| E-BULLETIN
OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL
(mid) January 2007, Volume 4 Number 1
2006, A Year of Loss and (Some) Progress...
To be honest, 2006 began as a very challenging
year for preservation in New York. Fresh from the stripping
of landmark protection from the 1911 Austin, Nichols and Company
Warehouse by the City Council in December, in February preservationists
were aghast when the Landmarks
Preservation Commission voted 7-2 to demolish the Purchase Building
in the Fulton Ferry Historic District. Following this, there was
a contentious
hearing to uphold the designation of the Fieldston Historic District
at City Council in March as well as a
divisive Landmarks Commissioner appointment hearing in May.
Finally over the summer, the LPC declined
to designate the Thompson House at 150 Taylor Street in Staten Island
due to the owner-created condition. Frankly, from a preservation
perspective, the first half of last year wasn’t very much
fun.
There were some bright points though.
The western front of Greenwich Village gained much-needed protection
in May when the Greenwich
Village Historic District Extension and the Weekhawken Street Historic
District were designated. The City
Council granted the LPC much-needed funds which greatly increased
the agency’s abilities to research and designate properties.
In September, Crown Heights North had a very well-attended and successful
hearing as
a potential historic district; and at that same hearing, the
Flatbush neighborhoods of Fiske
Terrace and Midwood Park were calendared
to be heard by the LPC (hopefully soon). A rare
horse auction house just south of Union Square was saved from
certain destruction, and in two stunning turns, an Italianate mansion
in Clinton Hill South was literally
plucked from the jaws of doom (or a demolition permit as the
case may be) and a
pair of early low-income apartment buildings had their landmark
status restored after having de-designated in 1990.
Preservation in New York City doesn’t
begin and end with the LPC; sometimes it just feels like
it does. In 2006, there were numerous preservation events which
completely bypassed the LPC; such as the loss
of the Admiral’s Row Houses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard,
a saving of a neighborhood
movie theater in Bay Ridge, the
imminent and extreme danger to a Richard Upjohn Church in Maspeth
despite protective easements and zoning, the listing of a large
neighborhood in Queens on
the State and National Registers of Historic Places, and a
complete lack of progress at Spanish Camp. Also, New York State
finally passed an
incentive bill for the rehabilitation of private historic homes
(which didn’t go far enough, but it’s a start). Needless
to say, this is only a small sampling of the development and preservation
happenings from 2006. There are countless others of greater import
that we haven’t mentioned, such as Atlantic
Yards, Moynihan
Station, and the World Trade Center (to name but a few), but
this update is late enough as it is…
In addition to all this, HDC also kept busy
with educational programs and meetings throughout all five boroughs;
from Fieldston to Tottenville. We revised
and republished our classic guidebook, “Creating An Historic
District”; hosted a well-attended conference at Columbia on
“Place,
Race, Money & Art: The Economics & Demographics of Historic
Preservation,” launched our Digital
Picture Library, and had a lovely and successful evening honoring
historic
preservation engineer Robert Silman as this year’s Landmarks
Lion.
What’s coming up for 2007?
We’re are committed to working to set a broader preservation
agenda for New York, re-affirming and strengthening our connections
to our neighborhood partners and striving in all ways to help communities
throughout the city to preserve and protect their historic neighborhoods.
Stay tuned, it’s going to be an exciting year.
Save the Date: 13th Annual Preservation Conference,
March 9-11
Mark your calendars for the 13th(!) Annual Preservation Conference,
“Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future”, taking
place March 9-11, 2007. The conference will address the question
of given the ambitious housing and development plans currently being
pursued and the expected population increase in the next few decades,
what will happen to the historic neighborhoods of New York City
over the next generation? A distinguished group of preservationists,
planners, artists, architects, educators and developers from New
York City’s five boroughs and beyond will be presenting their
views in a series of three panel discussions: “The Greening
of Preservation,” “Smart(?) Growth: Brooklyn in the
21st Century” and “The Future of New York: With Preservation
or Without?”
Opening night reception will take place at the Children’s
Aid Society at 219 Sullivan Street in the proposed South Village
Historic District. Educational panels will be held at Hunter College
School of Social Work on Saturday and walking tours will be on Sunday.
For more information, visit www.hdc.org
and watch your mail boxes for brochure.
Just In: Foster Tower Given Thumbs-Down By
LPC
One benefit of running very late on this issue is that we can report
on the proposed glass tower on the Parke-Bernet Building at 980
Madison Avenue. To be brief, 9 out of 10 Landmarks Commissioners
(which is a better percentage than 4 out of 5 dentists) stated yesterday
that they felt, regardless of the merits of the design, it was simply
proposed for the wrong place. There has been extensive
press coverage of the decision and see
here for a full report. We are incredibly appreciative for all
the support from the 84 groups who signed on in opposition to this
project, and for the Landmarks Commissioners for their articulate
and thoughtful consideration of this project which led them to the
right decision. The only cloud on the horizon is that the agency
didn’t reject the proposal outright, and it
might come back in an altered form, but given the strong words
of the Commissioners and the intense public interest, we are hopeful
that any new application will have to start the process afresh.
For the record, here are the groups in opposition:
thank you all!
10th & Stuyvesant Streets Block Association, Bay
Improvement Group, Bayside Civic Database, Boerum Hill Association,
Brooklyn Borough Historian's Office, Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy,
Brooklyn Heights Association, Brownstone Revival Coalition, Building
Conservation International, Cambridge Place Action Coalition, Carnegie
Hill Neighbors, Center Development Corporation, Center for Thanatology,
Central Park West Preservation Committee, Civitas, Committee To
Save The Trylon Theater, Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights,
Council of Chelsea Block Associations, Crown Heights North Association,
Defenders of the Historic Upper East Side, Ditmas Park Association,
Drive to Protect the Ladies' Mile District, DUMBO Neighborhood Association,
East 78th Street Block Association Park/ Lex., East 85th/86th Lex-Park-Mad
Block Association, East 86th Street Merchants/Residents Association,
East Midtown Coalition for Sensible Development, East Village Community
Coalition, Fort Greene Association, Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation
Alliance, Friends of First Avenue Estate, Friends of Historic New
Utrecht, Friends of Terra Cotta, Friends of the Upper East Side
Historic Districts, Fulton Ferry Landing Association, Gramercy Neighborhood
Associates, Greater Astoria Historical Society, Greenwich Village
Community Task Force, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation,
Historic Districts Council, Historic Neighborhood Enhancement Alliance,
Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America, Jackson
Heights Beautification Group, Jackson Heights Garden City Society,
Landmark West!, Manhattan Community Board 8, Manhattan East Community
Association, Metropolitan Historic Structures Association, Modern
Architecture Working Group, Municipal Art Society, Murray Hill Neighborhood
Association, National Trust for Historic Preservation, New York
Landmarks Conservancy, New York Marble Cemetery, New York Preservation
Alliance, New Yorkers for Responsible Development, NoHo Neighborhood
Association, North Shore Waterfront Greenbelt, Parkway Village Historical
Society, Preservation League of Staten Island, Preserve and Protect,
Queensborough Preservation League, Rego-Forest Preservation Council,
Richmond Hill Historical Society, Riverdale Historic District, Roosevelt
Island Historical Society, Senator Street Historic District, Serpentine
Art and Nature Commons, Society for Clinton Hill, Society for the
Architecture of the City, SoHo Alliance, Sunnyside Foundation for
Community Planning and Preservation, Tribeca Community Association,
Turtle Bay Association, Union Square Community Coalition, Vinegar
Hill Neighborhood Association, West 122nd St. Block Association,
West 54 - 55 Street Block Association, West Brighton Restoration
Society, West Cunningham Park Civic Association, Westerleigh Improvement
Association, Wyckoff House & Association, Yorkville Historic
Society.
Become a Friend of HDC
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,
check out the updated
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miss you!
The Advocate for New York City’s Historic Neighborhoods
232 East 11th Street New York NY 10003
tel: 212-614-9107 fax: 212-614-9127 email: hdc@hdc.org
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