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NYC hall up for landmark status for colorful history

Webster Hall, an East Village concert hall that was a venue for union rallies and lavish masquerade balls where gays were welcomed in the early 1900s, may soon become a New York City landmark.

The Romanesque Revival-style building, with its terra cotta ornamentation, is the city's "most historically and culturally significant 19th century assembly hall," the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission said in recommending the designation.

The commission will hold a public hearing next week to consider the matter before voting on the landmark designation, commission spokeswoman Lisi de Bourbon said Monday.
Read entire article at AP