New York, New York, May 21, 2025 – Docomomo US and Docomomo US/New York Tri-State Chapter are thrilled to announce the New York City individual and interior landmark designation of the former Whitney Museum of American Art at 945 Madison Avenue, designed by Marcel Breuer and Associates.
On Tuesday, May 20, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) unanimously voted to designate the former Whitney Museum as both an individual and interior landmark. Docomomo US and Docomomo US/New York Tri-State Chapter submitted a 45-page Request for Evaluation, with primary research by preservationist Thomas Collins, requesting that the Commission consider designating the former Whitney Museum as an interior landmark in December 2023, after it was announced the building would be sold to the auction house Sotheby’s.
The interior landmark designation, protecting the lobby and main stairwell, goes above and beyond the protection the building was already receiving for its inclusion in the Upper East Side Historic District, designated in 1981. Constructed from 1964-66, the Whitney Museum was designated a landmark as part of that district only 15 years after opening, making it one of the youngest buildings ever to be landmarked in New York City. Docomomo US and Docomomo US/New York Tri-State Chapter would like to thank the broad coalition of leading local, state, and national organizations for their support.
Those organizations are:
- Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts
- Historic Districts Council
- Municipal Art Society
- The New York Landmarks Conservancy
- The Preservation League of New York State
- Society of Architectural Historians (national) Heritage Conservation Committee
- Manhattan Community Board 9