Landmarked Yonkers Mural In Peril As Owner Seeks To Tear Down Building

YONKERS, N.Y. – The owner of a building adorned with a Richard Haas mural is asking the city’s permission to tear it down, according to a report by lohud.com.

A building in Yonkers that is adorned with a landmarked Richard Haas mural could be torn down if the city's approves its owner's application for economic hardship status.
Photo Credit: *www.change.org*

Carol Reif

07/05/2016 9:00 a.m.

Nick Sprayregen of Rising Development, the company that owns 36 Main St., had fought the city’s move to landmark the 1997 artwork back in February, lohud.com reported.

Sprayregen is claiming that the aging brick building is unsafe – and the city’s Building Department has condemned it, the lohud.com story said.

Sprayregen’s economic hardship application, which would allow him to demolish the building, will be addressed at a meeting of the the city’s Landmark Preservation Board this Wednesday, July 6, lohud.com reported.

Wisconsin native Richard John Haas is an American artist best known for his architectural murals and trompe l’oeil style.

Literally, trompe l’oeil means fool the eye. The paintings or designs create the illusion of three-dimensional objects.

His work has been commissioned as decoration for numerous public buildings, both here and abroad, including the main branch of the New York Public Library.

The Artists Trade Union of Russia declared Haas to be among the world’s best artists of the last four centuries.

Sprayregen made his fortune on Manhattan West Side, where his family’s Tuck-It-Away storage empire was established, according to media reports.

To read the lohud.com article, click here.

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