City Council Approves United Palace Landmarks Designation

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — The United Palace Theater, one of Washington Heights' most recognizable buildings, is a step closer to becoming an official New York City landmark.

The city council land use committee voted Wednesday to designate the structure that serves as a cathedral, theater and community center and takes up an entire block between West 175th and 176th streets and Broadway and Wadsworth Avenue.

City councilors voted unanimously to support it. Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who was absent for Wednesday's vote, celebrated the decision on Twitter. Rodriguez will be present when the full council votes on the landmarks designation, a spokesman from his office said.

The vote in favor of the landmark was expected. When it comes to matters of land use, the City Council typically defers to the home district representative and Rodriguez backed it a week earlier. The next step for the United Palace is to have the full City Council approve the designation and then have Mayor Bill de Blasio sign it into place.

When the city Landmarks Preservation Commission announced it would extend landmarks designation to the United Palace the owners of the building initially opposed it and had the support of Rodriguez.

But the City Councilman's office worked with the owners of the theater and neighborhood partners to work out concerns such as rising maintenance costs.

"The United Palace is a gem," Rodriguez said during a press conference last week. "It is a treasure worthy of preservation for generations to come."

A message for the United Palace ownership was not immediately returned.

The United Palace was one of 10 buildings granted landmarks designation in December by the city Landmark Preservation Commission. The buildings were landmarked as part of an LPC push to address a backlog of more than 90 sites placed on the Commission’s calendar for more than two decades.

The United Palace was constructed throughout the 1920s and finished in 1932 to be a "Wonder Theater" for the Loews movie chain, according to LPC documents. The theater was one of three designed for Loews by architect Thomas W. Lamb, one of the top theater architects at the time, and features an "exuberant, eclectic style, adapting decorative elements from both Hindu and Islamic cultural traditions," according to the LPC.

Photo by Google Maps street view.