Reliving "The Battle for Bryant Park"

Last week, the Historic Districts Council hosted its Annual Conference.  This year's theme was "The Great Outside", asking preservationists and architectural enthusiasts to consider the open space around our much-loved brick-and-mortar treasures.

LW! was there, tracking all the conference action via Twitter (#GreatOutsideConf -- our thumbs are still aching from all the documentation via iPhone!).  

The "The Great Outside" conference themes live on, in upcoming programming from our friends at HDC ... 

From the LW! archives, an R.O. Blechman-designed invitation
to honor Anthony M. Tung in 1988

 

The Battle of Bryant Park, 25 Years On

A Discussion with Anthony Tung

Thursday, March 8, 6:00pm 

Neighborhood Preservation Center

232 East 11th Street. Free!

Reservations required; please call (212) 614-9107 or contact hdc@hdc.org

Co-sponsored with the New York Preservation Archive Project 
and the Neighborhood Preservation Center 

On January 8, 1987, The New York Times reported: "A four-year-old plan to build a restaurant behind the New York Public Library has been dealt a surprising setback, with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission warning that it would consider 'absolutely untenable' any structure that would make it difficult to view the library’s west facade." The author of the motion was Commissioner Anthony Tung.

Five days later, on Sunday, in "A Landmark of Misfeasance" the Times editorial board called for the replacement of every member of the Commission.

By Monday, Tony Tung had been sacked. But it took 18 turbulent months for the mayor to finally unseat him.

Marking the 25-year anniversary of this battle, which energized the entire preservation community, Anthony Tung will join Anthony C. Wood and Jeffrey Kroessler to re-examine the controversy of 25 years ago.  The discussion will examine how this episode affected the independence of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and relations between the preservation community and the commission, as well as the implications for the present.

Anthony Max Tung lectures internationally on historic preservation and has taught historic preservation at MIT and Columbia. He is the author of Preserving the World’s Great Cities: The Destruction and Renewal of the Historic Metropolis.

Anthony C. Wood is the founder of the New York Preservation Archives Project, Chair Emeritus of the Historic Districts Council, member of the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation, and advisor to preservationists across the city and state. He is the author of Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks.

Jeffrey A. Kroessler is a longtime board member of HDC and member of the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation. He is the author of New York, Year by Year and The Greater New York Sports Chronology. He is an associate professor in the library at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Special thanks to Arlene Simon and LANDMARK WEST! for the invitation to the 1988 party honoring Anthony Tung  – at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery (art by R.O. Blechman)

Lovers of Open Space, Speak Up!

First, the folks at Historic Districts Council (HDC) handed you the mic to voice your opinion on New York City's open spaces.  Now, they're giving us all -- that includes YOU! -- one more chance to help inform their upcoming annual conference, this year titled "The Great Outside: Preserving Public and Private Open Spaces".

Before Friday, February 10th, head to the HDC blog and fill out their "Request for Information".  Answer questions like ...

Why do you think open spaces matter?  How are open spaces threatened?

After you've shared your comments, be sure to RSVP for the conference, taking place March 2-4th.  Attending HDC's annual conference is a terrific way to learn about preservation efforts taking place city-wide, and an opportunity to share information about your own ongoing preservation campaigns.  

We'll see you in March to celebrate "the Great Outside"!

TONIGHT, Open Mic for Open Spaces, with Historic Districts Council

Courtesy of our friends and colleagues at the Historic Districts Council, you're getting your turn at the mic! Be a part of the discussion TONIGHT ...

Open Spaces, Open Voices

Wednesday, January 25th from 6:00 to 8:00pm

Jefferson Market Courthouse, New York Public Library Branch 

located at 425 6th Avenue in Manhattan

Sunnyside Garden Historic District

Grab the mike and tell HDC about the urban open spaces that matter to you! In order to best represent local communities citywide, we want to know what concerns you have about local public and private spaces. What challenges does a particular lot or park pose to your neighbors? How have you triumphed in preserving a garden or landscape? All are invited to share thoughts on public parks, plazas, streets and yards at Open Spaces, Open Voices. Attendees will be asked to voice their ideas in a moderated discussion with fellow neighborhood advocates.

The issues raised at the forum will shape the central topics for HDC’s upcoming conference titled The Great Outside: Preserving Public and Private Open Space in March. The theme for the 18th Annual Preservation Conference is inspired by increased pressure on the city’s green spaces due to overuse, development and neglect. Public and private open spaces and the environment created by the adjacency to buildings are top priorities as we plan for New York City’s future. Participants will explore what makes open space historically significant and how those elements of history can be protected in a changing city landscape. The panels will consider current pressures and threats to public or private open space.

FREE and Open to the Public; Registration required. 

Email sromanoski@hdc.org or call 212-614-9107 to reserve a space. 

Space is limited.

For more information or to rsvp please call 212-614-9107

For information about past conferences click here

GUEST BLOG :: Buffalo's Central Terminal rides the rails to restoration

As reported by LW! graduate intern Kate Gilmore 

Thanksgiving is one of the busiest travel holidays. We all move to and fro at a frenzied pace and rarely do we stop to appreciate the fantastic structures that facilitate such rapid transportation.

This past Wednesday, as I waited for my train in New York's Penn Station, every corner was bustling with activity. Alas, present-day Penn Station is depressing and dark -- a far cry from the illuminated, soaring space of McKim, Mead and White's original building.

Original Penn Station Interior

However, magnificent train stations still exist!  One in particular that has fallen into disuse and is not well-known is Buffalo Central Terminal located in East Buffalo.  Luckily, I was able to visit this amazing train station during the National Trust for Historic Preservation Conference in October.  Buffalo Central Terminal is an impressive -- both visually and physically! -- art deco masterpiece designed by architects Fellheimer and Wagner.  Fellheimer had worked on the architectural team that built Grand Central Station, and together with Wagner was best known for Buffalo Central Terminal and Cincinati's Union Terminal.

Exterior of Buffalo Central Terminal, c. 1930s.
Source: Buffalo History Works

The Buffalo terminal's construction began in 1927, and BCT opened to the public on June 22, 1929. Just fifty years later, on October 28, 1979, the last train left BCT. The building then went through a series of different owners. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the building was used as a salvage site. Nothing was done in order to try and revitalize the structure with activities that would make use of the space itself.

Main Terminal in Disrepair.
Source: Buffalo History Works

In 1997, the Central Terminal Restoration Corporation purchased the building and began the painstaking process of restoration. Through weekend volunteer sessions and public activities, CTRC has brought people back into the magnificent terminal space. The BCT is an amazing tribute to the former dominance of rail transportation, and CTRC had committed to work with the structure to ensure its re-use. Visit their website to see the current master plan for the structure and learn more about public events.

So the next time your train pulls into the station, remember that the history of rail travel has produced some excellent architecture -- to be celebrated and used by current generations.

------------------------------------------------

For more from Kate Gilmore, check out:

The Future of Development on the Upper West Side, July 7, 2011 

From East Side to West Side, newsracks making headlines, July 18, 2011

GUEST BLOG :: Preservation, the Next Generation

REPORT from the FIELD

A Guest Blog, Reported by Will Vogel

Last weekend (March 4-6) the Historic Districts Council (HDC) continued celebrating “40 years of activism” with their annual preservation conference: Looking Forward, Looking Back: Forty Years of Preserving New York City Neighborhoods. The theme of the three day conference was to explore and celebrate grassroots preservation through a comprehensive overview of how local residents have campaigned to save their neighborhoods from neglect, deterioration and over-development since 1971!

The conference kicked off with a bang Friday night with the Opening Night Reception, hosted by the General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen.  LW's Debi and Cristiana were there (as you may have heard via our Twitter feed), trading war stories with colleagues throughout the city, educating folks on our current "top priority" advocacy campaigns, and learning what other issues neighborhood groups like us are tackling.  A fun mix of business and educational pleasure!

Picking up early Saturday morning (8:30AM = dedicated to the cause!), the conference was back in full swing with preservationists coming from all over the five boroughs to St. Francis College, (just outside the heard-but-not-designated Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District in beautiful downtown Brooklyn--more here!)  Leading the charge was architectural historian extraordinaire Francis Morrone, with an informative chronicling of the political and cultural environments that has existed in New York City over the past 45 years (since the Landmarks Preservation Commission was established in 1965). 

Next to the podium was Eric Allison, chair of the Historic Preservation program at Pratt Institute, and previous president of HDC, paralleling Francis' remarks with a lecture detailing how this climate--ripe with change--set the perfect stage for the advancement of the preservation movement. To provide insight on the people behind the movement, Dr. Marjorie Pearson didn’t just monotonously list the movers and shakers name by name.  Rather, Dr. Pearson sang their praises, in true LW! fashion (seriously, we can be quite melodic when it comes to honoring the proverbial little guys who make change happen). 

From the speakers to the audience to the volunteers (many of them students!), there were many different generations of preservationists in attendance.  All agreed that while looking back at a movement that has been going strong in New York City for 45 years may bring some hard memories to the surface, the future of preservation is ultimately bright.  And who better to convey that than LW!'s own Executive Director, Kate Wood!  Read on ...

Post-lunch, two breakout sessions allowed for a more intimate conversation about what can be learned from a successful advocacy campaign in the current preservation climate. One discussion featured Andrew Berman and his efforts in Greenwich Village as Executive Director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation; the other discussion featured LW!’s 25 years of fighting "the good fight" on the Upper West Side, as recounted by our own Kate Wood (obviously yours truly sought to show support for the latter--guilty as charged!). 

The theater was filled with friends old and new as Kate wove together the past and present history of LW!. Our past: A quarter century of feisty advocacy, born from the passion of our founder, Arlene Simon, and fueled by the energies of a small (but nimble!)  staff and dedicated volunteers. Our present: A Kickstarter-funded venture into the world of mobile technology with an iPhone app. Our explanatory project video (informational and playful, wouldn't you agree?) inspired folks from across the globe to support our project and help us reach (and ultimately surpass) our goal! In December 2010, LW! launched the FIRST EVER iPhone app walking tour of Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  More than a dozen countries and 500+ downloads later, the rich history of our neighborhood continues to educate and inspire! With Kate's conclusion, an alert crowd jumped into action for a Q&A exchange.

Two additional breakout sessions--addressing the preservation of Staten Island's historic resources, and the campaign to designate Sunnyside Gardens in Queens--concluded the conference's Saturday programming.  The following day, Sunday, March 6, conference attendees found themselves exploring all five boroughs with a suite of walking tours. 
 

The 17th Annual HDC Preservation Conference offered a bit of everything, leaving no one in want.  Except for when it ended--many wanted more! Thankfully, it not need to end there. Check back here to our blog often, or subscribe to LW! email news alerts, as we keep you informed of walking tours, lectures, conferences, and other activities taking place on the Upper West Side ... and beyond!

Visit us at the HDC Annual Conference Opening Night!

For the second year in a row, LW! will join with our fellow NYC advocates at the Historic Districts Council's Annual Conference Opening Night Reception! 

WHEN: TONIGHT, March 5, from 6 to 8PM
WHERE: The LGBT Community Center, Manhattan

Come learn about preservation issues at play on the West Side and in all of New York's boroughs. 

**IMPORTANT** The first 50 visitors to the LW! table will receive a FREE LW! signature tote bag!  The envy of preservationistas everywhere ...