520 Park Avenue is a new luxury residential tower near Central Park. Zeckendorf Development, the developer for the project, proposed removing existing cobra-head street lights along Park Avenue and installing decorative Bishop's Crook lampposts, a fixture usually only allowed within historic districts. ATDE prepared photometric analyses, Street Lighting Plans and Traffic Signal Plans for the project.
Following a submission to the New York City Public Design Commission (PDC), the team was told the design would be rejected because there was not enough historical context on the block to justify using Bishop's Crook lampposts.
ATDE and the design team understood that these lampposts were key to creating Zeckendorf Development's vision of the luxury residences. So they continued to find a way to make it happen.
Less than two months later, armed with more research regarding the historical significance of the block's architecture, the team resubmitted. The submission was well-received and put on the Consent Agenda for preliminary approval at the September PDC hearing, with a couple caveats. They requested the ATDE team to expand the work limits to add a block along Park Avenue with two traffic signals, provide revised submission drawings within three days for preliminary approval, and obtain NYCDOT Traffic Signals and Street Lighting approvals for the expanded work limits within two weeks. This would get the project on the Consent Agenda for final approval at the October hearing.
The New York City PDC granted final approval of Zeckendorf Development's proposal at that hearing.