The Bronx General Post Office On the Grand Concourse Moves Closer to Having Its Lobby Preserved Including Beloved Ben Shahn Murals

image

Back in February of this year we broke the story via welcome2melrose.com that our beloved main post office on the Grand Concourse was up for sale.

Immediately there was an uproar to save not just the idea of the post office but the actual grand lobby along with its historical treasure of murals by the late and famous muralist Ben Shahn and his wife, Bernarda Bryson Shahn.

image

Now David W. Dunlap of the New York Times reports that the fate of the lobby is being fast tracked and getting closer to landmark designation by the end of the year.

Many edifices throughout New York City receive landmark status but generally only applies to the exterior, leaving the inside, oftentimes equally beautiful, architecturally significant, and historically significant, unprotected and vulnerable to a developer’s whims as they try and squeeze out every dollar per square foot possible.

image

As someone who grew up just behind the post office and fondly remembers the opulence of it all amid the charred ruins of the South Bronx in the 70s and 80s, I am glad that preservation is that much closer.

While it might seem as an impedance to a developer considering purchasing the building, a visionary prospective owner will only see the grandeur that such a lobby can lend to any development that takes place within the cavernous building.

image

They only need be reminded that the building’s overwhelmingly vast 180,000 square feet or so is ripe for developing with just the lobby off limits.

What do you think, Bronxites?! We wanna know!

- Advertisement -Newspaper WordPress Theme

Latest news

The Bronx General Post Office Has Been Sold for $44 Million—But Will It Finally Be Revived or Join a Legacy of Broken Promises?

Another chapter has turned for one of The Bronx’s most iconic buildings. The Bronx General Post Office, located at 558 Grand Concourse at East...

Soundview Ferry Route to Expand, Linking The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Rockaways in NYC Ferry Overhaul

Since before NYC Ferry first launched its Soundview route in 2017 connecting The Bronx to Manhattan by water, Welcome2TheBronx has been vocally advocating for...

Construction begins on the tallest building at The Hub

Construction has finally begun on the final phase of one of the largest developments in The Bronx after years of delays. Building E, at the...

The Bronx General Post Office Has Been Sold for $44 Million—But Will It Finally Be Revived or Join a Legacy of Broken Promises?

Another chapter has turned for one of The Bronx’s most iconic buildings. The Bronx General Post Office, located at 558 Grand Concourse at East...

Soundview Ferry Route to Expand, Linking The Bronx, Brooklyn, and Rockaways in NYC Ferry Overhaul

Since before NYC Ferry first launched its Soundview route in 2017 connecting The Bronx to Manhattan by water, Welcome2TheBronx has been vocally advocating for...

Construction begins on the tallest building at The Hub

Construction has finally begun on the final phase of one of the largest developments in The Bronx after years of delays. Building E, at the...