Meet and Greet: Your Graduate Intern

Rachel Levy joined the LW! team as a Graduate Intern in January and will continue working at LW! this summer. She is a first year (almost second year!) student in Columbia University's graduate program in historic preservation.

Though originally from the small coastal town of Falmouth, Maine, Rachel loves New York City's buildings and neighborhoods and has lived here for four years. She is passionate about preservation advocacy and loves the local, community-based approach LW! takes toward preservation issues.

From learning the ins and outs of LW's Certificate of Appropriateness Committee, to the lessons of advocacy 101, Rachel is excited to dig deeper into Upper West Side preservation and advocacy this summer! Expect more posts from her as these crisp spring days transition into the steamy days of summer. 

Designate the West End's Historic District Extensions NOW

 

A picture is worth a thousand words.

 

 Question: How could this out-of-context building get built?

 

Answer: These 4 rowhouses were not designated NYC Landmarks when the then-owner of 2 Riverside Drive built on this site. The moral of the story? Please do not take your neighborhood for granted. 2 Riverside Drive is proof of what can happen. It is urgent that you tell the LPC to "Vote yes now on Manhattan's West End Historic District Extensions." The Riverside/West End Historic District Extension II and the West End Collegiate Extension--vital to Manhattan's Upper West Side Historic Districts--have been HEARD by the LPC but NOT designated.

 

Sign this petition to LPC Chair Tierney and ask for the designation NOW of these Historic District (HD) extensions. Please sign soon--sign now--then send on to a friend to sign. The LPC deserves to hear from you.

 

Approximately 194 new landmarks were added to the 2700 existing landmarked buildings when the Riverside/West End HD Extension I was designated on June 26, 2012. Take a moment to join us in relishing the pure pleasure of a job well done. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis wrote her own letter to the LPC, dated April 30, 1987 in support of designating the Riverside/West End HD. Mrs. Onassis wrote, "Your designation of [the Riverside-West End HD] will provide future generations of New Yorkers the opportunity to enjoy the beauty of this remarkably intact piece of our past, just as we enjoy it today."  Please sign the petition and if you wish, write your own letter and email a copy to LANDMARK WEST!

Designation is just the first step. Help us be the vigilant stewards our neighborhood still needs and deserves. Big or small, your contribution matters. Give online or call LW! at 212-496-8110 to make a financial pledge.
 

Photo above from LW!'s, My Preservation Journal, part of Keeping the Past for the Future Youth Education Program taught by Director of Education Debi Germann, M.S. Ed from the Bank Street College of Education and certified classroom teacher.