Landmarks Chair Sarah Carroll. Image Credit: LPC.
On August 15, 2025, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced that Landmarks Chair Sarah Carroll will retire after 31 years with the agency.
Carroll joined Landmarks in 1994 as the agency’s Public Information Officer. She also served as a Landmarks Preservationist, Director of Preservation, Executive Director, and then became Landmarks Commission Chair in 2018. She was the first Landmarks staff to be appointed as the head of the agency.
Through her time in charge of Landmarks, Carroll oversaw the launch of the agency’s Equity Framework, which aims to highlight and protect the city’s diverse history through landmark designations to represent underserved and underrepresented populations among the agency’s additional preservation work. The framework simultaneously promotes transparency and accessibility through improvements in the agency’s e-filing process and other regulatory work. During her time as Landmarks Chair, the agency pushed for more research and designations in the Bronx, the designation of multiple LGTBQ+ landmarks citywide, and included “firsts” like the city’s first landmark honoring Indigenous peoples and Chinese American history and contributions to America.
Landmarks Chair Carroll stated, “I am immensely proud of the work the agency and I have done to shape the City of New York’s built environment during my 31 years at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, through designations – especially of places that reflect the full diversity of New York City – and through our regulatory work, in preserving important historic places while also fostering new and innovative design that responds to the historic context.I take great pride in what we have done to make LPC’s regulatory process both faster and easier to navigate for property owners, and am deeply grateful to LPC’s Commissioners and talented staff, whose expertise and dedication have been instrumental in these achievements.”
Mayor Eric Adams stated, “Chair Sarah Carroll has been a champion for preservation, leading our Landmarks Preservation Commission for over seven years with vision and dedication. When our administration reappointed Sarah in August 2022, we knew that she would protect the more than 38,000 architecturally-, historically-, and culturally-significant sites across all five boroughs. Sarah’s passion for our city’s buildings and communities is evident in her legacy: making our landmark process more transparent, prioritizing designations that represent our city’s great diversity, preserving dozens of critical elements of our cultural heritage, and playing a pivotal role in shaping a more sustainable, resilient, and vibrant New York City for all. We wish Sarah nothing but the best in her future endeavors, and we thank her for her years of service to our city.”
The Commission’s Vice Chair Angie Master will lead Landmarks hearings and meetings going forward until a new appointment can be made.
By: Veronica Rose (Veronica is the Editor of CityLand and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2018.)