Concerns about Intro. 775 shared with Council Members

Landmark West!, Historic Districts Council, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts wrote to Council Members to express serious concerns about Intro. 775. We share the desire for a swift, predictable and transparent landmark designation process and have given much consideration to how the current process could be improved to accomplish those goals. However, the bill as currently written would achieve the exact opposite. It would discourage the consideration of complicated or controversial sites and encourage obstruction rather than designation. 

Click here to read our full letter.

Write to members of the City Council Land Use Committee today to express your concerns about the significant ways in which this legislation would weaken the Landmarks Law (and please cc. landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org)! Our colleagues at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have set up a handy electronic form letter, available here.

Resources at Risk: Merchant's House Museum endangered

Preservation Advocacy Beyond the Upper West Side
GUEST BLOG by LW! intern Jason Crowley

Next Tuesday, July 24th, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hold a public hearing regarding a proposed 9-story building at 27 East 4th Street, located in the NoHo Historic District. This proposal raises great concern for our preservation colleagues committed to the preservation of the adjacent Merchant's House Museum (built in 1832).

The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and the Historic Districts Council (HDC) have written to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), Department of Buildings (DOB), and the Parks Department (which owns the Merchant's House) urging them to work together to ensure that no construction takes place next door unless measures are put in place ensuring that the Merchant's House will not be damaged or undermined.

Learn more here, then be sure to

Sign the Petition!

Even though this is far and away from the typical boundaries for LANDMARK WEST!, the Merchant's House Museum is New York's only 19th-century family home preserved inside and out and is a city-owned property. Significant tax dollars have been put towards the restoration and preservation of the site, so all New Yorkers have a vested interest in its protection.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, July 24th (exact time to be determined; stay tuned to the LPC agenda, or contact the Merchant's House Museum). LW! will be there supporting this city-wide concern (here's our statement).

Track this project via the GVSHP Landmarks Applications database.