There’s a new chapter in the Norah Jones’ Windowgate saga in Cobble Hill.
The sultry Grammy winner’s next-door neighbors — who fought unsuccessfully to keep the singer from adding side windows to her new home because they and some other neighbors felt it doesn’t fit in with the rest of Cobble Hill’s historic district — are now seeking city approval for window changes to their co-op building.
An application by residents of a co-op building at the corner of Clinton and Amity streets is set to go before the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission April 6.
The renovation plan to replace a side bay window to the 165-year-old building and its wood paneling, and paint it to match another existing bay window, was endorsed by Brooklyn Community Board 6 Thursday.
The Post reported last year that Jones got the city to sign off on her plan to add 10 windows to a side wall of her Amity Street brownstone, although she eventually opted to only install seven.
The Cobble Hill Association charged that the new windows are completely inconsistent with that building’s 19th-century, Greek revival architecture and should have required a hearing by the city.
Some neighbors even suggested that Jones used her celebrity status to circumvent the approval process, although the city vehemently denies this.
When asked why Jones changes were approved by landmarks staff while the co-op’s proposal required a public hearing first, city officials said it was because there are rules in place to allow workers to approve the type of additions Jones asked for — but not the type the co-op owners want. Therefore, a hearing before the LPC on the co-op plan is needed, they said.
When asked if he felt this was fair to him and the other co-op owners, Richard Moore, the co-ops’ president, declined comment except to say the revisions are more in line with his home’s original design.
Jones purchased her three-story home for $4.99 million in January 2009 but has not moved in yet. The Post also previously reported that she also has raised some eyebrows over plans to add a swimming pool in her backyard.
Pools are a rarity in the neighborhood, but city officials said there is nothing legally preventing a pool.
The real estate blog Brownstoner earlier this month reported that Jones’ pool should be ready by summer and, according to a tipster, will be an “8-by-30-foot in-ground pool with a hydraulic system that enables the pool to be covered and used as a terrace.”
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Related stories:
Neighbors bash Norah’s window-in-brick trick (NY Post)
Community board joins fight over Norah Jones’ window plan (NY Post Brooklyn Blog)
Compromise in Norah Jones “Windowgate” plan (NY Post Brooklyn Blog)
Norah Jones swimming pool should be ready by summer (Brownstoner)