Historic Preservation Law is Tested at Hearing of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees
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The owners of an iconic home at 11 Dolma Road in Scarsdale made their third attempt to gain approval to knock it down at a hearing before the Scarsdale Board of Trustees on Thursday February 4. The applicants were turned down by the Committee for Historic Preservation (CHP) following a September 29, 2020 hearing and moved to appeal that decision to Scarsdale’s Board of Trustees.
Representing the homeowners were attorneys Andrew Schriever and Lawrence Graham from Cuddy and Feder as well as architectural historian Dr. Emily Cooperman. Daniel Pozin of McCarthy Fingar LLP acted as counsel to the Board of Trustees and the Committee for Historic Preservation was represented by James Staudt of McCullough, Goldberger and Staudt as well as Professor Andrew Dolkart, who teaches at Columbia University and was the author of the 2012 Reconnaissance Level Cultural Resource Survey Report of Scarsdale.
The survey recommended homes, landmarks and neighborhoods for historic designation.
Schriever presented the applicants' case and argued that the home did not meet the initial criteria for preservation, which says, “In making a determination whether to grant an application for a certificate or to deny such application and require that the building in question be preserved, the Committee shall consider the level of significance in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering and culture present in the building, as well as the integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship.”
He claimed that it had no historical significance as it was not linked to a historic event or site. He argued that the code itself was “vague and overbroad,” and possibly unconstitutional. On the matter of whether or not the home was the work of a master, architect Julius Gregory, he said, “if an outhouse is designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, does that mean it’s worthy of preservation?”
Dr. Cooperman said that Scarsdale code did not conform to the criteria in the National Register of Historic Places. Turning to the home, she said, since renovations were done to the windows and dormers and a small portion of the roof line, she claimed the home had lost its integrity and authenticity. She said, “The entrances and windows have been changed, the roof form is different and the materiality has been altered.”
She sought to demonstrate that Julius Gregory was not a master as he lacked “greatness,” was not named a fellow of the AIA and entered competitions but did not win them. Graham added, “he published no monographs,” and Cooperman said Gregory was known for his cottages rather than his mansions.
Defending the home and the process, Attorney James Staudt said, “If ever credit should be given to the CHP it is in this case. There are 600 pages of documentation. The record demonstrates that both sides were afforded opportunities to supply evidence…. The decision provides clear articulate reasons and thoughtful discussion of how Julius Gregory advanced architecture into the modern age…. it is difficult to fathom a more thorough process.”
He warned the Trustees, “Don’t be distracted by the constitutional argument. There is more than enough evidence under any standard of proof. The words are clear and easy to understand. The facts and analysis are clear. They are not vague.”
Andrew Dolkhart explained that he is an architect and preservationist and a full tenured professor of historic preservation at Columbia University. He has written several books and won awards. He said, “I feel very strongly that 11 Dolma Road meets the criteria for preservation.”
He said, “Historic preservation is no longer about 'George Washington slept here." And while the defendants insisted that the house was not "unique," Dolkart responded the word "unique" is not in Village Code; instead, it speaks to "broad patterns."
Dolkart said, “11 Dolma meets three of the historic preservation criteria. It is part of a broad pattern of village history. Why? The train, the Bronx River Parkway, the decline of single family homes in the city, and the growing appeal of country life for wealthy households; (the original owner) W. Wallace Lyon commissioned the house during a crucial period in the history of the Village.”
About Gregory he said, the house is “unquestionably the work of a master of suburban housing. He can’t be pigeonholed as a designer of small houses. He created fine Tudors, English Normans and revival homes. Gregory was well respected in the 1920’s and was chosen to design homes in Fieldston. His work is a bridge between traditional and modern design and embodies distinctive characteristics, and has high artistic value.”
Dolkhart said the house displays a sophisticated use of materials including stone and brickwork, a tower, and half timbering.
In 2017, the CHP voted to preserve 53 Old Orchard Lane, also designed by Julius Gregory
Responding to Cooperman he said, “The house still has integrity. Buildings can be listed that have changed over time – in fact all the buildings that I have written applications for the national register have changed over time. The alterations on the front are relatively minor and were carefully done to blend in with the rest of the house.”
He continued, “Does this building still read as Julius Gregory’s English building? The answer would be yes. It has the steep roofs, patterned brickwork, stone and brick it still has the tower and the picturesque composition. These are the features that are important to a French Norman house.”
He called 11 Dolma “One of the most outstanding houses in Scarsdale,” saying, “It meets multiple criteria for preservation and I hope you will vote to preserve this piece of Scarsdale’s heritage.”
Staudt added, “The role of this board is to apply the law as written -- not to rule on the law. The historic preservation code has been upheld for half a century.”
He ended by saying, “I went to look at the house the other day and saw it and thought – if I were to make a movie about the 20’s in Scarsdale I would film it on Dolma Road in this house.”
Following the hearing the board adjourned into executive session. The Board of Trustees will vote on the appeal at a future meeting of the Board of Trustees.
CNC Selects Karen Brew to Run for Scarsdale Village Trustee
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Karen Brew The Citizens Nominating Committee (CNC) announced today that Karen Brew has been selected to replace Ellen Plum, who previously withdrew her nomination, for the Scarsdale Citizens’ Non-Partisan Party (SCNPP) slate for Village Trustee. The 2021 SCNPP slate is the following:
Jane Veron of Fox Meadow, a Village Resident for 23 years, Village Mayor;
Sameer Ahuja of Heathcote, a Village Resident for 21 years, Trustee;
Karen Brew of Edgewood, a Village Resident for 16 years, Trustee;
Jonathan Lewis of Edgewood, a Village Resident for 19 years, Trustee
The General Village Election will take place on Tuesday, March 16th at the Scarsdale Congregational Church.
“I am extremely proud of the hard work and effort that the CNC put forth after receiveing Ellen Plum’s withdrawal letter. In addition to soliciting candidates from the entire village, the CNC sprung to action and contacted numerous individuals from the Scarsdale community to submit their names for consideration. Despite the tight timeline, the CNC conducted a wide search and performed extensive due diligence,” stated Eric Lichtenstein, Chair of the CNC.
Eric Lichtenstein served as Chair and Steve Pass served as Vice Chair of the CNC. In addition to the candidates for Village office, the CNC selected Jill Spielberg as Chair and Jon Krisbergh as Vice Chair for next year’s CNC. The CNC also elected Richard Pinto to serve as Vice Chair of the Procedure Committee.
Karen Brew has lived in Scarsdale for 16 years. She has been active in a variety of Village-related civic activities, including serving on the board of the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale for the past six years, and on the Executive Committee of the Scarsdale High School Scholarship Fund for College for five years. Karen also was a member of the School Board Nominating Committee (SBNC) and the SBNC Administrative and Joint Committees. Karen was involved for many years with Scarsdale’s schools, serving as the Edgewood PTA President, Treasurer, on various Edgewood, Scarsdale Middle and Scarsdale High School PTA committees, as well as serving on the Parent Teacher Council (PTC). She also served on the Scarsdale Bowl Committee for two years.
Karen most recently worked part-time as an Executive Recruiter with Koren Rogers Executive Search. Before that she had various leadership roles in marketing management, strategy and consulting in the consumer goods and financial services industries. Karen earned a B.A. cum laude from Cornell University and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Together with her husband (Richard) Damian, Karen raised two daughters here who both graduated from Scarsdale High School and are currently in college.
Former Scarsdale Resident Frank Sobel Passes Away at 93
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Frank (far right) with the Sobel clan.Frank M. Sobel passed away peacefully at the age of 93 on January 11, 2021 in Delray Beach, Florida. He is predeceased by his wife, Toni and his son, Marc. He is survived by his wife Carol; his children Ralph, Nancy, Ricky and John; his daughters-in-law Alice, Debbie, Nanette and Liz; his grandchildren Chris (Ken), Kevin (Amy), David (Jackie), Michael, Steven, Alexis, Jessica and Andrew; and his great-grandchildren Ben, Jack, Lila and Adam. He was President of Canterbury Belts, Ltd. from 1955-1995, when he retired.
The Sobel family included five children, four boys and one girl. They lived on Garden Road in Scarsdale for 22 years, from 1960 to 1982. All the kids were athletes and the four boys were captains of the soccer team. The youngest brother became a professional tennis player.
Frank loved playing tennis, traveling, "Dirty Harry" movies, ice cream, and most of all, his family. He was quick-witted, with a deep moral compass and a strong sense of loyalty. A private service took place on Friday, January 15, 2021 at Mt. Nebo Funeral Home in Kendall, FL. Contributions may be made in Frank's memory to The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research.
Tim Foley Named CEO of the Building Realty Institute
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Tim FoleyScarsdale’s Timothy Foley has been promoted to CEO of the Building Realty Institute (BRI) after a successful first year at the helm. Foley comes from an accomplished background, having graduated from Harvard University and then working on Former President Barack Obama’s presidential campaign as a Media Director in 2008.
This change comes as the BRI steps into a new era of leadership and continues to emerge as one of the thought leaders in the building and realty industries in the Westchester and Mid-Hudson region.
“BRI has grown as an organization while staying true to our mission to advocate for the best interests of the realty industry to government and the community, and to provide knowledge and resources to our members,” BRI President Lisa DeRosa said. “The Board of Trustees believes that having our executive officer be recognized as a CEO reflects the proactive, professional, and entrepreneurial organization and culture we’re trying to build. We also strongly believe that this title change will enhance the prestige of the organization and bring us into alignment with the titles given to executive officers in the Westchester-based organizations that we regard to be our peers.”
In his position as Executive Director, Foley was instrumental in leading the organization through a period of transformation, prompted by the long-term trends for affordable housing in the region, the dizzying changes enacted by the state legislature in the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act, and the unprecedented changes from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The change reflects a renewed and refocused entrepreneurial spirit to the organization during these challenging times, including a renewed focus on building alliances with the community and taking full advantage of technological innovations. During 2020, the BRI was able to hold two successful fundraising campaigns, combining to raise over $40,000 for the charitable nonprofits Feeding Westchester and Lifting Up Westchester. BRI was forced to move the entirety of its robust education, training, and programmatic offerings to an all-virtual format, with every Membership Meeting being held via Zoom.
The BRI was also instrumental in launching the Building and Allied Construction Industries of Westchester (BACI), the local Westchester chapter of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the New York State Builders Association (NYSBA). Foley was recently appointed to a one-year term on the Land Development Committee for NAHB.
Foley led his team through a year of increased productivity as the BRI continued to conduct monthly meetings and engaged members in numerous advocacy efforts at the state and county level. Paired with the consistent ratings of the organization's two radio shows on WVOX and WOR 710 AM, and the doubling of its social media presence, the BRI continues to re-invent its image all while becoming one of the thought leaders in the building and realty sectors in Westchester County and the Mid-Hudson region.
“George Frank and Albert Annunziata, my predecessors at the BRI, worked tirelessly for years to make the BRI an organization resilient enough to withstand a once-in-a-century pandemic and a furious pace of change at the state and county level,” said Foley. “I’m grateful for the trust that President De Rosa, the Trustees, and the hardworking members of the BRI have put in me to continue our path of innovation and progress and look forward to continue to advocate for the best interests of our industry, for smart growth, affordable housing, and commonsense approaches to sustaining our communities, and to experiment with new opportunities for our members to build relationships and improve their businesses.”
The Building and Realty Institute of Westchester and the Mid-Hudson Region (BRI), based in Armonk, has more than 1,800 members in 14 counties of New York State, including home builders, commercial builders, renovators, property managing agents, co-op and condo boards, and owners of multifamily apartment buildings in many communities, as well as suppliers and service providers with a special focus on real estate. The BRI’s mission is to improve the relationships.
Scarsdale's James Franklin Conlan Passes Away at 84
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James Franklin ConlanJames Franklin Conlan, 84, of Scarsdale, NY, died on December 26, 2020 following a lengthy illness.
Mr. Conlan was born at Saint Agnes Hospital in White Plains, NY on March 11, 1936, the only child of James Francis Conlan and Anne Irish Conlan. He was raised in Scarsdale and attended Scarsdale public schools, graduating from Scarsdale High School in 1954. He then attended Williams College where he earned a B.A. degree in 1958, majoring in History. After graduating from Williams, he volunteered for the draft and served in the United States Army Counter Intelligence Corps, from which he was honorably discharged in 1960.
In late 1960 he joined Bankers Trust Company where he worked for 38 years, retiring in 1998 as a Vice President. He earned a Master's Degree in Business Administration from New York University in 1966. For many years, he was a guest lecturer on corporate trusts at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Department of Bank Supervision in Washington, D.C, and at various corporate trust industry events.
Mr. Conlan lived in New York City from 1960 until 1965, where he met his soulmate, Virginia Broderick, in 1961. They married in 1962, moved to Bronxville in 1965, and to Scarsdale in 1967. In Scarsdale, Mr. Conlan was active in community affairs as a member of The Town Club and its Fiscal Affairs Committee, a coach of baseball, basketball, and soccer teams in the Recreation Department's leagues, a member of the Parish Council at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, President of the Bramlee Heights Neighborhood Association, and a District Leader for the Republican Party. He was a guest member of the Edgewood School Historical Society, the elementary school he attended in the 1940s, his four children attended in the 1970s, and four of his grandchildren attended from 2005-2017.
Mr. Conlan is survived by his wife Virginia of 58 years, four sons and their wives, James Conlan of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Patrick and Jennifer Conlan of Franklin, MA, Christopher and Kyle Conlan of Yorktown, NY, and Matthew and Kathryn Conlan of Scarsdale, NY, and by ten grandchildren, Patrick, James, Aidan, Anne, Moira, McKinley, Joseph, Seamus, James Sebastian, and Liam.
