E-Bulletin of the Historic Districts Council

March 2004 Volume I Number 2

As Seen in The New York Times: HDC to Hold Conference This Weekend

Interested in attending a weekend conference on the preservation of cultural landmarks? HDC’s 10th Annual Preservation Conference will be held this weekend with our Opening Night Reception on March 5th at Alvar Aalto’s Edgar J. Kaufmann’s Conference Rooms (809 United Nations Plaza) where we will be honoring the newly elected New York City Council Land Use Committee. The Conference Panels will be held at The New-York Historical Society on Saturday, March 6th with registration and breakfast beginning at 8:30am. The keynote address, “Remapping ‘Historic Significance,’” will be delivered by Prof. Jack Tchen. Panelists include Ned Kaufman, J. Winthrop Aldrich, Anthony C. Wood and William E. Davis, among others. On Sunday, HDC will be hosting walking tours in Harlem, the Upper West Side, the East Village, Chinatown, Fort Greene, Flushing and the Grand Concourse. For the New York Times article (sign-in required) visit http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/realestate/29BPOST.html.

For information and to register visit us online or call 212-614-9107.

Murray Hill Expands!

After a 30-year campaign, Murray Hill was designated a New York City historic district in January 2002. Justifiably pleased with this success, the Murray Hill Neighborhood Association continued its efforts to preserve their historic neighborhood and enlarge the small district. Since the designation, the Association successfully nominated a large portion of the neighborhood to the New York State & National Registers of Historic Places. It also remained vigilant in opposing inappropriate work in the district, such as the sudden appearance of garish yellow bollards installed with the new Muni Meter parking system. About two years ago, the Association learned that there was a plan to build a 24-story tower on the boundaries of the district that would dwarf the low-rise neighborhood. HDC joined neighborhood activists in calling for an expansion of the historic district – which many felt was oddly gerrymandered to begin with. The Landmarks Preservation Commission responded to the community and in December 2003, calendared two groups of buildings (12 in all) that connected the segments of the district into a cohesive whole. HDC applauds LPC’s swift action to preserve this important Midtown neighborhood and its willingness to revisit and address inadequate designations. Click here for HDC’s testimony in favor of this extension.

Designation Activity in Brooklyn & Staten Island

Thanks in part to HDC’s strong advocacy, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has recently considered four individual buildings in Brooklyn and Staten Island as potential landmarks. In Staten Island, Miss Errington’s School and the H.H. Richardson House were both under immediate threat of demolition. Responding to public outcry against the epidemic of teardowns in the borough, LPC took strong steps to preserve these buildings by considering them for designation almost immediately. In February, HDC joined elected officials and our colleagues at the Preservation League of Staten Island in testifying in favor of these important buildings. Unfortunately, on March 2, the Landmarks Commission voted to deny designation of Miss Errington’s School, citing its advanced state of deterioration and irresolvable concerns about its historic significance. Demolition permits for the building, which the Fire Department has deemed to be unsafe to enter, will be issued shortly.

In Brooklyn, the LPC is considering the Lady Deborah Moody House, one of the 13 remaining historic farmhouses, as a potential landmark. Lady Moody founded the English settlement of Gravesend in the 1640s. She planned the distinctive layout of Gravesend, the first English settlement in the New Netherlands and is credited as being the first woman to establish a European colony in the United States. Although she never lived in the existing house, it may contain remnants of her house and it is a very rare example of 18th-century stone construction in Brooklyn. Originally considered by the Landmarks Commission in the 1960s, HDC began to advocate for its preservation in 2002 upon learning that the long-time owner was seeking to sell. The LPC is also considering the Hecla Iron Works Building in Williamsburg. One of the most significant industrial buildings in Brooklyn and an important ancestor of the Modern movement, the Hecla Iron Works building is also significant for the role the company and its building played in providing architectural and ornamental ironwork for some of New York’s most beloved buildings.

Neighborhood at Risk: Midwood Park/Fiske Terrace, Brooklyn

Visit the “Neighborhood at Risk” section of our website to learn about Midwood Park/Fiske Terrace, where growing pressure for development challenges the attractive early 20th-century neighborhood.

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