Designed in 1929 by Joseph J. Freedlander in Georgian Colonial style, the building was designated an individual Landmark in 1967. The NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDCNY) retained PBDW Architects to perform architectural, engineering and construction-related services on Historic Preservation Projects under a Requirements Contract in 2015, awarding the exterior restoration of the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) to PBDW in 2017.

The scope of work includes the exterior restoration of the brick and marble facades, opulent main entrance steps, balustrade, and retaining wall along Fifth Avenue, and of the main entrance portico, including the cornice, modillions, columns, window headers and sills, and quoins and sculptures. The impressive wrought iron gates will be repaired and restored. A new railing will grace the restored entrance steps.

Upon reviewing and archival documentation, our team performed comprehensive surveys of the façade and prepared construction documents. Existing cracks and a few localized areas of displacement observed were closely monitored by the team for over a year, to ensure that proposed repair will address the root cause of the issue. The project is in the Bidding phase.