On April 14, 2009, LANDMARK WEST hosted a seminar for real estate brokers, architects, Co-op Board members, and others interested entitled "An Architectural Toolkit to Enhance Your Skills in a Changing Economy."
For more information, follow this link.
Preserving the best of the Upper West Side's neighborhood character and architectural heritage.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Original Post: March 2, 2009
March 2009: nEWS FROM THE HISTORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL
15th Annual Preservation Conference, “Communities & Cornices”
In March 2009, the Historic Districts Council is hosting a number of exciting events for our 15th Preservation Conference, Communities and Cornices. From developing relationships with elected officials to understanding and utilizing important legislation and regulations, this year’s Conference events presented a number of tools that you can use to launch successful grassroots campaigns!
For more information about this past event, visit the HDC site.
15th Annual Preservation Conference, “Communities & Cornices”
In March 2009, the Historic Districts Council is hosting a number of exciting events for our 15th Preservation Conference, Communities and Cornices. From developing relationships with elected officials to understanding and utilizing important legislation and regulations, this year’s Conference events presented a number of tools that you can use to launch successful grassroots campaigns!
For more information about this past event, visit the HDC site.
Original Post: February 20, 2009
Greening Manhattan's Waterfront: A New "Perimeter Park" for the 21st Centry
Click here for more information on this 2/25 event.
Click here for more information on this 2/25 event.
Original Post: February 19, 2009
Building
A Slide Lecture by Professor Andrew S. Dolkart
Director of the Historic Preservation Program at
The Garment District is one of the most famous neighborhoods of
Wednesday, March 4, 2009 at 6:00PM
Original Post: February 17, 2009
YOU Made a Landmark Difference for West-Park Church!
Thanks to you and many other concerned New Yorkers, West-Park Presbyterian Church is now one step closer to becoming an official NYC Landmark!
This morning, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously to "calendar" West-Park for a public hearing (date as yet unscheduled - we'll keep you posted) to consider its merits for landmark designation. "Calendaring" itself provides a measure of protection since the LPC would get the chance to review any planned alterations to the structure, even before official designation.
To read more, click here!
Thanks to you and many other concerned New Yorkers, West-Park Presbyterian Church is now one step closer to becoming an official NYC Landmark!
This morning, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously to "calendar" West-Park for a public hearing (date as yet unscheduled - we'll keep you posted) to consider its merits for landmark designation. "Calendaring" itself provides a measure of protection since the LPC would get the chance to review any planned alterations to the structure, even before official designation.
To read more, click here!
Original Post: February 13, 2009
Rumors Swirl About West-Park’s Future:
Help Urge the Landmarks Commission to Save this Building
West-Park Presbyterian Church,
“one of the architecturally most distinguished and historically most important of Manhattan’s surviving Nineteenth century churches.”
Barry Bergdoll, architectural historian, March 2004
Earlier this week, as workers removed debris from the interior of West-Park Presbyterian Church (W. 86th Street & Amsterdam Avenue), many of you responded to the call for letters/emails/phone calls to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, urging swift action to protect one of New York’s most beautiful and significant religious structures.
Keep those letters/emails/phone calls coming (see contact info. and sample letters below)!
Evidently startled by the impassioned community response, church leaders were quick to explain that the apparent demo work was clean-up after a burst pipe. Yet, the pall of demolition—whether by intent or neglect matters little—continues to hang over this beloved neighborhood landmark.
Until West-Park is an official Landmark (with a capital L)—or at least gets the public hearing it deserves—rumors about its future will continue to fly. Church leaders have made it clear that they intend to redevelop the site and demolish at least part of the historic building. Landmark designation doesn’t necessarily preclude that possibility. What a landmarks hearing does is offer a baseline promise that the magnificent exterior will be preserved for future generations.
Beyond any reasonable doubt, and as attested by the statements of New York’s most prominent architectural historians, West-Park is worthy of designation as a New York City Individual Landmark (click HERE to read copies of some recent statements—requests for West-Park to be heard date back more than two decades!). The site was determined eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2001.
Contact the LPC today and urge them to act immediately to calendar West-Park Presbyterian for a public hearing.
Hon. Robert B. Tierney, Chair
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10007
Phone: 212-669-7888
Fax: 212-669-7955
Email: comments@lpc.nyc.gov
Also contact the City Council member who represents the West-Park neighborhood:
Hon. Gale A. Brewer
NYC Council Member
563 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
Phone: 212-873-0282
Fax: 212-873-0279
Email: brewer@council.nyc.ny.us
YOU can make the difference. Please help save this landmark!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
ALERT! West-Park Presbyterian to be demolished?
West-Park Presbyterian Church needs your help!
Neighbors of the red-sandstone historic gem anchoring the northeast corner of West 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue have recently observed workers removing pieces of West-Park’s interior. More than one worker confirmed that the building is being readied for demolition. Without landmark protection, this beloved Romanesque-style church—called “unquestionably one of the most beautiful religious structures on the Upper West Side” by Andrew S. Dolkart—could continue to be dismantled, stone by stone.
Beyond any reasonable doubt, and as attested by the statements of New York’s most prominent architectural historians, West-Park is worthy of designation as a New York City Individual Landmark (click HERE to read copies of some recent statements—requests for West-Park to be heard date back more than two decades!). The site was determined eligible for the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2001.
LANDMARK WEST!, the Friends of West-Park and many others in our community and beyond are writing, emailing, and calling (for the 10th, 100th, 1000th time) the Landmarks Preservation Commission to stress the urgent need for landmark protection of West-Park. JOIN US! In unity (and volume), there’s strength. Here’s what you can do:
Contact the LPC today and urge them to act immediately to calendar West-Park Presbyterian for a public hearing.
Hon. Robert B. Tierney, Chair
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
1 Centre Street, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10007
Phone: 212-669-7888
Fax: 212-669-7955
Email: comments@lpc.nyc.gov
Also contact the City Council member who represents the West-Park neighborhood:
Hon. Gale A. Brewer
NYC Council Member
563 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024
Phone: 212-873-0282
Fax: 212-873-0279
Email: brewer@council.nyc.ny.us
West-Park is down to the wire. YOU can make the difference. Please help save this landmark!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Mayor Bloomberg's Landmarks Problem
| As 2008 winds to a close, it's time to take stock of a banner season in New York City landmarks preservation history. THE HIGHS: A 6-month examination of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) by the New York Times. Four investigative articles. Two hard-hitting editorials. A breakthrough legal victory. THE LOWS: A Mayor and Landmarks Chair who fail to recognize — and address — New York's landmarks crisis. Too many buildings and neighborhoods destroyed or hanging in the balance. NEXT STEPS: To really know what we're up against, make sure you've read the Times pieces and decisive court decision, which the City plans to appeal. Then write immediately to Mayor Bloomberg. Use language from the latest Times editorial ("Improving the Landmarks Process," 12/6/08) to send him the message loud and clear, "Instead of appealing, fix the LPC!" If we are ever to turn back the destructive tide, it must be now. And it must be YOU and US and ANYONE who ever gave a thought about the heritage of our city and the character of our communities. Together, we've made our voice heard, and we may be closer than ever to real change. But the biggest challenges are still ahead. Required Reading for the Revolution The Landmarks Preservation Commission should be a vital part of the planning process in New York City. Instead, it has become a bureaucratic black hole, the place where requests for evaluation — the formal nominations of buildings or districts to be landmarked — go to get filed and forgotten. The judge called the agency’s inaction “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered it to start making timely decisions on every designation request. To allow such proposal’s “to languish is to defeat the very purpose of the L.P.C. and invite the loss of irreplaceable landmarks.” Preservationists say the phenomenon [of pre-emptive demolitions] is only one sign of problems with the city’s mechanism for protecting historic buildings … In the case of the Dakota Stables, some preservationists have accused the landmarks commission of deliberately dragging its heels. | ||||
| ..many preservationists and at least one commission member argue that the landmarks commission has not been aggressive enough in protecting churches from the overheated real estate market of the last few years. …preservationists and politicians assert that, under a mayoral administration that has emphasized new construction – from behemoth stadiums to architecturally bold condo towers – big developers have too often been allowed to lead on the dance floor. Some accuse the landmarks commission, charged with guarding the city’s architectural heritage, of backing off too readily when important developers’ interests are at stake. We urge Mayor Michael Bloomberg to give preservation more weight in city planning. The next landmarks chairman should come from preservation circles. The commissioners need more independence and authority. There needs to be better communication with the Buildings Department to prevent the confusion that has sometimes resulted in the destruction of a building slated for landmark consideration. ... Landmark decisions should be made expeditiously and transparently with a clear public record of the commission’s decision-making. "Improving the Landmarks Process," NY Times editorial, 12/6/08 New York State Supreme Court decision, Justice Marilyn Schafer, ordering the Landmarks Commission to "promulgate procedures whereby: (1) all RFE’s are submitted to the RFE Committee within 120 days of receipt thereof; and (2) all Committee’s recommendations, whether positive or negative, be reported, on the record, to the full LPC." Click here for the original petition. Send letters to: The New York Times Please send copies to landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org. | ||||
Monday, November 17, 2008
Andrew S. Dolkart Featured in New York Times
LANDMARK WEST!'s friend and board member Andrew S. Dolkart wrote an article for the November 16, 2008 issue of New York Times about how preservation fares in the midst of an economic downturn. Click here to read the article.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
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