E-BULLETIN OF THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL

March 2007, Volume 4 Number 3

We’re pulling out all the stops in the next few weeks in hosting programs and events for community activists, preservationists and people just interested in New York. Here are the programs that HDC is sponsoring in the coming weeks

March 9-11: Annual Preservation Conference, “Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future”
Get ready: the 13th(!) Annual Preservation Conference, “Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future,” taking place March 9-11, 2007, is fast approaching! The conference will explore critical and controversial issues relating to the future of New York City’s historic districts in the face of proposed real estate developments and expected population increases.

This year's conference will be preceded by a series of Pre-Conference Lectures, as well as an Opening Night Reception. The Sunday following the Conference will feature a series of tours of historic areas throughout New York City. Click here to register online.

March 1: “In The Footsteps of Jane Jacobs” Pre-Conference Lecture
Please RSVP, limited space available!

Community organizations and grassroots campaigns have undergone a vast evolution since Jane Jacobs first led her crusade against Robert Moses and his plan to build a massive thoroughfare through Downtown Manhattan. As the first of two free Pre-Conference events to kick-off our Annual Preservation Conference, this panel will feature some of New York City's most ambitious grassroots organizers as they discuss their current efforts in political activism. Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, will moderate this informal conversation between Reverend Billy and Savitri D. of the Church of Stop Shopping, Candace Carponter of Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, Yolanda Gonzalez of Nos Quedamos and Miquela Craytor of Sustainable South Bronx.

Join us Thursday, March 1st, 6:30pm, in the Parish Hall at St. Marks Church in-the-Bowery, 131 East 10th Street at 2nd Avenue. For reservations, please call (212) 614-9107 or email lbelfer@hdc.org. This event is co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

March 7: Screening of Atlantic Yards Documentary “Brooklyn Matters”
For the second Pre-Conference event HDC will host a free screening of “Brooklyn Matters,” an insightful new documentary tackling Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards proposal. Director Isabel Hill’s latest film reveals the fuller truth about the Frank Gehry-designed development and highlights how a few powerful men are circumventing community participation and planning principles to push their own interests forward. The screening will be followed by a brief Q & A session with the filmmaker.

Wednesday, March 7, 6:45pm, at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, 155 East Third Street at Avenue A. For reservations, please call (212) 614-9107 or email lbelfer@hdc.org.

March 9: Opening Night Reception
Join us for a cocktail reception in the auditorium at the Children's Aid Society's Greenwich Village Center to honor the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Founded in 1980, GVSHP has grown into one of the most effective and innovative community organizations in New York dedicated to preserving the architectural and cultural heritage of their neighborhood. Their newest project focuses on documenting the cultural history and preserving the architectural history of the South Village, a 40 block area south of Washington Square Park the Society is proposing for landmark designation. The Children's Aid Society, built in 1891, is a striking Victorian Gothic style brick building and one of about a dozen structures designed for the society by Calvert Vaux. Originally used as an industrial trade school benefiting impoverished children and privately financed by philanthropists Mrs. Joseph M. White and Miss M. W. Bruce, it continues to house Children's Aid Society programming today. This building is one of the many notable structures within the proposed South Village Historic District.

Friday, March 9, 6:00pm, at the Children’s Aid Society’s Greenwich Village Center, 219 Sullivan Street between Bleecker and West Third Streets. For reservations, please call (212) 614-9107 or visit our Web site.

March 10: “Preserving the Past, Planning for the Future” Conference Panels
This year’s Conference Panels will bring together a distinguished group of preservationists, planners, artists, architects, educators and developers from New York City’s five boroughs and beyond will to present 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?” Donovan Rypkema, principal, PlaceEconomics, will provide the keynote address, “Sustainability, Smart Growth and Historic Preservation.”
Saturday, March 10, 9:30am-6:15pm, in the Harold Lewis Auditorium at the Hunter College School of Social Work, 129 East 79th Street between Park and Lexington Avenues. For reservations, please call (212) 614-9107 or visit our Web site.

March 11: Walking Tours
The final day of HDC’s Preservation Conference features six walking tours of neighborhoods throughout New York City, including:

v Walking the Plan: Development in Downtown Brooklyn
v Greening the Crossroads of the World: New Architecture and Green Buildings in Midtown Manhattan and Times Square
v On the Waterfront: A Tour of St. George, Staten Island
v From King Manor to La Casina: The New Jamaica Center
v Village of the Dormed: Going Up in the East Village
v Last Exit to Brooklyn: The New Face of Red Hook

Sunday, March 11. For reservations, please visit our Web site or call (212) 614-9107.

For regularly updated event listings, check out http://hdcvoice.blogspot.com/

Not all lectures and events; Landmark Designations March On

Over the past month, a number of buildings and neighborhoods have either become landmarks or at least moved closer to designation. On January 30th (which is almost February), the LPC calendared a whole mess of buildings (including seven in Staten Island) and heard a lot more, including the WPA-era public pools. In addition, the LPC designated two catholic Churches in Harlem - the first churches to become individual landmarks in over 25 years (and on HDC’s “Unprotected and Under Consideration” list). This past Tuesday, the LPC designated the Sohmer Piano Factory in Long Island City as a landmark as well; and the future seems brighter for a building that a previous owner was going to let crumble. Finally, we have reports from the neighborhood that Sunnyside Gardens residents have been contacted by the LPC that the proposed Sunnyside Gardens Historic District is scheduled to be calendared on March 6th (the same day that 70 Lefferts Place is to be heard by the City Council). All this preservation activity would not have been possible without the added funds that the City Council allocated last year to the LPC’s designation efforts. This year, a coalition is forming to advocate for continued added funding for the agency. Budget hearings start in March, so stay tuned – and let us know if you’re interested in getting involved!

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 sections of our website or join our mailing list to receive an information packet in the mail.

To unsubscribe from the email list please email hdc@hdc.org and write "Unsubscribe" in the subject heading. We’ll 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