Century-Old UES Building Mostly Demolished In Construction Mishap

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — A 140-year-old Upper East Side townhouse has been largely torn down after being damaged by a next-door construction project, infuriating neighborhood preservationists.

The five-story building at 21 East 65th St., near Madison Avenue, was built in 1881 and renovated in 1929 with a new, neo-federal-style facade. In recent months, the building has been shrouded by construction fencing as workers begin building a 12-story apartment tower and flagship Giorgio Armani store on the corner of the block.

Plans for the new building called for the next-door townhouse to have its rear side partially removed — but its facade kept intact, in order to maintain the neighborhood's streetscape. Since the block is within the Upper East Side Historic District, plans for the new building had to be approved by the city's Landmarks Commission, which signed off on the project in 2019.

But in December, with construction underway, a project manager reported to the city that the townhouse's facade was "about to collapse" after it began to pull away from the building wall, causing a long vertical crack to form along the upper floors, according to city records and a Department of Buildings spokesperson.

City inspectors determined that the facade had become structurally unstable and ordered an emergency demolition, which began that afternoon, according to the DOB.

According to the preservation group Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts, the townhouse's third through fifth floors are now gone — indeed, a photo of the block shows only the townhouse's base remaining.

In a letter sent last week to city officials, the group's executive director Rachel Levy demanded an explanation for what went wrong. Levy also questioned the practice of "facadism," pointing to another recent instance in the West Village where landmarked buildings were torn down due to construction damage.

"At 21 East 65th Street, we request that the responsible city agencies perform a thorough investigation to determine what led to the unnecessary demolition of this building," Levy wrote, also suggesting that the project be re-reviewed by the community board and Landmarks Commission.

In a statement, the Department of Buildings said their engineers had taken "appropriate action in the interest of public safety, which prevented a potential disaster on the Upper East Side that could have resulted in injuries and damage to adjacent buildings.

"Our full investigation into what caused the facade wall to fail is ongoing," spokesperson Andrew Rudansky said.

Levy, of the preservation group, told Patch in an email that the townhouse facade had added "architectural character, texture, and history to the streetscape," featuring casement windows and distinctive brickwork designed by architects Scott & Prescott.

"These historic low-scale buildings represent the everyday backdrop of the neighborhood," Levy said.