Come celebrate the new Six to Celebrate! Wednesday, February 8- Metropolitan College of New York
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Metropolitan College of New York
60 West St, New York, NY 10006
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Introducing the 2018 Six to Celebrate!
Six to Celebrate annually identifies six historic NYC neighborhoods that merit preservation. These will be priorities for HDC’s advocacy and consultation over a yearlong period.
Arthur Avenue, The Bronx
Arthur Avenue, the long-time home of The Bronx’s Little Italy, has been a haven for Italian-Americans, Italophiles and curious tourists seeking an authentic shopping and dining experience for generations. In a city that is constantly evolving, its family-run businesses offer consistency, quality and a connection to the past on a storied and historic street. To capture the essence of this place, the Belmont Business Improvement District will undertake a series of oral histories with key constituents and develop an official tour of the area. These place-making initiatives will serve to enhance the public’s experience of and appreciation for Arthur Avenue, as well as ensure that its history is not forgotten. The group also seeks to investigate zoning tools to protect the character and scale of the neighborhood.
Elmhurst, Queens
This community in western Queens boasts many charming, yet unprotected, residential, commercial and religious structures, as well as a number of historic burial grounds that are at risk of damage due to poor stewardship and lack of awareness. The Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society, Inc., a newly-formed and first-of-its-kind civic organization in Elmhurst, is working to document the neighborhood’s treasures and pursue appropriate preservation tools to ensure their survival. In addition, the group is working to foster local pride in Elmhurst’s heritage through robust public programming, including walking tours and signage.
Lower West Side, Manhattan
Prior to the construction of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and the World Trade Center, the area from roughly Liberty Street to Battery Place west of Broadway was host to a vibrant immigrant neighborhood called the Lower West Side. Initially populated by Irish and German immigrants, it later became a Middle Eastern enclave (known as the “Syrian Quarter” or “Little Syria”) and was subsequently home to a large Slavic population. The area’s major redevelopment in the mid-20th century nearly wiped the neighborhood off the map, but several buildings still exist to tell the story, and the Friends of the Lower West Side is determined to make sure this history is not lost. The group will appeal to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to protect a small area of significance, as well as expand its oral history program, publish a written history and offer walking tours to raise awareness.
Prospect Heights Apartment House District, Brooklyn
Constructed on a lost fragment of the original footprint of Prospect Park, now in southern Prospect Heights, is a concentration of 82 apartment buildings dating from 1909-1929. This development, boasting a cohesive design vocabulary and scale, was promoted by the Prospect Park Commissioners to attract high quality construction to complement the nearby Park, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Brooklyn Public Library. The buildings, representative of a period in Brooklyn history when building patterns shifted to accommodate a rising middle class, remain exemplary for their architectural integrity and as housing stock for a diverse population. The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council and the Cultural Row Block Association on Eastern Parkway are working to garner local support and submit a proposal for historic district status from the LPC.
Westchester Square, The Bronx
Westchester Square, now a major transportation hub in the northeast Bronx, was once home to a critical location in the birth of our nation. Hidden in plain sight, sites such as Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church and the Westchester Creek were crucial to American victory in the Revolutionary War. Other sites such as the Huntington Library and above-ground subway station serve as vestiges of the early 20th century innovation and architectural character that continue to anchor the neighborhood today. The Westchester Square Business Improvement District is working to rebrand the area with a focus on its rich history. This public awareness campaign will involve formally documenting its history and commemorating important events through the installation of plaques in and around the Square.
Cultural Landmarks, Citywide
Working in partnership with the New York Preservation Archive Project and the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, HDC will undertake a campaign to shine a light on sites of cultural significance throughout the five boroughs. In recent years, the LPC has designated several landmarks based largely on their cultural impact and has expressed that such designations are a priority for the agency. Through the formation of a diverse coalition of stakeholders, HDC hopes to broaden the conversation about preservation tools for culturally significant sites and to create an action plan for their proper stewardship.
Support for Six to Celebrate is provided in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by New York City Council Members Margaret Chin, Daniel Garodnick, Vincent Gentile, Corey Johnson, Ben Kallos, Peter Koo and Stephen Levin.
2018 Six to Celebrate Applications
Apply today to become one of the 2018 Six to Celebrate groups.
Mott Haven Tour
Six to Celebrate Hart Island Tour
Hart Island Tour aboard the John J. Harvey
Join HDC and The Hart Island Project aboard the John J. Harvey Fireboat on Sunday, July 30th to take a truly unique trip around the Southern tip of Manhattan, up the East River to follow the original path from Bellevue Hospital past Roosevelt Island through Hells Gate to Hart Island. The Hart Island Project’s Melinda Hunt will inform tour goers about the history of Hart Island, as well as the influences it has had on New York City.
Boarding will be at 12:00 pm
The trip will take approximately 5-6 hours
Water will be provided, but people are encouraged to bring refreshments. Casual dress is suggested, at some point the water cannons will go off.
This tour is free- RSVP is Required
Donations to HDC, The Hart Island Project and the John J. Harvey Fireboat are greatly appreciated
West Chelsea Street Art and Graffiti Tour
Friday, June 23, 2017
5:00-7:00 pm
Join HDC’s own street artist- turned- tour guide Patrick Waldo on this walking tour of West Chelsea, exploring the neighborhood’s wide range of graffiti, street art, and legal public art. Waldo will draw on his brief but memorable stint in the illegal world of street art to explain techniques and terminology that will give tour goers a newfound appreciation for New York’s dynamic graffiti scene. Expect to see work from ’80s icon Kenny Scharf, Brazilian twin superstars Os Gemeos, mysterious French street artist Invader, as well as many up and coming local artists hoping to carve out a place in New York City street art history.
Corona-East Elmhurst Walking Tour
Saturday, June 10, 2017
11am-1pm
Corona-East Elmhurst has become one of the largest and most intercultural Latino communities in NYC. Originally part of the Colonial Village of Newtown, established in the 1600s by Dutch and African settlers, over course of its history it has been home to sizable Italian, African-American, Caribbean, German, Irish, Jewish and Swedish populations; simultaneously. It also has a history as a horse-racing destination, a railroad and baseball town and a haven for New York’s jazz community. On this two-hour tour we will explore these aspects of Corona-East Elmhurst’s heritage concentrating on the Corona portion of this historically diverse community. Sights include historic houses of worship, a 19th-century country villa, beloved local parks, eateries, and the longtime home of music legend Louis Armstrong, as well as the former residence of his friend and fellow legend, John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, who along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Be-Bop into the American jazz tradition. Tour participants will have the option of extending their tour by continuing with the guide to the World’s Fair Marina, a waterfront promenade where the mysterious Candela structures stand.
Ace Hotel and Madison Square North Park
Friday, May 5
2:20 pm
Attendees of this unique tour will get to view the Ace Hotel located in the Madison Square North Historic District, and tour Madison Square Park. You will learn how the park affected development around Madison Square and how the hotel is a part of that history. The Ace hotel has embraced its historic roots by creatively decorating its interior with contemporary pieces that reflect the neighborhoods past. The tour will begin inside the lobby of the Ace hotel, where a staff member will guide us around the the original mosaic floor and stained glass windows. The tour will then continue through Madison Square Park. The land around Madison Sq. Park was designated a public space in the first city charter of 1686; in the ensuing centuries the land would be used as farmland, military training and finally a park. Come learn the storied history of the park and the neighborhood on this special Six to Celebrate tour.
2017 Six to Celebrate Launch Party!
2017 Six to Celebrate Launch Party!
Calvary-St. George’s Parish
61 Gramercy Park North, Manhattan
6pm
Friends $20 / General Admission $25
East River Vistas: Architecture and Changing Lifestyles in Yorkville Tour
Sunday, October 30, 2:00PM:
Once home to bucolic farmland, the eastern edge of Yorkville was dotted with clapboard farmhouses and country houses before being transformed into an industrial factory hub at the turn of the 20th century. As immigrants settled in Yorkville, tenement buildings were constructed, and by the 1930s the area around East End Avenue was home to luxury apartments designed by elite architects. Join the Historic Districts Council and FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts as we track this fascinating history of housing in eastern Yorkville with architectural historian and famed tour guide, Francis Morrone. Highlights will include East End Avenue, Gracie Square and Carl Schurz Park, model tenements such as the Cherokee Apartments, the idyllic rowhouses at Henderson Place and everything in between, including the largest white brick high-rise in the universe!
SOLD OUT
Clay Avenue & Grand Concourse Tour
Sunday, October 30, 11:30AM
Join us for a tour highlighting two very different historic districts in The Bronx! We will begin with a stroll through the charming Clay Avenue Historic District, a one-block stretch of remarkably intact and refreshingly unchanged rowhouses. Following this treasure of a block, the tour will loop back to the Grand Concourse Historic District to take in a smattering of Revival and Art Deco apartment buildings. This juxtaposition of small-scale, late 19th century rowhouses and large-scale, early 20th century apartment buildings will allow participants to compare and contrast trends in the development of middle-class housing a generation or so apart. The tour will end at another locally designated gem, the Andrew Freedman Home, located on the Grand Concourse at East 166th Street. The home has a colorful and unlikely origin story, having been built by millionaire philanthropist Andrew Freedman as a retirement facility for wealthy people who had lost their fortunes.
East New York Tour and Party
Saturday, September 24, 11:00AM
Following up on the success of our first tour of East New York in the spring, HDC is pleased to offer a repeat tour of this fascinating corner of Brooklyn! East New York has certainly been the talk of the town lately, as the City moves forward to rezone the neighborhood, along with 14 others. However, East New York is also known for its rich and somewhat troubled history. Join us for this tour, led by Farrah Lafontant, neighborhood resident and member of Preserving East New York, the newly formed civic group working to preserve the neighborhood’s built heritage. The tour will begin at the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church and include visits to a Magistrates Court, the former site of the East New York Savings Bank, Maxwell’s Bakery and the Borden Dairy Company factory complex, which was recently heard by the Landmarks Preservation Commission for potential landmark status.
After the tour we will head to Arts East New York for a reception. The party will allow neighbors to learn more about PENY and the work they are doing in East New York. The party is free and open to the public, you do not have to attend the tour to attend the party.
Advocacy in a Changing Lower East Side
Wednesday, August 10, 6:00PM
Join us for a tour of some of the highlights of one of Manhattan’s most historic and storied neighborhoods, the Lower East Side! The area has been experiencing rapid change in the form of large-scale development projects over the last decade. In the seeming blink of an eye, entire blocks have been demolished, leaving gaping holes in the landscape, while individual tenements have been replaced with glassy new condo buildings. Yet, its character-defining tenement architecture still exhibits the Lower East Side’s illustrious past as a dense immigrant enclave of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. To save a representative piece of this historic tableau, advocates have been working hard to preserve sections of the neighborhood so that its story might live on through its physical fabric. The tour will include the intact areas that are the subject of preservation focus, but will also explore its changing landscape.
Crown Heights South Fun(d)raiser
Scaling the Heights: Morningside Heights’ East Side Tour
Thursday, July 7 at 6:00PM: The Morningside Heights Historic District Committee has long been advocating for a historic district in the neighborhood. To help this effort, HDC selected the area as one of its Six to Celebrate in 2012. With some very exciting new developments bolstering and reinvigorating the cause, the Committee and HDC invite you to join us for a walking tour of this beautiful Manhattan hilltop. Led by architectural historian and preservation consultant Gregory Dietrich, this walking tour will explore the east side of Morningside Heights, encompassing its early apartment houses, row houses, and institutions situated within the vicinity of Morningside Park.
Friends/ Seniors $10
General Admission $20
Richmond Hill Tour
Saturday, May 14 at 10:00AM: Richmond Hill
Join architect and president of the Richmond Hill Historical Society, Ivan Mrakovčić, for an informative walking tour of the historical and architectural significance of this planned suburban community in Queens. The tour will include examples of Richmond Hill’s Victorian-era architectural legacy: all situated in beautiful tree-lined streets in proximity to the south slope of Forest Park.
WALKING TOUR OF INWOOD
Saturday, May 7 at 9:00AM: Inwood
Join Inwood residents and members of Volunteers for Isham Park and Transportation Alternatives for a Jane’s Walk focused on the design history of Inwood, the community at the northern tip of Manhattan. The tour will also highlight potential changes to its cohesive Art Deco streetscapes and WPA-funded park spaces, as well as proposed improvements to the existing street infrastructure.
Click here for more information and to register
Crown Heights South, part 2
Saturday, June 25 at 10:00AM
Crown Heights South, on the southern side of Eastern Parkway, has fascinating streetscapes and a great history. Sandwiched between the 19th century communities of Bedford and Flatbush, CHS developed primarily between 1900 and 1930 as a fine residential neighborhood with a unique mixture of mansions, rowhouses and apartment buildings. Mixed in are large, important institutions of learning, an armory, theaters, and on its southern border, the site of Ebbetts Field and the remains of one of the area’s most popular breweries. Bedford Avenue, once famous as Brooklyn’s Automobile Row, bisects the neighborhood, and forms a boundary for our two-part tour. Part 1 takes us to the western end of the neighborhood, where big buildings abound. This tour introduces the neighborhood, and some of its most iconic buildings. Part 2 features the mansions of Doctor’s Row, fine rowhouse blocks, apartment building and cultural institutions. The tours will be led by Suzanne Spellen, recipient of a 2015 Historic Districts Council Grassroots Award and the writer of the “Montrose Morris” columns on Brownstoner.com.
Friends/ Seniors $10
General Admission $20
Click here to register for part two
Crown Heights South, part 1
Thursday, June 23 at 6:00PM
Crown Heights South, on the southern side of Eastern Parkway, has fascinating streetscapes and a great history. Sandwiched between the 19th century communities of Bedford and Flatbush, CHS developed primarily between 1900 and 1930 as a fine residential neighborhood with a unique mixture of mansions, rowhouses and apartment buildings. Mixed in are large, important institutions of learning, an armory, theaters, and on its southern border, the site of Ebbetts Field and the remains of one of the area’s most popular breweries. Bedford Avenue, once famous as Brooklyn’s Automobile Row, bisects the neighborhood, and forms a boundary for our two-part tour. Part 1 takes us to the western end of the neighborhood, where big buildings abound. This tour introduces the neighborhood, and some of its most iconic buildings. Part 2 features the mansions of Doctor’s Row, fine rowhouse blocks, apartment building and cultural institutions. The tours will be led by Suzanne Spellen, recipient of a 2015 Historic Districts Council Grassroots Award and the writer of the “Montrose Morris” columns on Brownstoner.com.
Friends/ Seniors $10
General Admission $20
Click here to register for part one
How Audubon Park Disrupted Manhattan’s Grid
Thursday, June 16 at 6:00PM
The distinctive footprint that disrupts Manhattan’s grid west of Broadway between 155th and 158th Streets—the Audubon Park Historic District—did not come about by accident or from the demands of local topography. It unfolded from careful planning and alliances among like-minded property owners, whose social and political connections ensured that when progress swept up Manhattan’s west side, they would benefit. Take a leisurely walk with local historian Matthew Spady through the architectural gems in today’s Audubon Park Historic district and the proposed expansion area and learn about the Grinnell family, who controlled this neighborhood’s rapid evolution from suburb to city at the turn of the twentieth century.
Friends/ Seniors $10
General Admission $20
Click here to register
The Upper East Side’s Czechoslovak Heritage
Sunday, May 15 at 10:30AM
Until the 1940s, a portion of First Avenue was known as “Bohemian Broadway”, heart of the area that was home to tens of thousands of Bohemian, Moravian, and Slovak immigrants who started to settle on the Upper East Side in the late 19th Century. Join Joe Svehlak, tour guide and Czech-American, to hear about the Czech and Slovak immigrant experience, and see important remnants of this once vibrant community, including St. John Nepomucene Church, Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, Bohemian National Hall, and the gymnastic society’s Sokol Hall.
Friends/ Seniors $10
General Admission $20
Click here to register
MARCH 30, 2016 Audubon Park MEETING ON LANDMARKING
Join us at this meeting to learn what we are doing and how you can help.
Representatives from the Historic Districts Council will discuss the architectural, cultural and economic benefits of historic districts and address misconceptions about the impacts of designation on operating and repair costs.
Come and meet your neighbors as we help our community.
CROWN HEIGHTS SOUTH TOWN HALL MEETING & LANDMARK WEEKEND
2016 Six to Celebrate Launch Party
Introducing the 2016 Six to Celebrate!
Six to Celebrate annually identifies six historic NYC neighborhoods that merit preservation. These will be priorities for HDC’s advocacy and consultation over a yearlong period.
To honor our new Six to Celebrate we will be hosting a party at the South Street Seaport Museum’s Melville Gallery at 213 Water Street on January 28th at 6 pm!
CROWN HEIGHTS NORTH TOUR 11.14.2015
Join the Crown Heights North Association
and the Historic Districts Council
for a walking tour of this beautiful and historic
neighborhood in the heart of Brooklyn.
The tour will be led by architectural
historian, CHNA Board member and
Brownstoner blogger (pseudonym: “Montrose Morris”),
Suzanne Spellen!
TO REGISTER CLICK HERE
THE GREAT WOODLAWN CEMETERY SCAVENGER HUNT
Date: Saturday, September 26
Time: Scavenger Hunt starts at 2:00PM; Reception at Rambling House starts at 4:00PM
Location: Meet at the Work Gate, East 233rd Street between Katonah Avenue and Vireo Avenue (across from 329 E. 233rdStreet and one block west of Woodlawn’s main entrance at Webster Avenue)
Cost: $10 per team (up to 4 people per team) (Click here to register )
This fun-filled scavenger hunt of The Woodlawn Cemetery will celebrate some of this National Historic Landmark’s most famous residents, landscapes, and monuments, as well as the adjacent Woodlawn Heights neighborhood, one of the Historic Districts Council’s 2015 Six to Celebrate!
Choose from five themed trails in search of some of the cemetery’s most famous memorials and sites. Each trail covers 1.5 miles (no hills!) of the cemetery’s picturesque lanes, and will last roughly 60-90 minutes.
WALKING TOUR: DEAN ALVORD’S IDEA: VICTORIAN FLATBUSH
Saturday, October 24, 2015
1PM-3PM
Highlighting the transformation of the rural town of Flatbush into a planned community of great spatial and aesthetic coherence, Brooklyn native and tour guide, Norman Oder, leads a walk through Dean Alvord’s Prospect Park South.
Reservations are required:
$15 Friends & Young Preservationists (Under 30)
$20 Non-Members
Click here to register
PLEASE NOTE:
Starting points will be provided after tickets are purchased.
All walking tours will proceed rain or shine.
Space is limited.
Co-sponsored with Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities
Long Island City Walking Tour
Long Island City
Tuesday, June 30 at 6:00PM:
Join us for a tour of the ever-changing Queens Plaza in Long Island City, where 350 years of history exhibit New York City’s cutting-edge spirit. From the Dutch Kills Green millstones to Sunnyside Yards, from loft buildings to new towers and tech industry, the area is both dynamic and connected to its past. Queens Plaza opened in 1909 to accommodate the connection of the Queensboro Bridge to Queens, and once served as the borough’s transportation hub and financial and business center. While major redevelopment plans are underway in Queens Plaza, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has just designated its most beloved architectural jewel, the former Bank of Manhattan Building, affectionately known as the “Clock Tower,” as the city’s newest Individual Landmark. Historian and Greater Astoria Historical Society trustee Richard Melnick will lead us on a walk around Queens Plaza to learn about its history and plans for its future.
South Street Seaport Walking Tour
South Street Seaport
Thursday, June 18 at 6:00PM:
As the nation’s most important port for over 100 
years, the South Street Seaport, through its historic buildings, harbor views and tall ships, provides an important link to New York City’s fascinating and multi-layered origin story. As Manhattan’s oldest intact neighborhood, the Seaport derives its distinct sense of place from its 200-year old mercantile buildings, Belgian block paving and views of the Brooklyn Bridge. For many generations, it has been a destination for those with a passion for history. With major development pressures threatening to irreversibly and insensitively distort its character, advocates are working hard to protect this unique district. Join us as urban historian and author Francis Morrone illuminates the early history of the Seaport, its evolution over time and proposed plans for its future.
GREENPOINT WALKING TOUR
Join Preservation Greenpoint for a walking tour led by professor, author, and architectural historian Andrew Scott Dolkart (who is back by popular demand!). The group will explore the architecture, history, and development of Brooklyn’s Greenpoint, from the industrial heritage that remains as a reminder of the neighborhood’s role as a powerful industrial center, to the delightful array of residential structures in a wide variety of styles. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn more about Greenpoint from one of New York City’s preeminent architectural experts!
When: Wednesday June 17, 6:00PM
Where: Meet in front of St. Anthony St. Alphonsus Church at 862 Manhattan Ave Brooklyn, NY 11222 (one block south of the Greenpoint Avenue G train stop)
RSVP: info@preservationgreenpoint.org
(tour is free, but space is limited; please rsvp to ensure a spot)
Matthew Coody & Jennifer Schork
PRESERVATION GREENPOINT
Tour- Lost and Found Murals of East Harlem
Lost and Found Murals of East Harlem
Thursday, July 16, 6-8 p.m.
Building on a long tradition in Latin American art, East Harlem’s murals have been an instrumental part of its social movements. But as the neighborhood comes to the attention of the larger world, its challenge is to benefit from this attention while retaining its unique cultural character—including its buildings as canvases tradition. Join East Harlem Preservation for a tour of murals in the southern part of the neighborhood.
To register for this and other spring/summer tours click here
Crown Heights North Walking Tour
Saturday, June 20 at 11:00AM:
Crown Heights North is home to some of New York City’s most beautiful residential, civic and sacred architecture. Built primarily between 1880 and 1930, the neighborhood contains a wealth of fine row houses, stand alone mansions, elegant apartment buildings and beautiful houses of worship. Many of the borough’s finest architects of the period designed here, including a large collection of buildings by such names as Montrose W. Morris, George P. Chappell, Axel Hedman and Magnus Dahlander. This walking tour, led by historian and blogger Suzanne Spellen, will begin at Grant Square, one of the finest public spaces in the borough, and take in the many streets and buildings that make up this architecturally and culturally rich neighborhood.
For more information about this and the other STC tours click here
Landmarks Under Consideration – Staten Island Bus Tour
Saturday, June 13 at 1:00PM:
In November 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced a plan to remove 96 previously considered sites and properties from its calendar. Over the course of 2015, HDC is working to document, publicize and conduct community outreach for these sites to increase public awareness and gather support to move their designations forward. Staten Island historian, author and preservationist Barnett Shepherd will lead this tour of the Tottenville section of Staten Island, where a number of these buildings are located. These include the Prince’s Bay Lighthouse, the Brougham Cottage and the Dorothy Day Historic Site.
For more information about this tour and the other STC tours click here
Woodlawn Heights Pub Crawl
Saturday, May 9 at 3:00PM:
Woodlawn Heights is a small residential neighborhood bordered by Van Cortlandt Park, Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx River and Westchester County. It is affectionately known as New York City’s “Little Ireland” for its many Irish immigrant residents and a bustling commercial thoroughfare that includes a plethora of Irish pubs and architectural flourishes like green trim and shamrock details. Join us as we learn more about the history of this charming nook and experience the most authentic Irish pub culture this side of the Atlantic! The crawl will be led by Erin Lee and Kim Holocher-Furletti of the Women of Woodlawn, an organization devoted to enhancing the neighborhood’s quality of life.
For more information about this tour and the other STC tours click here
East Harlem Walking Tour Part 2
Monday, May 4 at 6:00PM:
Over its long history, East Harlem has been home to many diverse cultures, each leaving its imprint on the community. As East Harlem, most recently known as “El Barrio” or “Spanish Harlem,” transitions into becoming known as “SpaHa,” some of its touchstones are becoming endangered. Join Urban Historian Justin Ferate to view delightful architectural treasures and cultural landmarks reflecting the neighborhood’s varied histories – from recent years and from generations past. The touring material for each tour will somewhat cross over, but there are special sites unique to each tour. The tour will end with a visit to the now-famous “Crack is Whack” mural by Keith Haring.
For more information about this tour and the other STC tours click here
East Harlem Walking Tour Part 1
Monday, April 27 at 6:00PM:
Over its long history, East Harlem has been home to many diverse cultures, each leaving its imprint on the community. As East Harlem, most recently known as “El Barrio” or “Spanish Harlem,” transitions into becoming known as “SpaHa,” some of its touchstones are becoming endangered. Join Urban Historian Justin Ferate to view delightful architectural treasures and cultural landmarks reflecting the neighborhood’s varied histories – from recent years and from generations past. The touring material for each tour will somewhat cross over, but there are special sites unique to each tour. The tour will begin with views of some of East Harlem’s beloved street murals including “The Spirit of East Harlem” by Hank Prussing and Manny Vega, and will end near the 116th Street Subway Station.
For more information about this tour and the other STC tours click here
Fundraiser to restore the Oscar Lopez Rivera mural
Annual Neighborhood Remembrance Day Celebration & 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War and 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII.
Saturday, May 30th 2 PM
Neighborhood Remembrance Day Celebration
Lake Cemetery, Forest Ave/Willowbrook Road
Staten Island Civil War Canon Brigade, GAR Post 525 Re-enactors, Staten Island OutLOUD, Richmond County Pipes/ Drums and Boy Scout Troop #7. This year the flag will be raised in honor of WWII Veteran William Morris Jr.
(This event made possible in part by an Encore Grant from Staten Island Arts with public funding from the NYS Council on the Arts.)
Annual International Commemoration of the Great Irish Hunger
Annual International Commemoration of the Great Irish Hunger
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Battery Park Irish Hunger Memorial
North End Ave & Vesey Street and North End Avenue
2 PM at the Irish Memorial at Battery Park for a Walk and Talk with:
Battery Park Conservancy, Horticulturist Richard Farraino, creator of the memorial Artist Brian Tolle; will discuss the memorial’s design and native plantings. Lynn Rogers, Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries, Inc. (FACSI); will discuss Irish immigration to New York City 1845-1858, the role of the Staten Island Marine Hospital & Quarantine Station and the ultimate fate of thousands of Irish immigrants.
After the event, please join Lynn Rogers and Bill Fahey for a Staten Island Ferry ride. During the crossing we will toss flowers into New York Harbor in memory of all who perished. Bring long stemmed flower.
(This event is made possible in part by an Encore Grant from Staten Island Arts with public funding from the NYS Council on the Arts.)
Morningside Heights Historic Districts Committee Honors HDC!
The Morningside Heights Historic Districts Committee is honoring the Historic Districts Council at their Annual Party this Thursday Feb 12!!
LESPI- SHIP BUILDING IN THE DRY DOCK DISTRICT OF NEW YORK CITY
Lower East Side Preservation Initiantive &
Art Loisaida Foundation
present
LESPI presents Ship Building in the Dry Dock District in New York City
Thursday, January 29, 2015
6:30-8:30 pm
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
(btn. 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
presented by
Laura Zelasnic
http://sixtocelebrate.wpengine.com/whats-new/ship-building-in-the-dry-dock-district-of-new-york-city/
Six to Celebrate 2015 Party
February 3: Six to Celebrate 2015 Party
LOCATION CHANGE –Calvary Church 61 Gramercy Park North
Due to the weather our original location for tonight’s party has lost heat. The new location is Calvary Church 61 Gramercy Park North the entrance is on 21st Street. Sorry for theinconvenience hope you can still join us.
The History and Endurance of New York City’s Carnegie and Branch Libraries- A lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler
(images courtesy of NYPL and HDC)
Join the Historic Districts Council for a presentation on the history of New York City’s Carnegie and branch libraries and their endurance into the present.
(at the very first Carnegie Library built in New York City!)
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
5:30 PM
Yorkville Branch of the New York Public Library
222 East 79th Street (between Second & Third Avenues)
In 1899, industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated the funds which would build 67 architecturally distinctive libraries in the five boroughs between 1901 and 1923. These buildings, of which 54 still function today as libraries, have been community landmarks ever since. Together with the more recently built branch libraries, and the famous main branches, they make up the three library systems that serve the dynamic population of New York City.
Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler, author of Lighting the Way: A Centennial History of the Queens Borough Public Library, 1896-1996, will discuss the early history of the Carnegie and branch libraries, including their philanthropic origins, purposeful locations, and intended neighborhood functions, as well as their endurance into the 21st century.
This event is free and open to the public. Seating will happen on a first come, first serve basis.
If you have any questions, please contact Brigid Harmon at bharmon@hdc.org or 212-614-9107
Terra Cotta, Don’t Take It for Granite: Morningside Heights Highlights
To RSVP E-mail info@morningsideheights.org
“GREEKS ON THE LOWER EAST SIDE: AMERICAN STORIES”
Presented by:
Marcia Haddad Ikonomopoulos
Director of the Museum at Kehila Kedosha Janina and LESPI Board Member
This program illuminates a little-known part of the American immigration story – that of the immigrants from Greece.
Step into the Balkan world of the Lower East Side, the kafenions and dance halls, the lilting bouzouki music and the aromas of Mediterranean cooking. Learn about the Sephardic and Romaniote synagogues and the local Greek Orthodox Church. They came during the massive wave of immigration (1881-1924) but their stories were very different.
Suggested donation: $15
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
6:30-8:30pm
Neighborhood Preservation Center
232 East 11th Street
(btw. 2nd and 3rd Avenues)
The lecture will be followed by a short reception. Light refreshments will be served.
For further information contact Richard at info@LESPI-nyc.org or 347-827-1846.
Space is limited RSVP are required – Make a reservation online HERE.
Historic tour of Atlantic Avenue! September 13
The Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District invites you to join a tour of Atlantic Avenue, one of Brooklyn’s most dynamic commercial thoroughfares for over one hundred years. This diverse retail and dining destination connects the historic neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Tour guide and Brooklyn native Joe Svehlak will guide us from 4th Avenue to Hicks Street, discussing Atlantic Avenue’s architecture, social and commercial history, as well as areas that have been more recently redeveloped. The variety of commercial, religious, civic, and residential architecture combining the new with the old are a testament to the vitality of Atlantic Avenue. In addition to the many shops and restaurants on our walk, we will view a former brewery, several religious sites, and, near the entrance to Brooklyn Bridge Park, a new mural depicting the avenue’s history and significance.
Saturday, September 13
11:00am – 1:00pm
Suggested donation: $10
To reserve your spot, please visit:
http://atlanticavebid.ticketleap.com/atlantic-avenue-historic-tour-july-12/
Park Avenue, Manhattan -Walking Tour
Monday, October 6, 6:00PM (Walking Tour)
SOLD OUT
The June 17 Six to Celebrate tour of the newly designated Park Avenue Historic District quickly sold out and was extremely well received. As such, Urban Historian Justin Ferate will conduct a second tour – beginning at Park Avenue at 91st Street and traveling south along the avenue. The upper segment of the new district boasts of elegant apartment houses by such impressive architects as J.E.R. Carpenter, George & Edward Blum, Mott B. Schmidt, Emery Roth, Mills & Bottomley, and others. In addition, we’ll view religious structures by some of America’s noteworthy ecclesiastical design firms: Patrick C. Keely, Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, and Schickel & Ditmars.
Join us on this walking tour of New York City’s premier historic boulevard. Learn more about the histories of these remarkable architectural treasures and the effort to protect Park Avenue’s historical and architectural significance for future generations.
TAKE BACK GOWANUS
TOUR OF TEACHERS COLLEGE IN MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS WITH ANDREW SCOTT DOLKART
Jewels in the Crown: Select Interiors of Teachers College and Union Theological Seminary
Tuesday, July 8th at 6:00 p.m.
Teachers College, Broadway and West 120th Street, northeast corner
Suggested donation: $10
R.S.V.P. required
Email: info@morningsideheights.org
http://morningsideheights.org/amazing-tour-of-morningside-heights-jewels-july-8-2014/
A Tale of Three Carnegies: A Tour of Historic Libraries in Harlem and the South Bronx
Saturday, October 18, 2:00PM (WALKING TOUR)
Following the July tour of Carnegie libraries in Chinatown, John Bacon, HDC board member and Director of Planned Giving at The New York Public Library, will return to lead another tour of Carnegie libraries in Harlem and Mott Haven. In Harlem, we will visit the 115th Street and Harlem Libraries, and view the impressive Mount Morris Historic District in between. Bring your Metrocard, as we will then hop on the subway to the South Bronx to visit the beautiful Mott Haven Library and take in its notable children’s floor.
From Yiddish to Chinese and Beyond: A Walking Tour of Historic Libraries in Chinatown
Thursday, July 10, 6:00PM (WALKING TOUR)
Visit two of the busiest Carnegie libraries in the New York Public Library system as well as other sites of interest between and near them, including one of the oldest graveyards in New York, Al Smith’s childhood home, and Knickerbocker Village, a forerunner of later urban renewal projects. The tour, led by John Bacon, HDC board member and Director of Planned Giving at The New York Public Library, will start at the McKim, Mead and White-designed Chatham Square Library and conclude at the Seward Park Library, which became a New York City landmark in 2013.
SHINE-A-LIGHT: NEON WALKING TOUR OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE
May 8, 2014
Sponsored by Lower East Side Preservation Initiative
Neon signage – bold, colorful, flashy, and often beautiful – is emblematic of New York itself, and particularly the Lower East Side with its exuberant and diverse immigration, political, and cultural history.
Join Tom Rinaldi, architectural designer and author of New York Neon, in a rollicking tour of some of the most striking and historically interesting Lower East Side neon, including Katz’s, Russ and Daughter’s, Gringer Appliances, and lesser known gems.
Thursday, May 8th, 6:30 PM
Meet in front of John’s Restaurant 302 East 12th St. just west of 2nd Ave.
Admission: $20 LESPI Members: $15
Reservations are limited: advance ticket purchase recommended
Purchase tickets at www.NYCharities.org
Contact Richard:347-827-1846 or info@LESPI-nyc.org
You can purchase New York Neon here
Six to Celebrate Tours 2014-Staten Island’s Historic Cemeteries
Staten Island’s Historic Cemeteries
Saturday, September 27, 11:00AM (TROLLEY TOUR)
SOLD OUT
Celebrate Halloween early with a visit to Staten Island’s historic places of memory and rest. Led by Lynn Rogers, executive director of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island, this trolley tour will explore three cemeteries dating to the early 19th century. Stops will include the Marine Hospital/Quarantine Station Cemetery, where thousands of Irish Famine Immigrants were reinterred in April 2014; the Staten Island/Fountain Cemetery & Native American Burial Ground, a haunted site and the city’s largest abandoned cemetery (8 acres); and Lake Cemetery, a working class cemetery where many Civil War and WWI Veterans were buried.
To find out information about the other Six to Celebrate tours click here
Six to Celebrate Tours 2014-Madison Square North
Madison Square North, Manhattan
Sunday, September 14, 11:00AM (WALKING TOUR)
This architecturally diverse neighborhood includes pre-Civil War rowhouses, late 19th century hotels, early 20th century loft and commercial structures, and the remaining buildings of the famous Tin Pan Alley. To better reflect the neighborhood’s boundaries, local residents and advocates have submitted a Request for Evaluation to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to expand the Madison Square North Historic District. Join us as HDC Board member and Madison Square North expert Marissa Marvelli leads a walking tour of this fascinating neighborhood.
To purchase tickets and find out information about the other Six to Celebrate tours click here
Six to Celebrate Tours 2014- Park Avenue
Park Avenue, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 17, 6:00PM (WALKING TOUR)
After a years-long preservation campaign by a coalition of residents, activists and community groups, 2014 is Park Avenue’s year! In February, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held an important Historic District hearing to landmark Park Avenue’s unprotected blocks, and in April, the Commission voted to landmark the district! Votes by the City Planning Commission and City Council are expected in the coming months. Join tour guide Justin Ferate on this walking tour of New York City’s premier historic boulevard and learn more about the effort to protect Park Avenue’s historical and architectural significance.
SOLD OUT
Six to Celebrate Tours 2014- Forest Close
Forest Close, Queens
Saturday, June 7, 11:00AM (WALKING TOUR)
SOLD OUT!!
Led by architectural historian Barry Lewis, this walking tour will cover some of the highlights of Forest Hills, one of the city’s most beautiful suburban-style communities developed in the early 20th century. Featured on the tour is Forest Close, a nook of 38 neo-Tudor houses surrounding a communal garden. Designed in 1927 in the spirit of the garden city movement, Forest Close can be described as an enclave within an enclave, its private orientation and country-inspired architecture lending charming appeal.
Six to Celebrate Tours 2014-Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Saturday, June 14, 11AM (WALKING TOUR)
A commercial thoroughfare for more than one hundred years, Atlantic Avenue is a diverse retail and dining destination connecting the historic neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Join us as tour guide Joe Svehlak leads this walking tour between 4th Avenue and Hicks Street, discussing Atlantic Avenue’s architecture, social and commercial history, as well as areas that have been more recently redeveloped.
To purchase tickets and find out information about the other Six to Celebrate tours click here
Reinterment at Court House (Marine Hospital) Cemetery
Please Join us for the Reinterment at Court House (Marine Hospital) Cemetery
Sunday, April 27, 2014, 12:30 pm, limited seating
Central Avenue and Hyatt St.
Marine Hospital Quarantine Station (1799-1858) & Commemorative Booklet
Between 1799 and 1858, Staten Island was home to the Marine Hospital Quarantine Station, ALL ships entering into New York Harbor during those years were stopped and if New York medical inspectors found anyone on the ships suffering from infectious diseases they were removed and held at the Staten Island facility to await their outcome. Local residents from Staten Island, Manhattan and the adjacent communities in New Jersey were also sent to this facility.
Tens of thousands of immigrants, ships crews, merchant and military personnel were held in quarantine which was located in the St. George neighborhood of Staten Island. Many died and were buried en masse in cemeteries operated by the Marine Hospital. One of those cemeteries was on the site of the new Court House complex in St. George. During construction of the court facilities, a team of professional archeologists exhumed a portion of the mass graves.
On Sunday, April 27 at 12:30 p.m., Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries will conduct a funeral service and reinterment of those remains in a recreated cemetery on the grounds of the new Court House. Participating at the reinterment will be Monsignor James Dorney, Reverend Erick Sorensen, Assemblyman Michael Cusick who is also president of the American Irish Legislators Society of New York State, the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the Staten Island Pipes and Drums, Staten Island OutLOUD and tenor Andy Cooney.
Lynn Rogers, Executive Director of the FACSI notes, “Many of these immigrants, mostly Irish and German, whose only reason for being on Staten Island was because of the quarantine decided to stay and make their new life here. Today, they are 6th and 7th generation Staten Islanders. It would be so fitting if some of the heirs of those first immigrants were to join us on the 27th.”
Hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants arrived in New York between 1845 and 1852, as the Great Hunger aka Potato Famine ravaged the Irish nation. One New York newspaper reported in April, 1851, “The number of poor people from Ireland who are wandering through the streets of Staten Island in a starving condition is dreadful.” Invariably when these immigrants died on Staten Island, either on the streets or in the Marine Hospital, they were immediately buried. No death certificates were issued and no cemetery logs kept. They simply vanished and were never heard from again.
“It was a ghastly end for so many people who had left their countries in the hope of a new life in America but died so very close to their dream,” Ms. Rogers says. “Their fate was tragic, but now, more than a century and half later, they will receive the recognition and benediction they never received in life.”
The Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries is producing a commemorative booklet and is seeking memorials, family immigration stories and sponsors; $35 1/3 page; $70 1/2 page; $140 full page. Pictures ok. For more information contact SICemetery@gmail.com or call 917-545-3309.
Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn Wedding Expo-Sunday April 13,2014!
This is the second time Atlantic Avenue has come together for this kind of event. Last year was a great first time effort and we are building on that success this year. Atlantic Avenue has been Brooklyn’s primary destination for brides for years. Our merchants are experts in their field who have been designing dresses, baking cakes, and picking out fine wines for over 20 years. Now we’re bringing all of our fabulous shops under one roof at the Brooklyn Wedding Expo in the beautiful Deity Wedding Space and making ourselves known as the number one destination for weddings in Brooklyn.
Read more at bkweddingexpo.com.
Atlantic Avenue has so many wonderful shops and they are diverse. As the business organization of the neighborhood, the Atlantic Avenue BID is always looking at ways to bring businesses together. With this event, it is actually quite organic: people go to the dress store, who refers them to the neighborhood florist, cake bakery, venue and vice versa. All of these merchants have worked together and when you work with them you benefit from all of their combined valuable years of experience. For the expo, we’re letting everyone know that they too can benefit from the expertise and community that we have among our small shops. There’s lots more info online, including in-depth posts on the vendors, and people can buy their tickets there to reserve their spot: bkweddingexpo.com.
We have over 20 vendors, most of whom are within a few blocks on Atlantic and a few are selectively invited from elsewhere in Brooklyn. Deity is a great partner in this endeavor, having worked with so many great wedding merchants from this neighborhood and elsewhere.
Read more about this on Brooklyn Bride! http://bklynbrideonline.com/32511/uncategorized/brooklyn-wedding-expo/
PROTEST THE NEW APARTMENT CONSTRUCTION AT SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE!!
This Saturday, April 5TH 11:00am
112th Street and Amsterdam Ave
Construction is now beginning at the north lot of Saint John the Divine at W.113th Street and Amsterdam Ave.
• The construction site is unsafe.
• The planned 15 – story apartment towers will
desecrate the cathedral.
THE TIME TO TAKE A STAND IS NOW
SPONSORED BY: FRIENDS OF SAINT JOHN THE DIVINE
MORE INFO ON THE PROJECT AT MORNINGSIDEHEIGHTS.ORG
Urban Cemeteries as Historic Landscapes Part II:
NYC Parks
Cypress Hills Cemetery
The New York Chapter of the Association for Gravestone Studies and
The Evergreens Cemetery Preservation Foundation
Invite you to three lectures in the Uncommon Ground Series:
Urban Cemeteries as Historic Landscapes Part II: Design, Topography/Geology and Stewardship
The subject of urban cemeteries, both private and public, will be explored with a view toward greater understanding, appreciation and stewardship of these evocative landscapes. Urban Cemeteries and Stewardship: Reclaim, Restore and Maintain: Abandoned Cemeteries in Staten Island
Thursday, April 3, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.
Co-sponsored by
The Evergreens Cemetery Preservation Foundation
Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries, Inc. (FACSI) was founded in 1981 by New York State Division of Cemeteries Director Pearce O’Callaghan. Over the last decade, under the guidance of its executive director, Lynn Rogers, the organization has restored 11 abandoned cemeteries. The cemeteries date from the year 1630 and include a Native American Lenape burial ground. Once dreaded blights, these sites have been converted into welcoming landscapes with unique historical and educational value. In this lecture, Ms. Rogers will explore the grass-roots efforts that led to their recovery. A native New Yorker, Lynn Rogers has served as Executive Director of Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries Inc. for over a decade. She has spearheaded the restoration of 11 cemeteries in Staten Island. With extensive experience, understanding and commitment to these individual sites, she has enabled community groups to responsibly recover historic landscapes embedded in their surroundings. To date, FACSI has assisted in the transcription of over 60,000 cemetery records now available to the public. Currently in the process of transcribing historic cemetery books from a local funeral home, Lynn is a 2011 Staten Island Advance Woman of Achievement and a recipient of the Legion of Honor Award from the Four Chaplains Society.
The Arsenal Gallery
Central Park, 64th St. and Fifth Ave., Third Floor
Free. Event seating is limited. RSVP to http://bit.ly/1aCOoM1
or call 212.360.8240.
This is the third lecture in a series of three.
To sign up for spring and summer cemetery tours in NYC or to offer a tour,
please call 212.360.8240 or email Kaitilin.Griffin@parks.nyc.gov
2014 Six to Celebrate Launch Party
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
The LGBT Community Center
208 West 13th Street, Manhattan (between 7th and 8th Avenues)
$25 per person/ $20 Friends of HDC
RSVP required. Pay at the door or to purchase tickets in advance, go to
http://hdc.org/featured/2014-six-celebrate-launch-party or call 212-614-9107.
E-BULLETIN-South Street Seaport Updates Committee to Save the New York Public Library: The Central Library Plan
The Central Library Plan
Harrison Street, Staten Island BUS/WALKING TOUR Saturday, May 11, 10:30AM
TOUR Saturday, May 11, 10:30AM