Landmarks Auction

"The lambs of historic preservation," wrote Christopher Gray in the Times last week, "fought the lions of John Portman and his hotel juggernaut at the Battle of the Helen Hayes Theater in 1982. The lions won, and the theater was destroyed, like Carthage. Later this month, anyone who wants a very substantial battlefield souvenir may bid on a truckload of 300-pound pieces of glazed terra cotta."

The terra cotta pieces are included in the warehouse sale of the Landmarks Preservation Committee--the list of items, with photos, is now available.

According to the LPC's website, their architectural salvage program began in 1980 "to reuse discarded elements from privately and publicly owned buildings across the city. The salvaged items, including wrought iron fences, grilles, brackets, doors, banisters, windows and decorative elements" were kept in a warehouse in Williamsburg.

NY Times

Said a commission researcher to the Times this summer, “The idea was to collect these things for the public good, not for some dealer to make a significant profit. The mandate was to help the people of New York." But due to budget constraints, the warehouse will be demolished to make room for affordable housing. The contents of the warehouse are going up for auction to the highest bidder.

So what treasures can be found there? Aside from chunks of the Helen Hayes theater, there are several cow heads salvaged from the facade of a Bronx dairy building.