N.Y. landmark panel OKs expansion of Whitney Museum

After trying for almost two decades, the Whitney Museum of American Art has cleared a hurdle in its quest to add to its famed Marcel Breuer-designed building on Madison Avenue, winning the approval of the city Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a revised plan that includes the demolition of one brownstone next to the museum to create an entrance and the construction of a nine-story tower just south of the current structure, attached to it by transparent bridges.

While the Whitney still has additional city review to undergo, getting the commission’s approval was a giant step forward, museum officials said.

The plan, by Italian designer Renzo Piano, had originally called for two of the brownstones next to the museum to be torn down for a 32-foot-wide entrance that would feed onto a plaza. But the commission was concerned, since one of the brownstones is considered a contributing part of the Upper East Side historic district where the museum makes its home.

The museum revised the plan so that only one brownstone would be taken down, making the entrance 16 feet wide. Piano compensated by making the plaza space one floor higher.