Love Your Landmark #2 - Chelsea Storage Warehouse

Chelsea Storage Warehouse
West 107th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues
(on the LW! Wish List!)

Who knew that bricks could be so decorative! By turning these bricks on end and stacking them in unexpected patterns, this otherwise utilitarian building has a style all its own.
The facade of this building comes alive!

Love,

Cristiana Pena, LW! Dir. of Community Outreach

Love Your Landmark #1 - Public School 165

Public School 165 (on the LW! Wish List!)

I LOVE P.S. 165! Nestled midblock on West 109th Street, it's a gothic-style treasure.
What an inspiring atmosphere for learning!

Love,
Debi Germann, LW! Director of Education

Starting this month, LOVE your landmarks!

Secure your angel wings. Ready your quiver and arrows. Grab your camera. This is your chance to tell everyone "I Love this Landmark!"

Starting today, February 8, LW! is inviting you to join us in playing cupid as we identify the landmarks that make the Upper West Side so lovable! All it takes is a camera and your own inspiration.

So what's a "landmark"?

"Landmark" can mean different things to different people. For LW!, it might mean the West-Park Presbyterian Church, designated an official NYC Individual Landmark just one month ago (on January 12, 2010). For others, it's something more personal: your family's favorite restaurant, the street corner where you pick up your paper every morning, your child's playground in the park, or the elementary school you attended (perhaps the same school your kids attend now!).

All February long, come back to the LW! blog to see photos from LW! interns and staff and from our fellow West Siders, as they share with us the landmarks they love!

Public Joy Over West-Park Designation!

"After battling for years over the fate of the 116 year-old church, today we have saved a great building.  But we've also preserved a spiritual and everyday landmark for our neighborhood, protecting not only architecture, but history, heritage, and quality of life."  ~ City Council Member Gale A. Brewer.

Remarks by the Landmarks Preservation Commissioners: 

"This church is a sculpture given to us."

"It stops you in your tracks."

"We will work with anyone and everyone to find a new use as we cannot afford to let this church go."  

(Click here to listen to more comments.)

A Sampling of Community Responses to LW!:
"Hallelujah!  Congratulations all around--and Excelsior"
"It was a long, hard fight, and I hope the next steps of repair and restoration turn out as well."
"Your grassroots persistent insistence triumphs again"
"Congratulations...for sticking to it."
"What an achievement!"
"Well done!"
"THREE CHEERS!"

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).

Green Theology: Energy Efficiency and Sacred Sites (click for more info!)
Thursday, October 22, 2009 from 8:45 a.m.-- 3:00 p.m.

Religious institutions are treasured touchstones of strength, comfort and stability for congregants and community alike, but the costs of heating, cooling and running facilities present considerable challenges even to the most robust congregations and the most creative facility managers.

"Green Technology," "sustainability" and "energy efficiency" are frequently used buzz words that can leave caretakers of religious properties enthusiastic, confused about how to maintain their older buildings, or under the mistaken impression that "green building" is meant for new buildings.

The seminar is designed for members of the clergy and others to guide them as they strive to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings and reduce associated costs. A case study of an actual energy efficiency audit of a religious property, from the perspectives of both the auditor and the religious institution, will be presented to provide a hands-on understanding of the range of challenges and potential solutions that are useful in managing these important sites.

E-Postcard Campaign to Preserve the Powerhouse!

Send Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney a "postcard" reminder to "Preserve the Powerhouse!" It's quick, easy and, thanks to email technology, 100% free. Simply click here and, in three steps, the ravishing historic photo to your left will be winding its way to the Commission's inbox, along with a brief paragraph (that you can personalize) in support of landmark designation.

It's been over two months since the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission's July 14 public hearing on the former Interborough Rapid Transit Powerhouse - its third hearing since 1979 (read about the building's significance). And still, no action to give this monumental masterpiece the landmark protection it so justly deserves. Time for a not-so-subtle nudge.

Get Your Ticket Today for the Unsung Heroes Awards Ceremony 10/8/2009!

On October 8th, Landmark West! will celebrate the Unsung Heroes of the Upper West Side!

10/14/2009 Continuing Education Seminar: Architecture + Zoning

An Architectural and Zoning Toolkit to Enhance your Skills in a Changing Economy (click to learn more!)
Wednesday, October 14, 2009 from 8:45 a.m.-- 5:00 p.m.

Sitting atop Lincoln Center, participants of this day-long seminar will be in the cat bird’s seat to learn about the evolution of the City and ecclectic architectural styles of our neighborhoods. Have you ever wondered how to date an apartment building, distinguish original detail from additions, or how to make sense of the diverse architectural styles of New York City buildings? Have you ever questioned how and why a neighborhood developed over time?

This seminar is custom-designed for real estate brokers, planners, architects and others seeking to hone their professional and marketing skills to identify architectural styles and development patterns in New York City. Discover how zoning has influenced neighborhood change and unlock clues to dating and interpreting. The better you understand historic buildings and neighborhoods, the better you can serve clients and participate in the life of the city. Wear comfortable shoes—we will end the program with a walking tour of nearby blocks in the Lincoln Center area and the historic Upper West Side!

Original Post 9/22/2009: Check Out What Our Friends Are Up To!

2 Upcoming Events: Click Here for More Info

Inquiry:HP Presents CHRISTOPHER PAYNE
Thursday, September 24
6:30 PM at Columbia University
Avery Hall, 6th Floor, Ware Classroom
New York City-based photographer Christopher Payne specializes in the documentation of America's vanishing architecture and industrial landscape.

New York Botanical Conference on New York’s Landscape Heritage
Friday, October 9, 2009
Location: The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx NY
On October 9, 2009 the first in a series of ten regional conferences planned through 2010 will take place at the New York Botanical Garden. Using the Botanical Garden as a launching off point, the conference will place a spotlight on New York City and the region spanning 150 years of landscape design.