MIDTOWN — The Bergdorf Goodman building is one step closer to becoming a landmark, after the Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled to make it a priority during a hearing on Tuesday.
It remains to be seen if Bergdorf will get landmark status, but Tuesday’s decision by LPC made it a priority for landmarking on the agency’s 2016 calendar.
The department store was among the first businesses to move uptown to what was then cheaper real estate, and the ornately decorated building at 754 Fifth Ave. that it has inhabited since 1928 has since become a cornerstone of the city’s luxury shopping district on Fifth Avenue, according to the agency’s commissioners.
The eye-catching design of the building and its historical significance make it deserving of landmark status, they added.
A representative of Bergdorf Goodman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Tuesday LPC hearing was part of a push to clear a backlog of sites citywide on the agency’s calendar, some of which had been waiting to be heard for decades. The agency originally moved in 2014 to wipe the 95 backlogged sites from its rolls, but put them back on the calendar after an outcry from preservationists.
Among the sites that did not make the cut to remain on the calendar were Union Square Park and the former home of Chester A. Arthur at 123 Lexington Ave. between East 27th and East 28th streets. LPC staff said at the hearing that Union Square Park has undergone significant alterations over the years and no longer qualifies.
Preservationists argued at a November hearing that the Chester A. Arthur House should be landmarked for its historical significance despite being an unremarkably adorned building, but the plea did not appear to pass the LPC’s muster.
