West-Park to host film screening in October

Last month, LW! staffers dove head first into the mind boggling and totally engaging world of the psychological play "The Tenant", an experiential theater production by the Woodshed Collective, taking place at the landmarked West-Park Presbyterian Church.

Seeing the church filled with audience members, scampering up and down five floors of the parish house as they followed the action of the players, was truly spectacular and speaks both to the community's desire to see the church again bustling with action, and to the potential for the landmark church's adaptive reuse.  

Following "The Tenant", West-Park played host to another theater troupe, the Dark Lady Players and next month the church will open its doors to the community as it hosts a two-part film screening and discussion series.  These events are a terrific opportunity to meet the people behind West-Park's rebirth and to see for yourself the wonderful church interior.

The congregation of West-Park Presbyterian Church invites you ...

The Center at West-Park invites you to join us as we engage the complex subject of forgiveness through a two-part film screening and three-session discussion group series.

In Forgiveness: A Time to Love & A Time To Hate, award-winning film maker Helen Whitney elegantly and fearlessly tackles these issues in her two part documentary, offering a compelling range of intimate and powerful stories: from personal betrayal to reconciliation—global and local—in the wake of tragedy.

The Center will show part one of Whitney’s film on Tuesday, October 4, and part two on Tuesday, October 11th, both at 7:30PM. Helen Whitney will be present for Q&A at the October 11th showing.

An opportunity to address the multi-faceted topic of forgiveness in the context of community will take place on three subsequent Tuesday evenings—October 18th, 25th, and November 1st, from 7:30 to 9PM. Chaplain and spiritual retreat leader Eleanor Harrison Bregman will facilitate three small group discussions based on the film. Session one focuses on formulating our own working definitions and varied meanings of forgiveness. The “mechanics” and process of forgiveness are the themes for the second session. The final session considers the experience of seeking forgiveness, granted or withheld, including self-forgiveness.

Film showings: No advance registration or ticketing required.
Film admission: Suggested donation $10 at the door (more if you can, less if you can’t).
Discussion groups: Space is limited. Registration either at the door or in advance (preferred):
$10 for one group; $25 for all three. Go to http://forgiveness.eventzilla.net/ to register or click below.

Venue for film and discussion groups:

The Center at West Park
West Park Church, 165 West 86th Street, NYC 10024
At the corner of Amsterdam Avenue at 86th Street
212.362.4890

Love Your Landmark #8 - St. Michael's Church

Little Vivian has competition!

Last week, Love Your Landmark received its first hand-drawn submission from pint-sized preservationist Vivian.  It appears she's inspired another artistically inclined lover of landmarks to put pencil to paper and capture a beloved piece of Upper West Side architecture.  Spot on depiction, Julia!

St. Michael's Church

Amsterdam Avenue at 99th Street

My favorite hoped-to-be landmark on the West Side is St. Michael's Church.  I love the large tower, which seems to dominate the street grandly.  I also really like the design of the repeated arches, which makes the structure look open and airy.  I like the colors of the church, too.  The palate is nice and simple, but also noticeable. 

Love,

Julia H.

12 years old, admirer of architecture, Jersey gal (we won't hold it against her)

P.S. St. Michael's is on LW's "Wish List"!  Learn more about its history, and how you can become more involved!

Seeing Is Believing! Preservation rally and West-Park council vote photos are in!

Experience the camaraderie and shared appreciation for our city's rich history as manifest at the preservation rally 2010, which took place on May 12, 2010.

Then, go inside City Hall for images from the decisive votes to confirm the Landmarks Preservation Commission's designation of West-Park Presbyterian Church as an Individual Landmark.

For more info, click here. 

24 hour countdown to City Council public hearing on West-Park begins!

The time has come!  Three months after the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to designate West-Park Presbyterian Church an Individual Landmark, it is now the City Council's turn to weigh in. 

Tomorrow, April 20th, at 11AM, the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses will review the LPC's report on West-Park.

Here's our checklist prior to tomorrow's public hearing:

(1)  SIGN THE PETITION echoing the words of support from Council member Gale Brewer.

(2)  EMAIL YOUR COUNCIL MEMBER.  It takes just seconds, and will make a world of difference for West-Park.  Your elected officials need to know that West-Park matters to you before they cast their vote!

(3)  ATTEND THE PUBLIC HEARING!  Call LANDMARK WEST! at (212) 496-8110 for meeting time and location.

(4)  SPREAD THE WORD so that others will follow your lead!

Our call to action email lays it all out for you! 

See you all tomorrow, for West-Park!

West-Park approved by City Planning! On to City Council!

UPDATE FROM THE FIELD

As reported by Cristiana P.

West-Park Presbyterian Church is one big step closer to becoming an official New York City Individual Landmark!

This morning at Public Meeting, the City Planning Commission (CPC), led by Comm. Amanda Burden, unanimously approved of the landmarking of West-Park.  The CPC's vote means that the designation now moves to the City Council for review (public hearing date TBD). 

The game is not yet won!  The City Council does have the ability to modify or deny the designation, now supported by both the Landmarks Preservation Commission and City Planning.  If you haven't already, NOW IS THE TIME to write to the City Council!

Tell our elected representatives how important West-Park and its landmarking is to you!  For contact information and to read letters from others committed to saving West-Park, visit the West-Park advocacy webpage.

West-Park Designated!

"We cannot afford to let it go...it will be saved and it will be preserved."

Robert B. Tierney, Chair, Landmarks Preservation Commission, January 12, 2010.

More than twenty years of community advocacy, a public hearing last July, and then...VICTORY! By unanimous vote of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), West-Park Presbyterian Church

is finally an official Landmark.

This day would never have come without the determination and steadfast support of preservationists - like YOU! - and key leadership from people like those listed below. Your continued attention and encouragement are important since the designation will go before both the City Planning Commission and the City Council in coming months. So, give yourself a hearty clap on the back and take a few moments to send enthusiastic emails of congratulations (contact info below).

The LPC's decision marks a new beginning for West-Park, a time for renewed hope and opportunity to make this building lively once more. Long live West-Park!

LANDMARK WEST! thanks:

• 
  
  
  Chair Robert B. Tierney and each of the Landmarks Preservation Commissioners - click here for an MP3 recording of their 1/12/10 discussion and email them at comments@lpc.nyc.gov.

• 
  
  
  City Council Member Gale Brewer - gale.brewer@council.nyc.ny.us.

• 
  
  
  Community Board 7 - info@cb7.org.

• 
  
  
  Friends of West-Park - friendsofwestpark@gmail.com.

Friends who wrote letters, signed petitions and came to public meetings and hearings, including (but not limited to!) Daniel J. Allen, architect; (former) City Council Member Tony Avella; Barry Bergdoll, Chief Curator of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art; The Rev. Darrell Berger, First Unitarian Universalist Church; Francoise Bollack, architect; Herbert Broderick, III, Associate Professor of Art, Lehman College; Mosette Broderick, Director, Urban Design and Architecture Studies, NYU; Lauren Jacobi, architectural historian; Robert Cane, architect; Page Cowley, architect; Former City Council Member and current Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; Andrew Scott Dolkart, James Marston Fitch Associate Professor of Historic Preservation, Columbia University; Charles DiSanto, architect; The Rev. Stephen Garmey; Historic Districts Council; Sarah Bradford Landau, former LPC Commissioner and Professor of Art History, NYU; Katherine R. McKee, conservator; Walter B. Melvin, architect; The Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America; The Very Reverend James Parks Morton, The Interfaith Center of New York; Municipal Art Society; New York Landmarks Conservancy; Susan Nial, Esq.; Gene A. Norman, former Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair; New York State Senator Bill Perkins; The Rev. Dr. Thomas Pike, former NYC Landmarks Commissioner; Lee Harris Pomeroy, architect; Preservation League of New York State; Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal; Fred Seidler, The Fred Seidler Group; Olga Statz, JD, LLM; Robert A.M. Stern, architect; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer; The Rev. Joseph M. Zorawick, former Rector of Christ & St. Stephen's Church (copies of their letters and more are available at www.landmarkwest.org/westpark.htm).