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Windows on the Bowery

Windows on the Bowery 7.21.2016Originally a Native American footpath and Dutch farm road, the Bowery stretches 1.25 miles from Chatham Square to Cooper Square. Washington marched down the Bowery after the British evacuation and Lincoln’s anti-slavery speech at Cooper Union propelled him to the presidency. It saw America’s first streetcars, first free college, and NYC’s first free Black settlement. An early social hub for the working class, gangs, gays and immigrant Irish, Italians, Chinese, Jews and Germans, it has important links to baseball, tap dance, tattoo, Yiddish theater, vaudeville, the Astor family, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin and Harry Houdini.

A long-time home to rescue missions and affordable jewelry, lighting and restaurant supply districts, its artists’ community helped foster Abstract Expressionism, Beat Literature, and punk rock. Though listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this architecturally diverse streetscape is one of the city’s most endangered historic treasures.

Stop the Rezoning of 4650 Broadway

Petitioning NYC Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez

Sign the Petition button- red

 

 

 

We, the undersigned, urge The New York City Planning Commission, The New York City Council, and His Honor, Mayor Bill DeBlasio, to reject Acadia Trust’s Application to up-zone 4650 Broadway (Sherman Plaza) and incorporate Mandatory Inclusionary Housing at that site:

  • This spot up-zoning is double the existing density and height of the majority of buildings in Inwood, and will create a dangerous precedent for the numerous other “underdeveloped,” “soft” sites in Inwood.
  • Spot up-zoning will destroy the cohesive fabric of the existing community by increasing property values, heating up the real estate market, and thereby encouraging displacement of current Inwood residents.
  • Spot up-zoning would ignore and degrade the experience of Scenic Landmark Ft. Tryon Park and the Cloisters Museum across Broadway.
  • The proposed redevelopment would destroy the historic Packard Building, designed by Albert Kahn, the “gateway to Inwood” on Broadway.
  • Existing infrastructure in Northern Manhattan is well past its useful life, and cannot accommodate such a large development. (Source: Con Ed Public Service Administration Hearing—Washington Heights/Inwood subsurface network for M29 transmission line.)
  • The developer failed to produce a full Environmental Assessment Statement (EAS), which might have addressed this issue.
  • The community board approval process did not incorporate the serious community concerns and unanimous disapproval of the project expressed by the neighborhood at the Town Hall held the night before the Community Board’s unannounced vote
  • The small number of “affordable” apartments this proposal adds to NYC’s housing stock is not worth the permanent losses this spot up-zoning would mean to our community, including the loss of existing affordable, rent stabilized housing by virtue of the displacement that will be caused by the large number of luxury units this project will force on Inwood.
  • Also, the percentage of affordable units has not actually been determined; it is now described as “in negotiation,” utilizing a process that has not been made public.

Spanish translation follows:

Nosotros, los abajo firmantes, instamos a la Comisión de la Planificación de la Ciudad de Nueva York, el Consejo Municipal y su honor, el alcalde Bill De Blasio, a rechazar la solicitud de Acadia Trust para cambiar la zonificación de 4650 Broadway (Sherman Plaza). Asimismo, les instamos a incorporar la norma de Vivienda de Inclusión Obligatoria en ese sitio:

  • Este cambio excepcional de zonifiación por un solo sitio (“spot zoning”) aumentaría en el doble la densidad y la altura comparado con la mayoría de los edificios existentes en Inwood y crearía un precedente peligroso para los numerosos otros sitios “subdesarrollados” o “blandos” en Inwood.
  • El “spot zoning” va a destruir el tejido de cohesión de la comunidad existente, mediante el aumento de los valores de propiedad y el sobre-calentamiento del mercado inmobiliario; y de este modo, fomentará el desplazamiento de los residentes actuales de Inwood.
  • El “spot zoning” ignora y degrada la experiencia de landmark escénica de Fort Tryon Park y el Museo Cloisters ubicados al frente.
  • El proyecto de remodelación destruiría el edificio histórico de Packard, diseñado por Albert Kahn, la “puerta de entrada a Inwood” por Broadway.
  • La infraestructura existente en el norte de Manhattan ha sobrepasado su vida útil y no da cabida a un gran desarrollo de este tipo. (Fuente: Con Ed Administración de Servicios Públicos—Audiencia de Washington Heights/Inwood, red subterránea para la línea de transmisión M29).
  • La empresa no produjo una Declaración de Evaluación Ambiental (EAS) completa, que podría haber abordado este asunto.
  • El proceso de aprobación del Consejo Comunitario (Community Board), no ha incorporado las graves preocupaciones de la comunidad y la desaprobación unánime del proyecto expresado por el barrio en el Ayuntamiento llevado a cabo la noche antes de la votación no anunciada del Consejo.
  • El pequeño número de apartamentos “asequibles” en esta propuesta, de ningún modo compensa las pérdidas permanentes de alquileres estabilizados que resultarían de este acto de “spot zoning” en nuestra comunidad, en virtud del desplazamiento causado por el gran número de unidades de lujo que este proyecto impondría en Inwood.
  • Además, el porcentaje de unidades asequibles del proyecto aún no ha sido determinado; actualmente, se describe como “en proceso de negociación”, a través de un proceso que no abierto al público.

This petition will be delivered to:

  • NYC Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez

East Harlem Tours April 27 and May 4 2015

 

Landmarks Committee of Community Board 5 – Hearing for expanded Madison Sq North District

Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 29th Street Neighborhood Association-ISN urgently needs your help.
On Tuesday, March 31st, the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 5 (CB5) will hold a hearing on our proposal to expand the current North of Madison Square Historic District

WE URGENTLY NEED SUPPORTERS
TO FILL THE HEARING ROOM

We expect a lot of negative testimony from real estate developers. It’s critical that we demonstrate as much support as possible for our proposal, because if this Committee doesn’t vote to approve our proposal on Tuesday, and if their recommendation isn’t strong enough for the CB5 full board to vote to approve this on April 7, that’s it. It’s over.

Please come if you have any interest in the future of this neighborhood —we just need as many bodies in as many chairs as we can mobilize. It is REALLY critical that we pack the room with supporters Bring a friend (or several). The committee wants to see that there is support from the community to expand this historic district. The destruction of our neighborhood will continue to surround us if we can’t get this done.

 

Here is the info from CB5:

Landmarks Committee

TUESDAY, March 31, 2015  at 6:00 pm

LOCATION:  Xavier High School,30 West 16th Street,  2nd Floor Library

Layla Law-Gisiko, Chair
Renee Cafaro, Vice Chair

Agenda:

  • Presentation of the ongoing restoration at St. Patrick’s Cathedral
  • Proposal for the expansion of the Madison Square North Historic District, down to 24th St and up to 34th St b/t 6th and Park Avenues
  • 4 West 19th Street, application for façade renovations.
  • 375 Park Avenue, The Four Seasons, application for restoration and alterations.
  • 100 5th Avenue, Eddie Bauer, application for a proposed ADA compliant exterior ramp and two illumi

 

International Commemoration of the Great Irish Hunger; Anniversary of the end of the Civil War and 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII.

Upcoming Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries Events

(please note: Free events,  no seating provided):

SAVE THE DATE(S)!

Sunday, May 3, 2 PM– Battery Park Irish Hunger Memorial

International Commemoration of the Great Irish Hunger

Saturday, May 30, 2 PM– Lake Cemetery, Forest Ave/Willowbrook Road

Annual Neighborhood Remembrance Day Celebration & 150th Anniversary of the end of the Civil War and 70th Anniversary of the end of WWII.

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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.


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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.

 

(Both events made possible in part by an Encore Grant from Staten Island Arts with public funding from the NYS Council on the Arts.)

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

Amazingly, what we now know as the East Village’s Alphabet City was part of a huge shipbuilding district, which during the 19th century produced and launched many of our country’s most beautiful and important ships – clippers, ironclads, steamships and more. There are now only a very few reminders left of this once thriving industry.

Come hear Laura Zelasnic reveal this fascinating history, wonderfully illustrated with period images.

Admission: $15 / $10 LESPI members
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.

Seats are limited: reservations recommended.
Make a reservation online HERE.

This program is made possible in part by public funds from The NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs in Partnership with the New York City Council-(Many thanks to Rosie Mendez, NYC Councilperson) and and the NYS Assembly in partnership with NYS Dept of Parks (many thanks to the Honorable Brian Kavanagh)

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=83f9475af0eb0d590581eb33d&id=6f3f82cdd8&e=250751cbe4

Greenpoint Beer Crawl -Friday, December 5th

greenwood-bar-crawl

Join us in welcoming the holiday season by reveling in the architecture, charm, and (most importantly) BEER of historic Greenpoint! For our second bar crawl, Preservation Greenpoint will be visiting both neighborhood institutions and relative newcomers, including a repurposed auto-body shop and a one-time plastic bag manufacturer (now named after the first European settler in the neighborhood).

Discover new watering holes, brush up on Greenpoint’s historic architecture and current issues, and join your neighbors for a frosty brew!

Friday, December 5th
Beginning 7pm at Brouwerij Lane (78 Greenpoint Avenue)

RSVP: info@preservationgreenpoint.org

www.preservationgreenpoint.org

 

Deserving but not Designated: Mount Morris Park Extension

The Mount Morris Park Historic District in Harlem was calendared and heard in 1966, just one year after the Landmark Preservation Commission’s creation, and designated five years later. It is a prime example of the overly cautious boundaries set during the early years of the LPC, excluding the area west of Lenox Avenue, not reflecting the traditional extent of the neighborhood and leaving unprotected many buildings of the same character, scale, style and architects as those in the district.

Development began in the area in 1872 when the elevated train was extended north to Harlem. Some of the most elegant rowhouses in the neighborhood were constructed on the blocks around and between Central Park and Mount Morris Park. Like the existing Mount Morris Park Historic District, the proposed extension consists primarily of handsome late 19th- and early 20th-century rowhouses whose Romanesque Revival, neo-Grec and Queen Anne styles inspired by the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago of 1893. Larger apartment buildings with similar styles and details can also be found here.

In 2011, HDC chose the first class of our “Six to Celebrate”, New York City’s only list of preservation priorities selected directly from the communities. Placing Mount Morris Park on that list was an obvious choice, given the architectural quality of the neighborhood, the significance of its history to New York City and the strength of its community. The district boundaries set by the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 were expanded in 1996 to include adjoining streets in Mount Morris Park. Recognition and protection of these architecturally significant blocks should be afforded by the city as well.

To read the National Register report click here 

To read the chronology of Mont Morris Park click here 

To return to the Deserving but not Designated main page click here 

Deserving but not Designated: Victorian Flatbush

Victorian Flatbush is known for being the largest concentration of wooden Victorian-style homes in the country. The area presently has five New York City Historic Districts, but the blocks in between them remain undesignated and unprotected despite architecture of the same vintage and style.  Six local groups representing Beverly Square East, Beverly Square West, Caton Park, Ditmas Park West, South Midwood and West Midwood have joined together with the Flatbush Development Corporation to “complete the quilt” of city designation of their neighborhoods.

Six neighborhoods in the Victorian Flatbush community in Brooklyn are joined together in this Request For Evaluation for designation as a single Historic District, complementing the six Victorian Flatbush neighborhoods that have designated.  These six additional neighborhoods include Beverley Square West, Beverley Square East, Ditmas Park West, West Midwood, South Midwood, and Caton Park.

In 2012, HDC chose Victorian Flatbush neighborhoods for our “Six to Celebrate”, New York City’s only list of preservation priorities selected directly from the communities. We continue to have the pleasure of working closely with a diverse, intelligent and passionate group of volunteers who are devoted to preserving and protecting their neighborhood. HDC encourages the designation of these neighborhoods as official New York City historic districts as soon as possible so that the rest of the community can enjoy the benefits that landmark designation affords.

To read the full Request For Evaluation click here

To return to the main Deserving but not Designated page click here 

Deserving but not Designated: Sunset Park

Sunset Park contains one of the city’s earliest and most extensive concentrations of two-family masonry rowhouses, mostly built between 1885 and 1912. The proposed district encompasses representative blocks that best showcase Sunset Park’s architectural contributions to the city. This historic and elegant section of Brooklyn deserves the protection and honor that landmark designation brings.

In 1988, an area encompassing 3,237 buildings in Sunset Park – nearly the entire neighborhood – was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it one of the state’s largest National Register Historic Districts. However, without protection by the City, this area has witnessed inappropriate alterations and demolitions, which have inspired local residents to take action to protect their beautiful streetscapes.

The proposed study area outlined in the Request for Evaluation is the result of a careful research, survey and outreach effort on the part of the community including the Sunset Park Landmarks Committee. These blocks were chosen for their outstanding beauty, intact original fabric and resident support. Over roughly 15 months, the Sunset Park Landmarks Committee held and attended numerous meetings; hosted a dozen well-attended walking tours; recruited block captains to manage and help with the survey effort; rallied broad community support and input at several very successful tabling sessions; and engaged with other community organizations and local elected officials.

The proposal represents the desires of the Sunset Park community to safeguard and enhance the beauty of this historic neighborhood, not only for the well-being of the many individuals who live and work here and for the stability that a designation will bring, but to encourage citywide appreciation for the area’s significance. Landmark status will also help preserve the quality housing that draws people of many backgrounds to the neighborhood, making for a characteristically diverse New York City community.

You can view the Request for Evaluation by clicking here 

To read the individual building entry Part I click here  Part 2 click here  Part 3 click here 

Read the support letters form elected officials and community organizations by clicking here

 

Deserving but not Designated: Bedford

The architectural splendor of this remarkable Brooklyn neighborhood speaks for itself. It is one of New York City’s richest collections of 19th-century rowhouses, punctuated with handsome small apartment buildings and drop-dead gorgeous institutional structures.

In addition to the obvious architectural merit of the area, the cultural significance of the area is also note-worthy. Bedford-Stuyvesant as a whole, and Bedford in particular, is a supreme example of the enduring value of historic neighborhoods. Built for an immigrant population of Europeans and New Englanders, it became home to another newly-arriving population during the 20th century, transforming into one of the largest and most well-known Black neighborhoods in America. The African- and Caribbean-American New Yorkers who have called this neighborhood home for almost a century have grown deep roots in the community, roots which are nurtured by and have helped protect their fantastic built urban environment. These buildings have been home to generations of New Yorkers and with the LPC’s oversight, they will remain to become the homes and churches and gathering places for generations to come. The proposed Bedford Historic District was heard at a LPC Public Hearing on January 15, 2013, but has not been designated an official NYC historic district.

In 2011, HDC chose the first class of our “Six to Celebrate”, New York City’s only list of preservation priorities selected directly from the communities. Placing Bedford-Stuyvesant on that list was an obvious choice, given the architectural quality of the neighborhood, the significance of its history to New York City and the strength of its community. We continue to have the pleasure of working closely with a diverse, intelligent and passionate group of volunteers who are devoted to preserving and protecting their neighborhood. HDC encourages the designation of Bedford as an official New York City historic district as soon as possible so that the rest of the community can enjoy the benefits that landmark designation affords.

To see the LPC Public Hearing presentation click here 

To return to the main Deserving but not Designated page click here 

 


The Dilemmas of Historic Districts and Urban Design in an Era of Skyscrapers:

An Evening with Architects Steven Semes and John Massengale

When:    Saturday, November 154-6 pm:  Presentations6-7 pm:  Reception  Where:  New York Academy of Art’s Wilkinson Gallery111 Franklin Street, Tribeca(between West Broadway + Church Street) 

Tribeca Trust and Historic Districts Council partner for an evening of lively debate about preservation and urban development

On November 15 at 4 PM, together with the Historic Districts Council, Tribeca Trust will host a controversial conversation about the issues facing historic districts today. The Trust invites guests to hear from two experts on historic districts and urban design.  They will unpack arguments that are at the cutting edge of architecture and urban design, all crucial for Tribeca and historic districts citywide.

Tribeca Trust is presenting this event in on of the most beautiful buildings in Tribeca, the 1868 textile building that now is home to the New York Academy of Art at 111 Franklin Street (between West Broadway and Church). Tribeca Trust Founder Lynn Ellsworth will open with an introduction, followed by presentations from Stephen Semes and John Massengale. The audience will have an opportunity to ask questions of the speakers.  The presentations will be followed by a cocktail reception, where the speakers will sign their new books:  Steven Semes, The Future of the Past:  A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urbanism and Historic Preservation and Victor Dover and John Massengale, Street Design:  The Secret of Great Cities and Towns.

The event is open to the architecture and design community, educational institutions and the general public. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door, subject to availability as seating capacity is limited. Advance tickets are available here at Eventbrite.

 

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lynnellsworth@verizon.net

A Tale of Three Carnegies: A Tour of Historic Libraries in Harlem and the South Bronx- Pictures

Saturday, October 18, 2014 (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, lead another tour of Carnegie libraries in Harlem and Mott Haven. In Harlem, we visited the 115th Street and Harlem Libraries, and viewed the impressive Mount Morris Historic District in between. The tour then traveled to the South Bronx to visit the beautiful Mott Haven Library and take in its notable children’s floor.

Park Avenue, Manhattan October Tour Pictures

Park Avenue, Manhattan
Monday, October 6, 6:00PM (Walking Tour)

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 conducted 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 viewed religious structures by some of America’s noteworthy ecclesiastical design firms: Patrick C. Keely, Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson, and Schickel & Ditmars.

Madison Square North, Manhattan Tour Pictures

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. HDC Board member and Madison Square North expert Marissa Marvelli led the walking tour of this fascinating neighborhood.

Staten Island’s Historic Cemeteries Tour Pictures

Staten Island’s Historic Cemeteries
Saturday, September 27, 11:00AM (TROLLEY TOUR)

Lynn Rogers, executive director of the Friends of Abandoned Cemeteries of Staten Island, led this trolley tour which explored three cemeteries dating to the early 19th century. Stops included 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.

Deserving but not Designated: Sunset Park

Sunset Park contains one of the city’s earliest and most extensive concentrations of two-family masonry rowhouses, mostly built between 1885 and 1912. The proposed district encompasses representative blocks that best showcase Sunset Park’s architectural contributions to the city. This historic and elegant section of Brooklyn deserves the protection and honor that landmark designation brings.

In 1988, an area encompassing 3,237 buildings in Sunset Park – nearly the entire neighborhood – was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it one of the state’s largest National Register Historic Districts. However, without protection by the City, this area has witnessed inappropriate alterations and demolitions, which have inspired local residents to take action to protect their beautiful streetscapes.

The proposed study area outlined in the Request for Evaluation is the result of a careful research, survey and outreach effort on the part of the community. These blocks were chosen for their outstanding beauty, intact original fabric and resident support. Over roughly 15 months, the Sunset Park Landmarks Committee held and attended numerous meetings; hosted a dozen well-attended walking tours; recruited block captains to manage and help with the survey effort; rallied broad community support and input at several very successful tabling sessions; and engaged with other community organizations and local elected officials.

The proposal represents the desires of the Sunset Park community to safeguard and enhance the beauty of this historic neighborhood, not only for the well-being of the many individuals who live and work here and for the stability that a designation will bring, but to encourage citywide appreciation for the area’s significance. Landmark status will also help preserve the quality housing that draws people of many backgrounds to the neighborhood, making for a characteristically diverse New York City community.

You can view the full Request for Evaluation by clicking here

“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

atlantic ave. logo

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)

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.

To Register For The Tour Click Here 

A Walking Tour of Historic Libraries in Chinatown- Pictures

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The tour went to 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, was led by John Bacon, HDC board member and Director of Planned Giving at The New York Public Library, it started at the McKim, Mead and White-designed Chatham Square Library and concluded at the Seward Park Library, which became a New York City landmark in 2013.

Disparate factions unite to ‘take back’ Gowanus from overdevelopment

By Matthew Taub
Special to Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn Brief

What do a self-styled “provocateur,” a mohawked leather jacket punk rocker, a dredger, a cartographer, a cane-wielding rabble rouser, a public housing advocate and a sprinkling of neighborhood homeowners, preservationists, attorneys and industrial workers all have in common?

Council Member Brad Lander has somehow convinced them to band together–against him, and developers interested in the Gowanus canal.

“Lander’s whole process was rigged to create a forced consensus to give the developers a green light to go forward,” said Debbie Stoller, a resident of Gowanus for 11 years. “This meeting is meant to set that straight.”

She was referencing “Take Back Gowanus,” a meeting Wednesday night of local residents frustrated after their City Council member’s recent “Bridging Gowanus” three-part series failed to live up their democratic ideal, despite a claimed intention of fostering community engagement about the future of the neighborhood.

The event was hosted by local resident Joseph Alexiou, whose concerns about the one-sided, pro-development tone and direction of Lander’s meetings–concerns he claimed he addressed to the council member directly–went unanswered.

“I’m grateful to council member Lander,” Alexiou said, “but his process was not democratic, and not inclusive. It was downright misleading. We never had a chance to voice our concerns.”

The “take back” meeting–held at the upscale 501 Union Street venue at Alexiou’s expense–brought forth a range of ideas from local residents.

… To Read the Whole Article Click Here

Historic tours of Atlantic Avenue!

 Meet the neighborhood! 

atlantic ave. logo

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.

THREE DATES:

Saturday, July 12

Saturday, August 9

Saturday, September 13

11:00am – 1:00pm

 

Suggested donation: $10

To reserve your spot, please visit:

atlanticavebid.org/tours

Footprints in New York

From long-forgotten politicians to the movers and shakers of Gilded Age society, James and Michelle Nevius (Footprints in New York) will discuss the lives of iconic New Yorkers, then lead a walking tour of historic points in the neighborhood. Cosponsored by Preservation Greenpoint.

Where: WORD Bookstore
126 Franklin St, Brooklyn, New York 11222

When: Sunday, June 29 at 4:00pm – 5:00pm

RSVP Here: https://www.facebook.com/events/394753103997104/

Six To Celebrate Tour- Forest Close, Queens-Pictures

Forest Close, Queens
Saturday, June 7, 2014 (WALKING TOUR)

Led by architectural historian Barry Lewis, this walking tour covered 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 was 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- Park Avenue, Manhattan-Pictures

Park Avenue, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 17, 2014 (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! The City Planning Commission will vote next week and City Council is expected to vote in the coming months. Tour guide Justin Ferate led this walking tour of New York City’s premier historic boulevard and explained about the effort to protect Park Avenue’s historical and architectural significance.

Six To Celebrate Tours- Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn-Pictures

Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Saturday, June 14, 2014(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. Tour guide Joe Svehlakleads walked 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.

 

Park Avenue Designated!!

On April 29th the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Park Avenue Historic District!! The district extends from the northeast corner of 79th Street to the south side of 91st Street, and contains approximately 64 buildings. Park Avenue was named one of HDCs Six to Celebrate groups in 2014. We have been working closely with many groups to advocate for the protection of Park Avenue for years. We testified in favor of the designation at the February 11, 2014 hearing.

“Historic buildings on this iconic avenue date from 1856 into the mid-20th century in an impressive array of 19th-century rowhouses and flats buildings, grand mansions, impressive institutional buildings, and distinctive 20th-century apartment buildings. In just a few blocks, the history of the growth of Park Avenue and Carnegie Hill is told by this important collection of buildings. The architecture is equal to that already designated on the Upper East Side, and many of the same notable architects, including Emery Roth, Rosario Candela, and Delano & Aldrich, designed structures both within and outside of the existing district boundaries. When combined with unique layout of Park Avenue and its planted malls, these buildings create the “special sense of place” the New York City Landmarks Law uses to describe historic districts.”
To read our full testimony click here .

To read the Designation Report and view the boundary map click here

Free Tour of Atlantic Avenue

Atlantic Ave BID will host free walking tour this weekend

Read more:Brooklyn Downtown Star – Atlantic Ave BID will host free walking tour this weekend

A mural painted on the underpass last summer connects Brooklyn Bridge Park with Atlantic Avenue.

A mural painted on the underpass last summer connects Brooklyn Bridge Park with Atlantic Avenue.
Walking into Long Island Bar on Atlantic Ave. is like stepping back into the 1950s.

Walking into Long Island Bar on Atlantic Ave. is like stepping back into the 1950s.

All of New York City will take to the streets this weekend for the annual Jane’s Walk global festival, where over 100 cities across the world will host free, locally led walking tours.

Jane’s Walk is inspired by Jane Jacobs, a famous urbanist, activist and writer. She dedicated much of her life looking at how cities function and how to improve them.

This weekend, New York City will host over 100 of its own Jane’s Walks, covering neighborhoods across the five boroughs. One of those walks will be run by the Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District (BID).

Executive Director of Atlantic Ave. BID Josef Szende will lead the tour, taking participants from the end of Atlantic near the waterfront and walking them through the businesses and history that now make up the BID.

Szende will share the various layers of Atlantic’s fascinating history, starting with the days where it was a port for the South Ferry and working his way through the transitions to a Middle Eastern hub, a street full of antique stores and finally to modern day.

“I hope we get people out who have never been here before and want to check out the area,” Szende said, “but also some people who live here and don’t know all of the layers of history.”

Many will be surprised at some of the hidden gems of Atlantic Ave. Szende will discuss a secret tunnel under the avenue as well as the disappearance of Red Hook Lane and why Brazenhead Bar is built at an angle.

The walk will take place on Saturday, May 3 at both 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. It will be the first of a series of walking tours the Atlantic Ave. BID will be hosting throughout the summer.

Another walk will be hosted on June 14 by BID and the Historic Districts Council (HDC) as part of HDC’s Six to Celebrate, a program that celebrates six neighborhoods throughout the boroughs, which Atlantic Ave. has been selected for this year. That walk will also be free.

“It’s not about making money off of the tour,” Szende said. “It’s about getting to know the neighborhood.”

Those who are interested in Jane’s Walk should meet Szende at the southeast corner of Columbia and Atlantic. The full list of Jane’s Walks being hosted this weekend can be found at the Municipal Art Society of New York’s website

Read more:Brooklyn Downtown Star – Atlantic Ave BID will host free walking tour this weekend

Teeming Tenements Transformed: A Lower East Side Walking Tour

Friends-of-LES-logo

In Celebration of the First Annual Lower East Side History Month
Saturday, May 10, 2014, 12 noon – 2:00 pm
(Rain Date Saturday, May 17 – check website: friendsofthelowereastside.org)

Begins and ends on the Southeast corner of Delancey and Orchard Streets (F, J, M, Z trains to Delancey Street/Essex Street Station)

Cost: Free – Attendees MUST register by May 7 with all names to: friendsoftheles@gmail.com

“The Lower East Side is where millions of immigrants have taken their first steps in the New World on the road to the American Dream,” wrote Joyce Mendelsohn, our tour guide and author of the definitive guidebook to the area, The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited. Although endangered, a number of blocks south of Delancey Street still retain the sense of place that would be familiar to our immigrant ancestors. The tour will focus on the history and architecture of the historic neighborhood with particular attention to the housing, institutions and businesses that were the center of immigrant life. The guided tour will highlight the impact of housing reforms reflected in the changes to the plans and features of tenements over time. “We will see pre-Old Law, Old Law and New Law tenements and look up at the elaborate terra cotta ornamentation that distinguishes many buildings,” said Mitchell Grubler, the tour’s co-leader.

The structures that housed some of the institutions and businesses which served the multitudes of immigrants will also be highlighted. The tour will pass a Neo-Renaissance style school designed by architect, C.B.J. Snyder in 1897; the former Independent Kletzker Brotherly Aid Society built in 1911; the 12-story former Jarmulowsky Bank of 1911-12; as well as a number of other significant buildings.

 LES-history month- LM50-logos

From Mae West to Punk: The Bowery on Film

The Bowery on film dates to the earliest days of cinema, when its rowdy, amoral reputation provided titillating material for early peep shows, one-reelers, and silent era features like Raoul Walsh’s REGENERATION (1915). It figured even more prominently in the early sound era when Boweryesque song and slang were exploited to the full in films like SHE DONE HIM WRONG (1933) with Mae West. The ravaged lives of the Bowery’s skid row have long fascinated artists, as seen in the documentary classic ON THE BOWERY (1956). Scott Elliott’s SLUMMING IT gives a wonderful overview of Bowery history, and Mandy Stein’s BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is a poignant appreciation of Hilly Kristal’s legendary CBGB, made during the club’s final days.
With the Bowery imperiled by developers at every turn, we end the series with THE VANISHING CITY, a powerful look at the forces that threaten to obliterate the character and culture of our communities.

For more information about this film series click here 

Presented by: Bowery Alliance of Neighbors
www.boweryalliance.org

Jim Mackin- Morningside Heights Forum

What do Riverside Church,
Union Theological Seminary
and
Jewish Theological Seminary have in Common?

Come and find out! The Morningside Heights Historic District Committee Invites you to a forum with NYC historian, Jim Mackin, to give you the unique and fascinating history of why three such important institutions chose to build in Morningside Heights, essentially side by side.

Thursday, May 1st

7pm-8:30 pm

Riverside Church

Room 10T

(19 Claremont Ave at W 120th Street)

Suggested donation $10

For more information: Morningsideheights.org

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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 

COMMUNITY BOARD 2-Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District (BID)

COMMUNITY BOARD 2 MEETS: BROOKLYN NAVY YARD’S PLANNED EXPANSION AND CB2 VOTES TO OVERSEE ALL OF ATLANTIC YARDS

BY BROOKLYN READER

Atlantic Avenue Business Improvement District (BID)— Simeon Bankoft, executive director of the Historic Districts Council discussed the “Six to to Celebrate,” program, which chooses 6 community groups annually to provide consulting and support service on landmarking and other issues. He discussed the six current projects for 2014, one of which includes the Atlantic Avenue BID: “One of the things that really excited us about working on Atlantic Avenue is that this is the first time we’ve partnered with a BID,” Bankoft said. “And also because we feel it is an interesting addition to working with the community and we’re very exited.”

Josef Szende, executive director of planning at the AABID provided an update on planned activities for the BID through 2012 {2014}. He said plans include developing the area as a local tourist destination: “We want people visiting the borough and those who also live here to begin thinking about Atlantic Avenue as a place where you want to spend the day; we really want to highlight ourselves and be an important place on the itinerary when visiting Brooklyn.”

On May 3, the BID will begin leading a tour for those who are interested, that will go the length of the avenue, pointing out historic buildings and providing some history of how Atlantic Avenue developed. They are working to be included on the National register, fundraise and provide Kids Activity sheets for local restaurants to build interest and involvement in the historic value of the area.

To read the full article click here 

Six to Celebrate Tours 2014

Meeting Location Information Will Be Sent To Those Who Have Registered A Week Prior To The Tour 

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Atlantic AvenueAtlantic Avenue, Brooklyn
Saturday, June 14, 11:00AM (WALKING TOUR)
SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the 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.

 

Forest Close, QueensForest Close
Saturday, June 7, 11:00AM (WALKING TOUR)
SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the Tour
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.

 

Park AvenuePark Avenue, Manhattan
Tuesday, June 17, 6:00PM (WALKING TOUR)
SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the Tours
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.

 

From Yiddish to Chinese and Beyond: A Walking Tour of Historic Libraries in ChinatownSeward Park Branch, exterior, west façade, 2010 (HDC)
Thursday, July 10, 6:00 PM (WALKING TOUR)

View Pictures of the 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.

 

Madison Square North, ManhattanMadison Square North
Sunday, September 14, 11:00AM (WALKING TOUR)

SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the 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.

 

Staten Island CemeteryStaten Island’s Historic Cemeteries
Saturday, September 27, 11:00AM (TROLLEY TOUR)

SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the Tour 

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.

 

Park Avenue, Manhattan
Monday, October 6, 6:00PM (Walking Tour)

SOLD OUT !!
View Pictures of the Tour 

The June 17 Six to Celebrate tour of the newly designated Park Avenue Historic District quickly sold park avenue tour 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.

A Tale of Three Carnegies: A Tour of Historic Libraries in Harlem and the South Bronx
Saturday, October 18, 2:00PM (WALKING TOUR)

SOLD OUT !!

cornershot

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.

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/

La Mesa Verde Designation Request

The La Mesa Verde Apartments were built by the Open Stairs Dwelling Company (OSDC) and designed by Henry Atterbury Smith.  The OSDC acquired the land from the Queensboro Corporation, the developer of Jackson Heights, and completed the La Mesa Verde Apartments in 1926, making them contemporary with the already designated Jackson Heights Historic District.  Smith also designed (the already designated) East River Homes (also known as the Shively Sanitary Apartments and the Cherokee Flats) in 1912.  The La Mesa Verde Apartments are similar in concept to the East River Homes.

The complex is made up of six detached buildings, connected by sky-bridges, located between 90th and 91st Streets, between 35th and 34th Avenues.  The buildings are set at an angle to the street grid, and form a saw-tooth pattern down both blocks.  They enclose a large internal garden courtyard, similar to the garden apartments built by the Queensboro Corporation.  There are no interior hallways at the La Mesa Verde; all apartments are reached directly from the open stairs.  There is only one elevator for these six-story buildings.  Tenants on higher floors ride the elevator up to the roof, then walk across the sky-bridges to their buildings, and then walk down the stairs to their apartment.

At the La Mesa Verde Smith was influenced any ancient pueblo architecture of the American Southwest.  Pueblo buildings of similar height, with their flat roofs and ladder-like stairs were his primary inspiration.  There were practical advantages to this: “Think of having your own cottage outside door, although living on the fifth or sixth floor.  Open stairs make possible elevator apartments with no smells from the basement and absolutely no stair odors from other people’s apartments.” (quote from Queensboro Magazine)

Here are some comments about the importance of these buildings from Columbia Professor Richard Plunz:

In the 1920s the work of Henry Atterbury Smith, who had pioneered an earlier generation of philanthropic housing including the open stair tenement, paralleled (Andrew) Thomas’ and (Henry) Wright’s housing research.  His work was far more exploratory, however.  In 1917 Smith set a precedent with the first theoretical work proposing that building geometry could deviate from the geometry of the New York gridiron.  He suggested that buildings did not have to be oriented along lot lines and argued that other geometries, based on purely functional considerations such as light and view, might be superimposed on the gridiron.  (page 174)

Smith’s Mesa Verde housing was more radical.  The project, which was completed in 1926, assimilated many of his ideas of the previous decade.  (page 176)

By 1926 the Mesa Verde was as radical an alternative to traditional housing as anything realized in the Netherlands and Germany  (page 180)

  1.  History of Housing in New York City,   Richard Plunz, page 174-180 (that includes original photos of the La Mesa Verde Apartments)
  2. Jackson Heights – A Garden in the City,   Daniel Karatzas  pages 79-81
  3. Robert A.M. Stern, “The New York Apartment House”  Via  Volume #4  1980  page 83
  4. Queensboro Magazine  November 1925  page 642

Protect the Historic A&P Warehouse at 67 Vestry St. in Tribeca

Petition by Tribeca Trust To be delivered to New York City’s Landmark Preservation Commission

We believe that 67 Vestry Street should be granted landmark protection. This building embodies the story of the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (the “A&P”), a company founded at the now demolished Washington Market. It was built specifically for the A&P in 1897 by the important architect Frank Dinkelberg and modified with a two-story addition in 1910 by the equally well-regarded architect Frank Helme. Landmarking this handsome former warehouse would anchor the besieged Tribeca North Historic District nearby and provide visual evidence of a great period in our country’s commercial history. This building also was a keystone building that housed many great artists whose presence in Tribeca launched Tribeca’s revival as a great urban neighborhood. This part of the building’s story should also be honored.

Show your support. Sign the petition. Click here!

View ‘We are 67 Vesrty’ website

Photo from Downtown Express article ‘Preservation boost for Tribeca artists in danger of losing their 19th century homes’

 

Gowanus State and National Register Listing

GOWANUS

THE CANAL THAT
BUILT BROOKLYN

THE CREEK THAT
SAVED OUR NATION

Gowanus: National Registry of Historic Places, Eligible Since 2006.
Gowanus: filled with amazing history.
The Listing to National and State Registries, sponsored by FROGG,
will bring economic redevelopment tax incentives to the district
for owners who voluntarily choose to participate in renovation and
redevelopment of properties.
Support of the Historic Registry Listing is to
support the future of Gowanus.

Please contact Mayor Bill de Blasio and tell him to let the State Review Board vote on the Gowanus Canal Historic District.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/static/pages/officeofthemayor/contact.shtml

Tell him to: Please permit the NYS Review Board to vote on the Gowanus Canal Historic District. Listing the area on the National Register of Historic Places will only encourage economic development and investment in the neighborhood. This is a community-driven plan which is business and development friendly, and lifts the community up by acknowledging the Canal’s importance in the development of our city. There are no
new regulations or requirements which will be triggered by this designation, only the possibility of incentives to development.
(you have a maximum of 300 words)

Read the full article on HDCs website here or View the FROG PDF here

Bedford Stuyvesant has been chosen by Historic Districts Council as one of six historic districts to celebrate in 2011.

The Six were chosen from applications submitted by neighborhood groups around the city on the basis of the architectural and historic merit of the area; the level of threat to the neighborhood;  strength and willingness of the local advocates, and where HDC’s citywide preservation perspective and assistance could be the most meaningful.  Throughout 2011, HDC will work with these neighborhood partners to set and reach preservation goals through strategic planning, advocacy, outreach, programs and publicity.

Landmarks Preservation Commission to Move Forward with Designation of the proposed Stuyvesant Height Historic District Extension

On Feburary 16 LPC’s Executive Director Kate Daly announced and a Community Board 3 Landmarking forum that LPC plans to move foward with the designation of the Stuyvesant Heights Expanded District.  The proposed expansion was calendared in 1993 but, was not designated.  LPC plans to host a meeting for property owners in the proposed and calendared district in the spring with a public hearing to follow.  LPC will send a formal notification to all property owners once the meeting date has been set.

Landmarks Preservation Commission sets Public Hearing Date for the proposed Stuyvesant Height Historic District Extension

The Public Hearing for the Stuyvesant Heights Historic Distict Extension will be held on August 2nd at 2:00PM in the 9th Floor Conference Room at 1 Center Street in the Borough of Manhattan. We encourage all Bedford-Stuyvesant residents to show their support of this designation by either: testifying in person, sending an electronic postcard or writing a letter.  Click here for instructions on testifying in person, the link to the electronic postcard and a downloadable sample letter in word format.

GREENPOINT PUB CRAWL

Come raise a toast to the founding of Preservation Greenpoint and to Greenpoint’s selection as one of the Historic District Council’s Six to Celebrate in 2013! The evening will kick off around 6:30pm, visiting a bar that was once a longshoremen’s hangout during the neighborhood’s shipbuilding heyday, and continue crawling through the historic hot spots of the district.

ALEC CUMMING AND NYC RADIO

Historian Alec Cumming discusses Brooklyn’s contribution to the city’s radio history, from the many Yiddish stations of the ’30s and ’40s to Radio Soleil’s work in the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake, followed by a guided trip over to the historic radio site at Transmitter Park. Cosponsored by Word Bookstore.

Walking Tour of Sunset Park

Tour the heart of Sunset Park, starting at the landmarked courthouse (43rd St and 4th Ave) and ending in NYC’s third Chinatown on 60th St. and Eighth Ave. Hear about the history, architecture, development, ethnic diversity, and the potential to become a New York City landmarked historice district, which would protect the historic streetscapes.

Annual Pot Luck

Mudlane Society provides roasted turkeys and baked ham, wine and soft drinks.
Everybody else is required to bring a side dish or desert enough for 5-6 people.
Also, membership renewals and new memberships will be taken upon arrival.
None members will be charged $15.00 pp

Jackson Heights Music Fest Opens in Travers Park

Music will be filling the streets of Jackson Heights this summer starting this weekend. The “Summer Sundays in the Park” festival is bringing stellar artists to Travers Park every Sunday afternoon through August 25. There’s something for everyone. “Queens – and Jackson Heights in particular – are known and lauded for their diversity, so why…

Echinacea! Blooming in Isham Park

The Echinacea, Sedum, and other plants purchased by VIP last spring in conjunction with Dyckman Farmhouse Museum are finally mature and blooming after the heavy rains in late May and June.