Murals by artist Arthur Brounet were restored. The original aisle end was the model for new theatre seating. New custom fabrics, carpets, and wall coverings will dazzle theatre-goers.
The theater’s exterior was cleaned, repaired, and repainted. Original windows that were deteriorated or missing were replaced with units that match the original designs.
An opportunity to build an annex at an adjacent property allowed the theatre to improve accessibility, add concession spaces and restrooms, and increase rehearsal spaces. The design references the classical style while the interior features a digital mural with a playful cameo of Marie Antoinette.
Francesca Russo Architect designed the restoration of the building’s landmarked interior and exterior. She was also instrumental in conceiving ways to allow the historic structure to work with the new Annex. Kostow Greenwood Architects designed the new annex as a stunning contemporary complement to the historic theatre.
The theatre was rechristened the James Earl Jones in 2022 in honor of the celebrated actor who made his Broadway debut at the playhouse in Sunrise at Campobello in 1958. A new marquee with the theatre’s new name was designed to be evocative in configuration of the original and embellished with details of the French and Neo-classical styles.
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
Established in 1971 by renowned playwright and producer Ellen Stewart, La MaMa is considered New York’s oldest surviving, and most influential, Off‐Off‐Broadway theater. This project has secured the façade, revitalized the interior, and enhanced the theater’s mission.
Since its construction, this building has served as a center for the arts, particularly for minority groups or others with limited access to performance spaces. La MaMa’s East 4th Street home was built in 1873 for Aschenbroedel Verein, the German‐American professional orchestral musician’s social and benevolent association.
The four‐story red‐brick structure façade features neo‐Grec German Renaissance Revival elements, including cast-iron busts of Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Beethoven atop the second-floor windows. As La MaMa’s 50th anniversary approached, that façade had lost much of its historic detail. The entrance did not meet accessibility requirements, and the main performance space had not undergone significant renovations since becoming La MaMa’s permanent home.
In collaboration with theater consultants Jean Guy Lecat and Charcoalblue, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners reimaged and reinvigorated the building. The brick façade was repaired and robust cast iron window surrounds restored. The foundation was reinforced, masonry walls were patched and stabilized, the existing stair was relocated and expanded to meet code, a second fire stair was created at the rear of the building, and an elevator was installed for the first time.
A new glass‐and‐aluminum storefront, with restored cast‐iron pilasters, reveals the interior to the public for the first time in decades. A reorganization of the interior has expanded performance, rehearsal, and amenity spaces, upgraded theater and communication systems and increased accessibility. This anchor of the Lower East Side and New York’s cultural community is poised to celebrate its legacy and welcome new audiences.
Masonic Hall NYC
Masonic Hall NYC anchors a prominent intersection in the Ladies Mile Historic District, with a 19-story brick and limestone tower, festooned with terra cotta decoration. The entire façade has been restored in a project that secures the building and gives a master class on how to treat damaged terra cotta.
The south wing, facing Sixth Avenue and West 23rd Street, is a commercial office building with a neo-Renaissance façade that features elegant detailing. The north wing, on 24th Street, is home to the Grand Lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons of the State of New York. The Masons’ headquarters greets the street with a grand Beaux-Arts façade.
Both were facing similar problems. A city-mandated facade review revealed corrosion of steel structural elements and widespread deterioration of all masonry elements.
Hoffmann Architects + Engineers developed and oversaw the restoration plan. First, the aging steel structure needed to be repaired. Water infiltration had caused corrosion, threatening the steel’s integrity. It was reinforced with some elements replaced.
The brick and limestone were repaired and repointed, but the biggest challenge was the terra cotta. The Masonic Hall features a bounty of terra cotta ornament in a variety of shapes and sizes at the copings, cornices, water tables, balustrades, window surrounds, and at a grand Juliet balcony on the north façade. The elements feature rich sculptural details, such as lion heads, modillions, floral wreaths, pediments, cartouches, and volutes.
Each had to be addressed separately. Some could be repaired with stainless steel pins; others needed to be replaced in new terra cotta, a process that requires documenting each part of each piece, matching color, texture and profiles, then installing at the exact location. Some were replaced in a lightweight substitute material, to reduce the load on the structural system and ensure the building’s safety. This award honors a technically excellent restoration.
424 Fifth Avenue
Once the beloved flagship location for Lord & Taylor, this building has been restored and repurposed to serve as the workplace for more than 2,000 Amazon employees. Starrett and Van Vleck designed the 11-story department store in the Italian Renaissance Revival style; construction was completed in 1914. Lord & Taylor remained until 2019.
Amazon purchased the building in March 2020. The concept of converting the department store to office use had begun under a previous owner. Amazon demonstrated its commitment to New York with the execution of this plan. A team of architects and consultants with expertise in design, façade restoration, interiors, and preservation was involved throughout the process including exterior design architects BIG|Bjarke Ingels Group and Hill West Architects; façade/restoration architects Walter B. Melvin Architects and ZGF Architects; interior architects WRNS Studio; and preservation consultants Higgins, Quasebarth and Partners.
This project improved the entire building envelope. The handsome brick, granite, terra cotta, and limestone façade was cleaned and repaired. Hundreds of new wood windows that match the originals were installed. Balconies that had been removed decades ago were re-established; and copper cornices repaired. No details were left out. Even damaged terra-cotta eagles at the 11th floor colonnade capitals were made whole.
At the ground floor, the bronze entrance doors, display windows and decorative spandrels and grilles were restored. That level will house retail and community spaces. Contemporary new additions were integrated at the roof, creating a modern and balanced dialogue with the restored facades and storefronts below.
The results show how historic buildings can find new uses, and ensures that this section of Fifth Avenue remains an active streetscape.
Lever House
Lever House has been hailed as an icon of the International Style since it opened in 1952. Skidmore Owings & Merrill designed a new type of modern skyscraper, with a blue-green glass and steel façade, an elevated terrace, and a lobby that extended through glass walls into a public plaza.
In 2022, after 70 years of operation, some of the building’s original elements were showing their age. New owners Brookfield Properties and WatermanCLARK LLC brought SOM back for the restoration.
An extensive array of details that each contribute to the building’s whole design were improved. At the ground floor, many materials that connect the plaza and lobby were deteriorating or had undergone patchwork repairs, disrupting the intention of a space that appears continuous. In the plaza, non-original paving was replaced by a cast-in-place concrete matching the historic paving: a series of dark gray surfaces separated by a grid of light gray stripes, which follow the rhythm of the building’s structural grid. Moving inside, the terrazzo flooring was refinished.
The black limestone wall that serves as a backdrop to the plaza and lobby has been re-honed, reset, polished, and cleaned. Stainless steel columns inside and out were restored. White marble, enclosing stair towers in the plaza and lobby, was re-honed and repaired. The plaza’s planter, made of the same marble, was damaged beyond repair, and replaced with new stone from the original quarry.
A new dedicated outdoor air system replaced old induction units below the windows. This intervention adds floor space along the perimeter walls and allows ceiling heights to rise a foot without affecting the appearance of the facade. At the curtain wall where condensation was leaving moisture in the spandrels, a new system was installed to ensure dry conditions.
Altogether, this project has revitalized one of the premier landmarks of International Style architecture.
35-37 West 23rd Street
The historic façade of this neo-Grec building in the Ladies’ Mile Historic District has emerged after years in hiding. This restoration was completed in conjunction with construction of a new residential building on an adjacent lot. That project required owner Anbau to apply for a special permit from the City, which called for 35-37 West 23rd to be brought to a “sound, first-class condition.” The results have done more than that: they’ve revealed a building that is rich with ornament, detail, color, and contrast.
Designed in 1880 as a furniture establishment, the building was constructed of red brick and buff sandstone, with a two-story base framed by fluted cast-iron piers. But little of that was visible behind white paint and a minimal 1950s storefront.
CTS Group Architecture led the project team that included preservation consultants Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, to bring back this attractive façade. The original storefront had been removed decades ago, so the design for its replacement called for some detective work. Historic photos of adjacent buildings showing fragments of the original storefront along with historic floor plans informed the new wood storefront. It integrates a new steel structure to accommodate code requirements. Hidden cast-iron piers, which were discovered while work was ongoing, were exposed and restored.
The white coating that had shrouded the original polychrome masonry was removed; and the bricks and stones repaired. New wood windows match the originals. A restored sheet metal cornice, that features extraordinary cast-zinc sunflowers, caps off this lovely building. Once anonymous, 35-37 West 23rd Street shines.
New York Landmarks Conservancy
The 2024 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Project Award recipients include: 35-37 West 23rd Street in Manhattan; 75th Police Precinct Station in Brooklyn; 424 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan; Gould Memorial Library in the Bronx; James Earl Jones Theatre in Manhattan; La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in Manhattan; Lever House in Manhattan; Masonic Hall NYC in Manhattan; Most Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church in Queens; New York Life Insurance Building in Manhattan; Powerhouse Arts in Brooklyn; Queens Plaza Clocktower in Queens; Ridges Residences in Brooklyn and Saint John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in Brooklyn.
Roberta Brandes Gratz will receive the Preservation Leadership Award in honor of her work as an advocate, author, and urbanist. Gratz has been a driving force in the conversation about New York’s buildings and neighborhoods for decades.
The Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards recognize individuals, organizations, and building owners for their extraordinary contributions to the City. The Conservancy is grateful for the support of the Henry and Lucy Moses Fund, which makes the Awards possible.
The New York Landmarks Conservancy, a private non-profit organization, has led the effort to preserve and protect New York City’s architectural legacy for more than 50 years. Since its founding, the Conservancy has loaned and granted more than $62 million, which has leveraged almost $1 billion in nearly 2,000 restoration projects throughout New York, revitalizing communities, providing economic stimulus, and supporting local jobs. The Conservancy has also offered countless hours of pro bono technical advice to building owners, both nonprofit organizations, and individuals. The Conservancy’s work has saved more than a thousand buildings across the City and State, protecting New York’s distinctive architectural heritage for residents and visitors alike today, and for future generations. For more information, please visit www.nylandmarks.org.
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