programs & EVENTS
Annual Preservation Conference
For the past thirteen years HDC has organized a yearly conference
that explores current preservation topics in depth. Past titles
include “Place, Race, Money and Art: The Economics and Demographics
of Historic Preservation,” “Preserving Public Places:
Caring for Our Shared Heritage,”and “Cultural Landmarks:
Controversy, Practice & Prospects.” A Pre-Conference
Lecture Series kicks off the conference, tackling related topics
through panel discussions, presentations and film screenings.
Past sessions have explored the bathhouses of the Lower East Side,
the history of Fort Greene Park and the relationship between local
designation and gentrification. The conference weekend itself,
held in the beginning of March, starts with an Opening Night Reception,
continues with a full day of lectures and panels and concludes
with walking tours throughout the five boroughs. Past tours have
included Fort Totten, The Grand Concourse, Harlem, Prospect Park,
Roosevelt Island, Williamsburg and Greenpoint, Crown Heights North
and Jamaica.
Borough Panels
HDC regularly collaborates with neighborhood groups interested in
historic district designation to put on panel discussions and community
forums that teach neighborhood residents about what it means to
become a historic district. Experts from the Landmarks Preservation
Commission and other governmental agencies, along with representatives
of historic and civic organizations answer questions about the before,
during and after of the historic designation process. Examples of
groups that have partnered with HDC to hold these events include
the Crown Heights North Neighborhood Association, the Sunnyside
Gardens Preservation Alliance, the Preservation League of Staten
Island and the Bronx Museum of Art.
Lectures Series
HDC regularly hosts panel discussions on a wide range of subjects;
past topics have included the preservation of religious properties,
Sick in New York on the adaptive reuse of medical institutions and
“Dead in New York,” on the preservation of historic
cemeteries. This series included a tour of Green-Wood Cemetery in
Brooklyn offering a real life case study of the preservation practices
discussed in the preceding lectures. A tour of the South Side of
Ellis Island will conclude the Sick in New York Series.
Grassroots Awards
Our annual Grassroots Awards celebrate the efforts of neighborhood
preservationists from across the city and are given out at an annual
May celebration held in the garden of the historic St. Mark’s
Church-in-the-Bowery. Past awardess have included CitiNeighbors
Coalition for Historic Carnegie Hill, The Villager, The Richmond
Hill Historical Society, The Coalition to Save P.S. 109, “Reverend”
Billy Talen, Mud Lane Society for the Renaissance of Stapleton and
the Coalition to Save the Austin Nichols Warehouse.
Landmarks Lion Award
Since 1990 HDC has honored individuals who have demonstrated unusual
devotion to protecting landmarks and historic districts in New York
City with the Landmarks Lion award. Past recipients include Margot
Gayle, Jack Taylor, Dr. James Marston Fitch, Barry Lewis, Dorothy
Marie Miner and Kitty Carlisle Hart. This past fall, structural
engineer Robert Silman was honored at Columbia University’s
Low Library.
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