A Penny, a Rabbit's Foot, Whatever Brings You Good Luck!

LW! Social Media Goes Mobile!

On Tuesday, May 17th, LANDMARK WEST! ventured where no Upper West Side preservation organization has ever gone before ... into the realm of live Tweeting!

Via iPad, the live Tweeting begins!

The reason?  To share up-to-the-minute musings and news as we came together with Friends of Roosevelt Park to announce the kick-off of Landmark Feast.  Coming this fall to the Arthur Ross Terrace at the American Museum of Natural History, Landmark Feast will be a totally unprecedented dining experience, celebrating our unique neighborhood and support the efforts of to preserve everything that makes the Upper West Side so special!

Cristiana and Melissa use the #LandmarkFeast hashtag
to share updates via iPad and Smartphone.

Throughout the arrival of our special guests (Chefs Bill Telepan of Telepan Restaurant, John Fraser of Dovetail Restaurant, and Damian Sansonetti of Bar Boulud; Katy Oursler of Outstanding in the Field; and of course our Honorary Event Chair Ruth Reichl), on into welcoming remarks by LW's own Kate Wood, and as our guests continued to make merry, LW's Cristiana Peña kept the Twitter-verse updated via iPad. 

Thanks to the newly minted #LandmarkFeast hashtag (that is, the quick way by which Twitter users can seek out and follow topics that interest them most), party attendees could share the revelry with their social media friends ... or just talk to each other, as Cristiana and 67 Wine's Melissa Sutherland opted to do (see photo above)!

For more photos from the kick-off party, visit our Flickr photostream.  But more importantly, visit the Landmark Feast blog, learn more about the concept, meet the participating chefs and restaurants and reserve your tickets for the September 25th feast!

The Social Web, Community Orgs, and YOU!

You follow our tweets, you check in with our Facebook profile and fan pages, you subscribe to our blog ... Now, LANDMARK WEST! invites you to meet the folks behind the social media messaging!

On Thursday, June 9th, LANDMARK WEST! is partnering with NearSay.com and a host of other social web innovators on a roundtable discussion:

How Local Organizations Can Use  

the Web and Social Media
to Amplify Their Voice 

To RSVP, click here! 

WHAT: A round table discussion and Q&A, putting you face-to-face with the local organizations who are making themselves known by blogging, Facebooking, tweeting, and engaging with the their neighborhoods in innovative ways. 

With tiny staffs and often tinier budgets, the round table participants will offer insight on the importance of a social web presence and how they've capitalized on it as a tool to broadcast their organizational message far and wide ... without stretching their resources!  Learn from their hits and misses (and share yours as well) as the panelists touch upon their adventures on the social web. 

Following the Q&A, stay for a free happy hour and connect with the community organizations and others in attendance.

WHO:   NearSay.com - Trevor Sumner, co-founder & CMO. Roundtable moderator.
            (Trevor on Twitter: @trevorsumner;  

             NearSay on Twitter: @NearSayNY and @NSayUpperWest) 

            LANDMARK WEST! - Cristiana Pena, Senior Director of Preservation

    (Cristiana on NearSay; LW! on Twitter: @landmarkwest) 

            Bryant Park Corporation, Katie Kritzalis "The Bryant Park Blogger"

            (Katie on Twitter: @bryantparknyc; @fashionherald) 

            Fourth Arts Block-  Tamara Greenfield, Executive Director

            (Tamara on Twitter: @fourthartsblock) 

            34th St. Partnership - Tricia Lewis, Director of Digital Media

            (Tricia on Twitter: @34thStNYC) 

            Flatiron BID - Jennifer Brown, Executive Director

            (Jennifer on Twitter: @FlatironBID) 

WHEN:  Thursday, June 9th, 6PM to 8PM

WHERE:  Steelcase WorkLife Center, 4 Columbus Circle (8th Avenue b/w 57th & 58th Streets)

SPACE IS LIMITED, RSVP encouraged.  Click here to reserve your spot via MeetUp.

See you on June 9th!

Spotlight on an Unsung Hero :: CTA Architects interviewed for Brazilian TV feature

2011 Unsung Heroes of the Upper West Side Awardee
Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects

Architecture is an international language.  No extensive lessons are necessary to understand how the individual pieces of our neighborhood's built environment--demure sandstone facade, punctuated by a stoop, accentuated with an oriel window, emphasized by a dormer window--come together and speak to our history in a way that we can all understand and appreciate!

One of the Upper West Side's most whimsical and diminutive hideaways, Pomander Walk, is a perfect case-in-point!  This past Monday, a Brazilian-language television network, TV Globo, filmed a featurette of Pomander Walk (air date TBD).  It seems that a member of their news team was so intrigued by the anomaly of these rows of cottages nestled amid high-rise residences that they wanted to share the architecture (and the story behind it) with their viewers!  

Reporter Jane Caffrey speaks with architect Dan Allen about Pomander Walk.

Who better to share the tale of Pomander Walk than architect Dan Allen of Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects.  CTA Architects, along with RCD Restoration, teamed up with the committed residents of Pomander Walk to restore these amazing buildings just a few years ago.  And wouldn't you know it, their admirable efforts were acknowledged with one of LW!'s Unsung Heroes of the Upper West Side 2008 preservation awards, the Building Rehabilitation Award.  Stay tuned for an update on when the TV Globo interview with Dan Allen will be available online.

Pomander Walk sets the stage for Dan Allen's TV Globo interview.  How fitting!

A mini-history of Pomander Walk (from LW!'s 2008 awards ceremony program):

Described by New York Times architectural historian Christopher Gray as a "village-in-a-city," Pomander Walk offers a seredipitous respite in the densely-developed cityscape just off Broadway.  Following a style that can only be described as Theatrical Tudor Revival, this utterly unique enclave of 27 tiny houses arranged along a mid-block garden path owes its name and old-world charm to a popular 1911 play.  Indeed, its recent rehabilitation was so conscientiously conceived, so meticulously directed and so deftly performed as to be a work of theatrical art in itself.  Original materials--including the houses' wood doors and galvanized metal "half-timbering"--were retained, treated and restored rather than replaced with replicas.  Historic colors were carefully matched.  Pomander Walk's board of directors, preservation committee and residents worked in concert with Cutsogeorge Tooman & Allen Architects and RCD Restoration to do the right thing by this once-folly, now beloved, landmark.

Interest in Pomander Walk and the impeccable restorative work by CTA Architects couldn't be more perfectly timed!  In less than one month (on Tuesday, June 7th) we will again celebrate CTA's excellence in building restoration for their transformative work at the American Youth Hostel.  We hope you'll join us!

UPDATE from the FIELD :: Elegant 1980s at Cherry Hill, Central Park

UPDATE from the FIELD

As reported by Cristiana P.

In 1980, with the founding of the Central Park Conservancy, our City's first Scenic Landmark--Central Park, designated in 1974--began a miraculous transformation.  Decades of neglect were slowly and carefully reversed and, after 30+ years, Central Park is the entrancing destination many of us know it to be today.

Cherry Hill concourse photographed in 1982, following restoration.

And the work continues!  The Central Park Conservancy and the Parks Department, the two bodies who administer the Park, regularly undertake park improvement projects.  But they are not alone in their vision to sensitively restore and preserve Central Park.  Advocates such as LANDMARK WEST! and our colleagues celebrate the Park not only for its English Romantics origins, but for the incredible changes it has experienced over the decades.  At times, administrators and preservation advocates don't see eye to eye on "what's best" for the Park today, for its users, and for the Park's future.  The proposal to reconstruct the Cherry Hill concourse is a perfect example ... and it happens to be an advocacy "win" as well!

Cherry Hill concourse today (May 2011).

The LPC at public hearing on Tuesday (May 3rd) unanimously disapproved the Central Park Conservancy's proposal to reconstruct Cherry Hill concourse.  LW! stood strong on the issue of preserving Cherry Hill's layered history; we illustrated it's effective design and good condition; we spoke to the proposed design's degradation of the space to a parking lot (read LW!'s statement here).  And the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) stood strong as well!

Said one commissioner: "There is no way I could support this".  Another concurred, adding: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

Cherry Hill concourse, as designed and revitalized by landscape architect Philip N. Winslow in the 1980s, is beautiful, both in terms of aesthetics and performance.  It sets the stage, as many remarked at yesterday's hearing, for pedestrians to take in the views of The Lake.  Cherry Hill as a "room" was an allusion heard more than once.  And in terms of managing the traffic of horse-drawn carriages and pedicabs alongside pedestrians and other park users, it successfully accommodates them all!

 

Brick pavers laid in a herringbone pattern at Cherry Hill.

Cherry Hill is no longer for livery boys and carriages, but for pedestrians and cyclists and park users of all kinds!  Cherry Hill has evolved over time and the historical layer added by Winslow in the 1980s continues to meet the needs of park users while harmonizing with the larger design history of Central Park.  The Commissioners saw the proposal as flat-out unnecessary.  Nothing in the documents provided (by the Conservancy or the public) indicated to them that there was a pressing need for this invasive work.  In fact, the Conservancy itself noted that the brick and granite were in reasonable shape!  The singular concession the LPC seemed open to was using a new resin bound aggregate paving system (never before tested in Central Park) as a replacement for the existing asphalt ring.  In that way, they might identify a new material for use in the park without seriously compromising this significant and well-used (and loved!) design.

The LPC will issue an Advisory Report to the Design Commission, which has final say.  But with an unfavorable report from the LPC, one hopes the Design Commission will think hard before they consider endorsing the project.

LW! isn't done!  We'll continue to bulk up on Cherry Hill knowledge and enhance our testimony for the Design Commission (date TBD).  And we don't expect to be alone: We'll continue to encourage the groups and individuals who've already spoken out on this issue: Historic Districts Council, Defenders of the UES Historic Districts, New York City Park Advocates, Friends of the UES Historic Districts, and more!  Stay tuned ...

Preservation Heroes: Awards ceremony sings the praises of our "Unsung Heroes"

The world has many an unsung hero.

In 2011, the Upper West Side has eight more.

The Unsung Heroes of the Upper West Side

Awards Ceremony

Please join LANDMARK WEST! on Tuesday, June 7, 2011, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM, in the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center (61 West 62nd Street, the extraordinary public space recently transformed by star architects, and our special guests for the evening, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien) as we celebrate the people and projects that—in some way, shape or form—lead the way in preserving our neighborhood’s special character and sense of place.

Click here for information about reserving your tickets.

And the 2011 awardees are…

Exterior Preservation
American Youth Hostel, 891 Amsterdam Avenue, and
Cutsogeorge, Tooman & Allen Architects, a model partnership to restore a West Side architectural gem

Community Steward
Margarita Curet, Amsterdam Houses tenant leader and all-around "Force to Be Reckoned With"

Future Generations
Samantha Deutsch, 5th-grade teacher and partner in preservation education at P.S.145, West 105th St.

Preservation by Design
Milton Glaser, graphic designer of “I [heart] NY,” New York magazine, and LW! logo fame
   
Preservation Advocate
Roberta Brandes Gratz, former Landmarks Commissioner, award-winning journalist, urban critic, and author

Archival A-Team
Office for Metropolitan History: Christopher Gray & Suzanne Braley, curators and chroniclers of New York’s architectural history

To meet the honorees, visit the event website.

Artwork by Ron Barrett, illustrator of the world famous "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".

On the Hunt :: Happy Easter from the folks at LW!

It's been a spell since we logged some blog time, and it would seem that sharing our Easter Egg Hunt joy with our friends and neighbors is a great way to break the lull!

Our resident Staff Activity Guru, Cristiana, tucked 20 candy and fun-filled pastel eggs throughout the LW! bunker for Arlene, Kate, Debi, and Andrew to seek out.  And in places near and dear to their hearts ...

 

 

Hope Debi notices the surprise before preparing that pot of always-necessary morning brew.

 

 

Arlene's list of daily phone calls just got a little sweeter to make.

  

 

Stay hydrated, Kate.  And do so festively!

 

 

 Andrew loves editing video and sound clips.  Hopefully he loves his treat even more!

 

Mixing business (some recommended* architecture, history and "why not!" reading, take note!) with pleasure.  Happy Easter, all!

 

 * Some of the books featured in this photo:

The Mythic City: Photographs of New York by Samuel H. Gottscho (1925-1940), by Donald Albrecht

A New Light on Tiffany: Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls, by Margi Hofer, Martin Eidelberg and Nina Gray

Talking Lines, by R.O. Blechman

Mansions in the Clouds: The Skyscraper Palazzi of Emery Roth, by Steven Ruttenbaum

Design for Play, by Richard Dattner

and, of course, Zoning Handbook: A Guide to New York City's Zoning Resolution, by the Dept. of City Planning (it's a page turner!)

UPDATE :: Video of West End Avenue public hearing, for your educational and viewing pleasure

Following up on yesterday's blog post (and email, and NearSay story!) ...

See for yourself!  For those who were unable to attend the Tuesday, March 22nd, public hearing of the Landmarks Preservation Commission to consider the proposed Riverside Drive-West End Avenue Historic District Extension I, and for those looking to relive that public hearing magic, head to our YouTube channel!

We've captured the entire public hearing (all near-three hours of it!), and made it available over six video clips.  Starting with a brief presentation by the LPC chair, Robert Tierney, and Research Department staff, the videos then roll into the public testimony portion of the hearing.  Included in the clips (within each group, in order of appearance):

Upper West Side elected officials and their representatives:

Council member Gale Brewer

Assembly member Linda Rosenthal

State Senator Tom Duane

State Senator Adriano Espaillat

State Senator Bill Perkins

Congressman Jerrold Nadler

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer

Community Board 7 Preservation Committee and Full Board, represented by Mark Diller and Gabriel Palitz

Neighborhood and preservation advocates:

West End Preservation Society, represented by Richard Emery, president

Mary Dierickx, architectural historian and preservation consultant

Prof. Andrew Scott Dolkart, architectural historian and Director of the Historic Preservation program at Columbia University

Historic Districts Council, represented by Nadezhda Williams, Dir. of Preservation and Research

LANDMARK WEST!, represented by Kate Wood, Executive Director

Coalition for a Livable West Side, represented by Batya Lewton

West 80s Neighborhood Association, represented by Melissa Elstein

New York Landmarks Conservancy

And more!

Francoise Bollack, architect and professor in Columbia University's Historic Preservation program

Mosette Broderick, Director of the Urban Design and Architectural Studies program at NYU

Cynthia Doty, district leader for Three Parks Democrats and all-round neighborhood advocate

And the many, many other residents, business and property owners, and visitors to the Upper West Side who testified on the record.

Community: YES! We Support West End Avenue Historic District Extension!

REPORT from the FIELD

By Cristiana P.

The hearing room was filled to capacity (and beyond!) yesterday as the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) held the first of, ultimately, three public hearings to seriously consider historic district extensions on West End Avenue.

West Side residents and business and property owners, community advocates, and those who recognize the value of preserving our city's architectural resources came out in force to show their support of the proposed Riverside Drive-West End Avenue Historic District Extension I.  Following a call to order by Chair Robert Tierney of the LPC and a brief overview of the proposed extension's history by LPC Research Department staff (Maryann Percival and Mary Beth Betts), the hearing was opened to the public.

The LPC public hearing room (and the ante room beyond!) filled to capacity!

Over the course of the public hearing--lasting nearly three hours--close to fifty people addressed the LPC.  Together, our overwhelming presence and testimony sent the message loud and clear: The community supports expanded landmark designation on West End Avenue.  To all of our friends and neighbors who came to the LPC; who waited patiently as the West End Avenue hearing was delayed; who took to the podium to testify; who sat as "silent supporters" of the West End Avenue proposal; who wrote emails and letters in absentia; and who helped spread the word about yesterday's public hearing far and wide ...

... THANK YOU!  This tremendous effort could not have been such a success without your dedication and support.  Extra-special thanks to our colleagues at the West End Preservation Society (WEPS, under the incomparable leadership of Richard Emery and Erika Petersen) and the league of other West Side neighborhood groups for rallying their friends and neighbors living, working and owning property in the proposed district extensions.  Sincere thanks as well to our elected officials for their strong support of this important issue.

Left to right: Council Member Gale Brewer, LW! Executive Director Kate Wood, and
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer each testify before the LPC in support of the designation.

The journey is far from over! The LPC will take into consideration the range of testimony provided at public hearing yesterday (as well as letters and emails submitted) and continue their outreach to the community before they make any final decision.  As soon as the LPC releases additional information about their next action on this proposed extension, LANDMARK WEST! will sound the alert.  Stay tuned!

But we're certainly not resting on our heels in the meantime.  As the LPC continues to work through "next steps" for the Riverside Drive-West End Avenue Historic District Extension I, we must begin to rally for the second of these West End Avenue public hearings!  On Tuesday, June 28th, the LPC will hold a public hearing for the West End-Collegiate Historic District Extension (encompassing West 70th to 79th Streets, anchored by West End Avenue).  Stay tuned for more information on this public hearing, as well as public information sessions in advance of this event.

In the meantime, if you haven't already ...

Sign the Petition! 

Add your name to the list of those who support the West End Avenue historic district extensions.  The petition will be submitted to the LPC at next Tuesday's public hearing.

Couldn't make the public hearing?  Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for video of the public testimony and, for photos, to our Flickr photostream. 

Landmarking by the Numbers

More work and less resources--so continues the saga of the LPC's funding history.  At public hearing of the City Council's Land Use Committee, LPC leadership presented a preliminary budget for FY 2012.  The jist: with less staff and insufficient funds ... we'll figure it out.

Personnel  is DOWN.

          61:  Number of staff persons at the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)

                  (Does not include the 11-member expert commissioners who review proposals

                  at public hearing on a volunteer basis).

             3: Reduction in number of staff (through attrition) at the LPC going into 

                  Fiscal Year 2012.

Funding is DOWN.

 $4.79 million: Proposed FY 2012 budget of the LPC.

                 8%: Percentage cut for the LPC's FY 2012 budget from the FY 2011 budget.

Workload is UP.

      9,229: Number of permits issued in Fiscal Year (FY, meaning July 1 to June 30) 2010.  

                  That's an average of nearly 770 permits issued every month.

      6,824: Number of applications received (not all necessarily processed) by 

                  February 2011 for FY 2011.  With four months left in the year and 

                  an average of 770 permits issued, it's fair to assume FY 2011 will yield 

                  about 9,904.  A 7% increase in the number of applications demanding 

                  LPC staff energies and resources.

Council members Leroy Comrie (Chair, Land Use
Comm.) and Brad Lander (Chair, Subcommittee
on Landmarks) listen to the LPC's presentation.

LPC Chair Robert Tierney and Executive Director Kate Daly shared with the Land Use Committee, chaired by Council member Leroy Comrie, a laundry list of FY 2010 success stories (more designations in the outer boroughs this year than during any other in the agency's 45 year history) and 2011 goals (anticipated launch of publicly accessible informational database to increase the LPC's transparency and make info more readily available to the public).  All this was achieved on an already-tight budget.

LPC funding has recently been on the minds and lips of the city-wide preservation community, as the LPC proposed--and on March 8th approved--increases in the LPC's application fees.  Neither at past public hearings, when pressed by the public, nor today before the Land Use Committee did the LPC connect fee increases to the LPC's budget.

LPC Chair Robert Tierney and Exec. Dir. Kate Daly present
their Fiscal Year 2012 budget to the Land Use Committee.

Chair Tierney submitted a preliminary FY 2012 budget of $4,799,376.  That's an 8% drop from the FY 2011 budget of just over $5.23 million (as available via the Office of Management and Budget's website).  The LPC's designations only continue to expand the New York City landmarks family--indeed, the proposed West End Avenue historic district extensions to be heard by the Commission this year would add another 800+ buildings to their stewardship roster.

LW! testified before the Land Use Committee, stating our strong support of a well-funded LPC.  We directly recommended a budget increase of $1 million.  The Historic Districts Council appeared before the Land Use Committee as well, underscoring the minimal resources appropriated to the LPC and the immense volume of work set before it.  HDC Executive Director Simeon Bankoff urged the Committee to seriously consider a meaningful budget increase to the LPC, noting that other city agencies such as the Dept. of Information Technology and Telecommunications (also presenting their preliminary FY 2012 budget to the Land Use Committee) have budgets up to 100 times as large as that of the Landmarks Commission.  

Rounding out the public testimony portion of the hearing was Claudette Brady from the Bedford Corners Historic District Joint Block Association (located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn).  Her community, she reported, has become energized by the landmark possibilities.  The LPC's research department identified approximately 8,500 buildings in the neighborhood that merit landmark consideration, she continued.  While the all-volunteer group has secured the support of nearly all their elected officials, the fear that a reduction in LPC resources would lead to a loss of momentum is very real.

In the past, HDC noted, the City Council has been able to make increases to the tune of $500,000 to the LPC's budget.  That's 10% of their proposed FY 2012 budget.  Can the Land Use Committee and the City Council do it again?  Better yet, can they best themselves?  Stay tuned ...