Advocacy Update - 143 Madison Ave

Some of you may know this building as the former rectory for St. Anthony's Church on the corner of Madison Avenue and Grand Street. Most of you recognize it simply as the stunning Italianate rowhouse still sporting some of its earlier Federal details like those eye-catching dormers and stepped side gable.

Old History: The building was built in 1833 as two Federal rowhouses. They were combined in the late 19th century and "modernized" in the Italianate style. The oriel, cornice, and window lintels were added at this time. The building was owned by the Barent Bleecker Family for over 100 years.

Recent History: Current owner, Shereen Khan purchased the building 2006 for $91,000 from Francis McCloskey & William Mafrici. It was previously owned by St. Anthony’s Catholic Church of Albany, who sold it to McCloskey & Mafrici for the same price less than two months before the sale to the current owner. The current owner took out a mortgage of $108,000 in 2006 from Bank of America. Following legal troubles in the early 2010s and financial issues, this property, along with nearly a dozen others owned by the current owner, faced foreclosure by Bank of America. Bank of America initiated a foreclosure on 143 Madison Avenue in May 2018. The City of Albany was planning on bringing a concurrent lawsuit against the mortgage servicer utilizing the NYS Zombie Law, but the owner recently satisfied the mortgage and paid off the debt, making her the sole person legally responsible for the building’s condition.

After eleven years of code violations, the City took Ms. Khan to court again yesterday: the City of Albany has brought code violations on this property in 2012, 2015, and 2016, 2018, and 2020. The building has been registered as vacant with the City since 2021. Presently, there are three concurrent code cases in various stages of prosecution . This case originates from violations cited in March 2022 and was initially presented to Albany City Court in August 2022. This case cited the property for issues with exterior stairs, overgrowth, exterior walls in the front and rear of the building, and accumulations of rubbish & garbage. Historic Albany Foundation joined neighbors in writing letters on this case urging the City and City Court to consider the impact of this building being kept vacant on the neighborhood neighbors, and City, and asked for the City judge to levy a strenuous judgment in holding the property owner responsible. On Thursday, Judge Rice awarded a $35,000 judgement against Ms. Khan. The letters written impacted Judge Rice's decision, showing just what can happen when we all speak up for our neighborhoods.

Historic Albany Foundation will continue to support the City of Albany’s efforts in holding this property owner responsible for the deterioration and poor conditions present at 143 Madison Avenue.

Advocacy 2022

Because of the recent newspaper articles, Historic Albany Foundation would like to take this opportunity to clarify our mission, advocacy, and preservation efforts in the coming year(s). For the remainder of 2022 and 2023 (at least), we will be located at, and doing business as usual at, our location on Lexington Avenue.

After a successful year of good works in 2021, Historic Albany Foundation is looking forward to renewed and refined advocacy efforts for the new year. As an organization will be focusing on the following four mission-driven projects

1. The Van Ostrande-Radliff House (48 Hudson Avenue)
As you may have recently read in our announcement and in the press, HAF is the recipient of a $500,000 Environmental Protection Fund grant from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation through the Regional Development Council’s CFA process. This money will pay for the restoration of the roof and the exterior of the house, presenting it as the Dutch house it started out as in 1728.

In addition, HAF has announced that we will be making 48 Hudson Avenue our future home. It is our hope, within the next two years, to be able to utilize the entire building to include the HAF offices and Architectural Parts Warehouse, an expanded Tool Library, as well as programming, workshop and meeting space that could be shared with other community organizations. Securing this round of funding has made this goal much more tangible as we move ahead with additional fundraising.

The idea of moving our administration offices and the Warehouse is something that our organization has been considering for a few years. As we look toward our 50th anniversary in 2024, we are looking at ways to strengthen our mission, our outreach to the community and the neighborhoods that depend on our work, and to offer new, expanded, and different programming, all within our own building. And where better to do that than in the oldest surviving building in Albany, that we are restoring. As construction begins and progresses this year, we will keep everyone updated through our newsletters, website, and with onsite tours.

2. A Better Lexington Avenue
One of HAF’s main advocacy efforts is our own neighborhood: Lexington Avenue and the surrounding streets of West Hill.

HAF leadership has been working with the Albany Police Department, City of Albany Code Enforcement Department, the City of Albany’s Neighborhood Stabilization Coordinator, other stakeholders, and business owners to try to make our neighborhood a better and safer place to live, work, and visit. Over the next month, HAF and our neighboring constituents will be applying for a Love Your Block grant to help stabilize our neighborhood, with the help of various City of Albany Departments. Outreach efforts will start to take place now over the winter months, with code sweeps, cleanups, and neighborhood watch events happening throughout the spring and summer months. HAF is taking the lead on these efforts and looks forward to working with members of our immediate community to make a Better Lexington, and beyond for everyone.

3. Annual Restoration Faire
The Restoration Faire is an annual program hosted by Historic Albany to provide assistance to property owners looking to purchase and restore historic buildings in the City of Albany. Over the past several years, the event has hosted in-person and online programming including webinars, Q & As, and a dedicated Facebook group for networking.

The in-person programming includes lectures, demonstrations by seasoned contractors, clinics with expert speakers, and open houses in partnership with the Albany County Land Bank. The Faire traditionally focuses on all phases of rehabilitation beginning with planning and purchasing, design and permitting, stabilization if needed, construction and finishes, and the all-important component: funding. Previous programs on vacancy prevention assistance, permitting, funding, and neighborhood resources remain available and will be updated as offerings change. This program is an annual partnership between Historic Albany Foundation, the City of Albany, and the Albany County Land Bank.

4. The Tool Library
New this year! Historic Albany Foundation and its Architectural Parts Warehouse have been planning and fundraising to launch a Tool Library from our location at 89 Lexington Avenue this spring - thanks to grants from the County of Albany and Bloomberg, Inc., as well as private donors. The aim of this project is to help residents of the Capital Region by providing tools they may not be able to afford/have space for, provide basic safety training, and to conduct workshops to teach people DIY, tool safety, and preservation skills.

Who will Benefit From This?
> Low Income Families & First Time Buyers
For many low-income families and first-time homebuyers, creating an arsenal of tools is expensive, time-consuming, and confusing. The Tool Library will help ease the financial pressure, and democratize access to tools.
> The Environment
Tool lending libraries promote a sharing economy that has a major positive impact on the environment. Instead of tools being purchased for one use, tools are shared in the community, reused, and regularly maintained.
> Local Preservation
By empowering individuals through training, we want to put preservation back in the hands of the public.
> The Community
We want to foster a community-minded program where people can volunteer, learn from each other, interact, and share their experiences. We are looking forward to partnering with many organizations across the Capital Region to reach as many individuals as we can.

You may have noticed that much of this newsletter focuses on the nuts and bolts of preservation. Can we prevent a gaping hole on a block by stabilizing a building instead of tearing it down? Where is the potential for giving an old building new life? How can we give a new owner the tools (figuratively and literally!) to reveal the beauty and comfort in their home and perform routine maintenance? In 2022, we’ll work with our neighbors and community organizations to find ways for more people to enjoy old homes and for old buildings to breathe a new life. Albany’s buildings tell a lot of stories, many of them are just waiting for the next chapter to be written.

Happy New Year!

Want to learn more or have any questions? Email us here

#EndangeredAlbany 13-17 Catherine Street

One of the historic places in Albany that I feel has been unfortunately overlooked is this row of Federal Houses across the street from the Schuyler Mansion.  They represent a historic streetscape that should be preserved and developed. Maybe as guest houses for events at the mansion. Number 17 was recently on the market and had many original details preserved.  The vacant lot to the east stands on the ground of Philip Schuyler’s plum grove and could be re-planted with plum trees to recreate the original view.  The whole area around the Mansion should be seen as a critical historic and touristic resource for the city.

by Peter Lacovara

The History of Catherine 13-17 Catherine Street

13 Catherine is believed to have been constructed around 1840, however, the wood frame building shows Greek Revival details around the windows and doors indicating that it may be earlier and closer in age to 17 Catherine.

The first known owner was James Eaton, a mason who lived near by and operated it as an investment property. The first owner-occupant was Mrs. Joseph Myers, a tailor. It was also home to tailor Peter Johnn, Prussian born vest maker Catherine Johnn, German-born carpenter Bernard Shock and his wife Catherine.

15 Catherine replaced a wood frame building on-site circa 1840. The brick house’s first known owner was Lansing Pendleton, who was considered to be a housing speculator in the mid 19th century. The house was then home to jeweler James Mulhall or Mitchell and his wife Eliza during the 1870s, tailor Jacob Vanderwart, Dutch-born shoe cutter Michael Vandenburgh, clerk Theodore Denter, laborer Nicholas Dashiem, boilermaker Edward Dooley, Paul Harrison [Hansen], Vincent Murphy, Augusta Rice, and junk dealer Meyer Rosen.

17 Catherine is the oldest of the row, dating to before 1819, shortly after the Schuyler estate was divided up after Philip’s death in 1804. The house has Greek revival details on the first floor, pilasters and window surrounds but was “modernized” in the 19th century with the addition of potentially a second and third story with the mansard. The first known owner was Lansing Pendleton. The house was also home to Irish born private detective Guaswid Pendelton, prison keeper James Clark, Elizabeth Keller, Russian born sheet metal worker Manule Kitaif and Russian born tailor Samuel Lubinsky.

The residents of all three homes give excellent context to how the neighborhood developed once it ceased being a country estate, as a blue-collar immigrant community. Owner occupancy was infrequent, however, they were frequently owned by neighbors.

This is part of our #EndangeredAlbany series for 2021
We will be using the hashtag #EndangeredAlbany to do monthly blog posts about endangered buildings that are of concern to a member of the public. Updates to the past Endangered List buildings will be done monthly using #EndangeredAlbany as well.

Have your own endangered building you’d like to highlight? Email kparker@historic-albany.org to learn more.

The houses in 1931, as viewed from Schuyler Mansion

Interior and exterior of Catherine Street houses, the National Register Nomination Form, maps showing these properties from 1857 and 1876

City of Albany Launches it's Drone Project!

Great news! The City of Albany has secured funding to purchase one drone and to train & license up to 10 individuals to use a drone, thanks to a grant from the NYS Attorney General’s Office. The grant money was secured from the Zombies 2.0 grant, and administered by LISC.

The city has hired DartDrones to train the staff and assist them in getting the right drone and equipment. They also helped to train and equip the Water Department, which uses their drone to patrol the reservoir and assist in projects such as the recent daylighting of the Patroon Creek and the Green Infrastructure project on Ramsey Place.

How this helps

The city is hoping to use drones to improve upon its ability to perform rooftop inspections, particularly of vacant buildings, to catch issues with roofs earlier and prevent further damage and deterioration. This video of the Green Infrastructure project that Albany Water took on Ramsey Place gives an idea of how quickly and easily they can get views of rooftops across the City.

The Water Department has occasionally allowed the Department of Buildings & Regulatory Compliance to borrow a drone and pilot for test runs of this project, with one test run resulting in catching a roof problem at the vacant building at 346 Madison Avenue (see image below). Due to the images they were able to capture, they ordered an emergency stabilization of the roof, sidewall, and front façade, undoubtedly saving the building from further deterioration and giving it additional time for a more permanent solution to be found. 346 Madison Avenue is currently up for sale.

Over the next few months, the Department of Buildings & Regulatory Compliance will undergo further training towards taking and passing our Part 107 FAA Licensing Exams, as well as purchasing the drone and drone equipment. They anticipate being able to officially begin full-time aerial inspections this Spring or Summer at the latest.