E-BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL

January 2006, Volume 3 Number 1

The Fight to Save New York’s Architectural Heritage Continues…

It’s been an exciting year for the Historic Districts Council, filled with achievements and advances, none of which would have been possible without support and help of our friends. In this e-bulletin we would like to take a moment to thank our constituents and supporters, and reflect on 2005; its highlights and disappointments.

2005 saw the designation of more than ten individual New York City landmarks, including such notable structures as Morris Lapidus’s 1961 Summit Hotel in midtown Manhattan, the 1870’s Bedell House on Staten Island and several of the best-known interiors of the world-famous Plaza Hotel. HDC was on the front lines advocating for the preservation of these and numerous other buildings and districts and it’s especially rewarding when hard work results in a preservation win. Looking back on the Landmark Preservation Commission’s designations this year, HDC is particularly pleased that the agency has largely responded to community concerns and has followed through with Commissioner Tierney’s pledges to both look outside Manhattan for designations and to recognize more Modern and cultural sites (such as the Ralph Bunche House in Kew Gardens, Queens and the Summit Hotel). We hope that in the coming year the LPC will continue along this path and, judging from the recent hearings on the Greenwich Village Historic District extensions, it looks promising. However, we must not forget the buildings that were lost this year, such as 2 Columbus Circle, the Patterson Silk/Odd Job Building on 14th Street or the Mott House in Rockaway, and we must not forsake our vigilance for blind optimism.

This past year also saw an enormous involvement by the City Council in the landmarking process, both for good and for ill. In February, the Council passed the “Failure To Maintain” bill, sponsored by CM Tony Avella, which for the first time empowered the Landmarks Commission to penalize property owners who refuse to maintain their landmark buildings in a safe and watertight condition. The Council also deliberated on a number of bills that would have increased the transparency of the agency’s decisions and empowered the LPC to intercede before demolition permits could be issued on potential landmarks. Unfortunately, these measures were never adopted and will need to be reintroduced in the new legislative session that starts in January. Even more dismaying, in the past few months, City Council chose to overturn the designation of two landmarks: Cass Gilbert’s Austin, Nichols & Company Warehouse in Brooklyn and the modern 1968 Jamaica Savings Bank in Queens.

All these acts of the City Council serve to remind us of the hard work that lies ahead. As a community, preservationists have struggled to place our concerns on the agenda for our elected officials, and it’s our responsibility to follow through. We cannot sit idly while City Council discounts the significance of our city’s architectural heritage, nor can we allow our legislative goals to be overlooked or cast aside. All of us must work even harder in 2006 towards our preservation goals and towards educating all of our elected officials of the importance of protecting our shared architectural history. HDC will keep advocating for new legislation at the local, state and national levels that will benefit the landmarks process and provide financial incentives to owners of historic properties. We hope that you will join us in calling on your elected officials to inform them how important preservation is to their constituents.

Over the past twelve months, HDC has worked closely with numerous community groups around the city including; the Midwood Park & Fiske Terrace Neighborhood Associations, the Crown Heights North Association, the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance, and the NoHo Neighborhood Association to name only a handful. We’ve visited potential historic districts in all five boroughs and have met with dozens of community groups and individuals to strategize how to best preserve New York’s historic neighborhoods. We’ve even reached outside the city’s borders by presenting our work to neighborhood groups in Philadelphia, Syracuse and Yonkers. (Those favors will be reciprocated in February when some of our colleagues will be journeying to New York to talk about their preservation experiences, see below for details).

Designation is only the beginning – preserving historic neighborhoods requires vigilance, persistence and fortitude. As part of our regular programs, HDC reviews every public application for work on a landmark property, and comments on them when needed. Some of the more well-known and controversial proposals we’ve been involved with in the past year include the changes to the Plaza interior (as we said, designation is only the beginning), the expansion of the Whitney Museum of Art and new buildings in the Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope and Ladies’ Mile historic districts. In each of these cases, we reviewed the applications, consulted with experts and community groups and presented public testimony urging that historic resources are respected and that proposed changes are appropriate to the existing, protected historic buildings. Testifying before the Landmarks Commission is not the end of our direct advocacy, we have also spoken before community boards, the City Planning Commission and the Board of Standards & Appeals, in all cases hewing to the same preservation standard.

Finally, throughout the year and throughout the city, HDC has sponsored numerous well-attended educational and informational panels and programs. In April, we hosted a panel in Crown Heights North attended by over 200 residents regarding the proposed historic district designation for the neighborhood. In November, we were in Jackson Heights, talking to community members about downzoning and other techniques of neighborhood preservation. HDC’s 11th annual preservation conference in March dealt with the complexities of preserving public buildings, and throughout the summer and fall, we held a number of lectures and discussions on preservation topics from the surviving Federal rowhouses and Dutch farmhouses in New York, to the preservation of our city’s historic cemeteries. We’re going to continue and expand these programs in 2006 – offering “life after designation” programs in Staten Island and Brooklyn, a special breakfast discussion series and a fun fall lecture series highlighting the many kinds of historic buildings that exist within our city. We are also busily planning for our 2006 Conference entitled “Place, Race, Money and Art: The Demographics and Economics of Preservation,” which is sure to be one of our most provocative conferences yet (see below for more details).

2006 is almost upon us and HDC is looking forward to it. In addition to our programs and advocacy initiatives, we’ll be republishing a revision of our classic guidebook, “Creating An Historic District” - which is an invaluable resource for neighborhoods seeking historic district status; we’ll be launching our Digital Image Library – over 2,000 images of New York’s historic districts usable for educational and research purposes; we’ll be re-inventing our electronic media portal (aka our website) and premiering a very exciting project that’s still in the planning but will blow your socks off, and most importantly, HDC will be active throughout the city, continuing to work tirelessly in 2006 to ensure that the unique heritage of this great city will be protected for future generations. We will continue to work closely with community groups to advise and assist them with their preservation agendas, and will maintain our presence as a strong voice in the forefront of preservation in New York City. This is our New Year’s pledge to you.

Thank you for all your support that makes our work possible and we wish you and yours a happy, and peaceful New Year.

Save the Date: HDC’s Annual Preservation Conference

“Place, Race, Money and Art: The Economics and Demographics of Preservation.” March 3-5, 2006

Pre-Conference Lectures, February 16 and February 23, 2006

On Saturday, March 4th, at Columbia University, a distinguished group of preservationists, planners, artists, architects, educators and developers from New York’s five boroughs and beyond will discuss the economic and social effects of historic preservation. Robert Fishman, Professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, will provide our keynote address entitled “Historians of Hope: Preservation and the End of the Urban Crisis,” and the conference will be broken down into three panels including: “Economics of Preservation,” “Race and Preservation,” and “Artists and Neighborhoods.” The brochure will be in mailboxes next month or click here for more information and to register.

The conference will be preceded by two lectures in February relating to the theme. Our first panel entitled “What Does Preservation Do To Neighborhood Economics?” will be held on February 16th, at the Pratt Institute, and panelists will discuss their own research investigating the effects of historic preservation on New York City Neighborhoods. Then on February 23rd, at the Fashion Institute of Technology, we will hold another panel, entitled “Preservation Myths & Realities: Case Studies From Other Cities.” Come listen to preservation experts from outside of New York to hear about how they are dealing with the development and gentrification issues of historic neighborhoods in their own communities.

Please Make a Year-End Contribution, or Become a New Friend of the Historic Districts Council

If you’ve already made your year-end contribution, thank you. If not, there’s still time to add this donation to your year-end giving. HDC’s Friends and supporters make all our programs possible. If you’re not one already, please take this opportunity to become a Friend of HDC and receive benefits such as free events, special admission offers, access to technical and moral support and advance notice of preservation issues. Learn more about the benefits of being a Friend and join our mailing list to receive an information packet in the mail.

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