LPC Rejects Demolition of SoHo Landmark, Advocates Pleased
The group Village Preservation and City Council Member Christopher Marte had both campaigned against a proposal to tear down 139 Thompson St., which would have been replaced by a condominium building.
Soho /
| 29 Apr 2026 | 02:40
The Landmarks Preservation Commission has shot down demolition plans for 139 Thompson St., a landmarked rent-stabilized apartment building (above, scaffolding), pleasing local advocates. (
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A developer, represented by an LLC, had hoped to build condominiums at 139 Thompson St. (rendered above). (
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Local advocates are hailing a ruling by the Landmarks Preservation Commission that will prevent the destruction of a historic tenement building in SoHo, located on Thompson Street, that contains numerous rent-stabilized apartment units.
Specifically, the owners of 139 Thompson St.—represented by an LLC registered out of New Rochelle, New York—wanted to demolish the building in order to erect six new luxury condominiums. They hired the architect EDG to design the project.
The current building contains 19 units, twelve of which are rent-stabilized. It is also landmarked, meaning that the mysterious developers had to appeal to the LPC for permission to tear it down.
Key to their application was the argument that the current building, located in the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District, remained in too great a state of disrepair to fix.
On April 21, the LPC rejected this premise wholesale, barring the demolition of the building. They ordered that the developer conduct repairs instead, siding with the position of advocacy groups such as Village Preservation and City Council Member Christopher Marte, who held a rally demanding just this outcome in late February.
During the February rally, which was held in front of 139 Thompson St. and attended by Our Town Downtown, Village Preservation Executive Director Andrew Berman utilized the image of a well-kept and unobstructed neighboring building to make his case for preservation. The tenement at 139 Thompson St., meanwhile, was encased in extensive scaffolding.
He said that both 137 Thompson St. and 139 Thompson St. were built 150 years ago, and yet noted that only 137 Thompson remained in “beautiful” condition, insinuating that he believed the owners of 139 Thompson were purposefully letting the building decay.
At the April 21 meeting before the LPC, a representative for Village Preservation reiterated this argument, saying that the whole episode “should be explored as a possible demolition by neglect case.”
“There is considerable evidence to indicate that the longtime owner allowed the building to deteriorate for years, ignoring violations and worsening conditions, and now seeks to be rewarded by being allowed to demolish a landmarked building,” the representative added.
Marte also attended the April 21 LPC meeting, calling it a “clear manipulation of landmarks laws and a disgraceful attempt to destroy a piece of New York City’s history, through a thin veil of self-inflicted harm.”
Later in the meeting, LPC Director of Community and Intergovernmental Affairs Steven Thomson acknowledged “a campaign organized by Village Preservation, which included 466 individual participants recommending denial” of the application for demolition.
Angie Master, the Vice Chair of the LPC, then gave the death blow to those hoping to transform 139 Thompson St. into a condominium building: “We’re going to have you work with staff, and [then] bring you back with a plan to preserve, repair, and renovate this building.”
Village Preservation celebrated the news with a release on April 24. In it, they noted that they had led the charge to landmark the “1875 Neo-Grec” building in the first place back in 2016.
“We will continue to closely monitor the situation and advocate for full restoration of the building after years of neglect,” the organization wrote.