Owners of 187-year-old historic house want it de-landmarked

By Adam Pincus

The owners of a historic single-family home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, that was designated a city Landmark in 1976, want to de-landmark the 187-year old structure. The owners cite engineers and an architect who claim the Dutch Colonial home is beyond repair and say it should be demolished.

Furthermore, the owners, a married couple, want to restrain the city’s Department of Buildings from issuing additional violations, which have piled up over the past two years as the owners have allegedly done work on the building without the required permits from the DOB and the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission. City records indicate $162,500 in penalties at the building including three for $25,000 each.

The battle highlights the ever-present friction between the rights of a property owner and the authority of the government to enforce laws and regulations.

The couple, Ronit and Dov Fischer, bought the 1,820-square-foot home at 1926 East 28th Street, in April 2019 for $975,000. The home, known as the Elias Hubbard Ryder House, was designated a landmark in 1976 because of its historical significance connecting modern New York City to its past, particularly its Dutch and English past, according to the landmark designation from the time. An attorney for the Fishers did not respond to a request for comment. The city declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

The house was built in 1834 in what was then the township of Gravesend, on a 30-acre farm. In 1929, the Ryder family moved the house a block west and oriented it to the street grid which was being developed at the time.

For more than 130 years the home remained in the Ryder family’s hands. Then in 1966 Alfred Ryder, a direct descendant of the original owners, sold it, and since then it has changed hands several times. The Fischers say in their petition that unexpected challenges have bedeviled them, including problem contractors, subcontractors, exploding pipes and raccoons.

The current owners cite professionals who say the building cannot be repaired.

According to the petition, “Engineers stated that the house is in an extremely terrible shape. The engineers recommended to de-landmark the Subject Premises immediately and tear down the home as any repair will be in vain as the Subject Premises is beyond repair.”

The city, for its part, says it has adhered to regulations by issuing the violations, since the work done on the home was undertaken without DOB or LPC approval. The LPC also notes that there is a specific de-landmarking process, or rescission, that is similar to the landmarking process but in reverse, including a public hearing and a City Council vote. De-landmarking is rare, but does exist as a provision of the city’s Landmarks law. Several recent examples of rescission are the Beth Hamedrash Hagodol Synagogue at 60-64 Norfolk Street on the Lower East Side that was in poor shape and was then destroyed by fire in 2017; and 425 Grand Concourse, the former site of Public School 31, a former city landmark.  Rescissions are rare, according to a PincusCo review of city records.

An attorney for the city, in a response to the petition, said in court papers, “LPC retained a structural engineer to review Petitioners’ submission, but the retained engineer did not find that the information submitted by Petitioners demonstrated that the subject property was uninhabitable.”

Court case LINK.

Direct link to Acris document. link