FRIENDS' Testimony:

FRIENDS of the Upper East Side’s Preservation Committee found, despite 240 East 61st Street’s retention of brownstone coloring long past the time of designation, that there was sufficient precedent for the appropriateness of white painted rowhouses in the Treadwell Farm Historic District.

The district is known for its ever-evolving, and often eccentric styles. However, it is perplexing that this violation went unnoticed for decades and frustrating that legalization is being sought so long after the fact.

The current owners are in a unique predicament having purchased the property in a non-compliant condition. Typically, it would be impossible to approve legalization for such a visible and character-altering modification, but it is difficult to justify disapproving the legalization of work done to match the long-existing paint condition by new owners unaware of the violation, particularly in a district populated by buildings displaying a variety of eclectic styles.

FRIENDS would approve this application pending a thorough study to determine whether or not any original brownstone material remains. Should little original historic fabric remain, FRIENDS would support the legalization of the white-painted façade.