MANHATTAN — The Westbeth artists' community has long been recognized as one of the city's most important creative hubs — and on Tuesday the city Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to recognize the West Village complex as a historic landmark.
The landmark application by Westbeth Artists' Housing at 55 Bethune Street near Washington Street — which was occupied by the Bell Telephone Laboratories Complex from 1868 to 1966 — was approved by the commission and now awaits a vote by the City Council.
The creation of the Westbeth complex in 1970 influenced innovative land-use projects around the world, LPC chair Robert Tierney said Tuesday in a statement.
“The transformation of Bell Labs into a housing complex for artists was one of the first large-scale adaptive reuse projects of an industrial property in the world, and inspired similar conversions around the United States,” Tierney said.
The complex, which is comprised of 383 residential units plus gallery, performance and commercial spaces, has been home to artists like photographer Diane Arbus, actor Moses Gunn and poet Muriel Rukeyser.
The complex was conceived by Roger L. Stevens, the first chairman of the National Endowment of the Arts, and designed by Richard Meier, according to the LPC. The complex is named for the intersection at which it stands, at West and Bethune streets.
George Cominskie, president of the Westbeth Artists Residents Council, said the group was thrilled with the commission's decision.
"We're very happy," he said. "If you look at the neighborhood we're in, there are all these high-rises going up all around us. This [designation] makes our property less desirable to real estate interests."
Cominskie said Westbeth will also seek grant money to help fix aging facades on some of the complex's buildings.
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, which led the multi year campaign for Westbeth's landmark designation, also praised the commission's vote.
“We are deeply gratified that after years of pushing, Westbeth is finally receiving the landmark status it deserves,” GVSHP executive director Andrew Berman said in a statement.
"Westbeth is such an important part of what makes Greenwich Village and New York great, and with today’s landmark designation and 2009’s placement on the National Register of Historic Places, we hope that it will stay that way forever,” he added.
GVSHP and other preservation groups first called for landmark status for Westbeth in 2004. Beginning in 2007, the group gathered oral histories of the complex, including from dancer Merce Cunningham.
State Sen. Tom Duane also praised the LPC's decision.
"LPC’s action will preserve this building as an enduring monument to human ingenuity as well as a fixture in the unique history of the West Village,” he said in a statement.
