Kate Daly, Executive Director of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Kate Daly, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s Executive Director oversees all of the agency’s operations, including its budget and personnel. She plays an important role in shepherding properties through the landmarking process, from the initial stages through designation. She is pivotal in the outreach process to communities and property owners, meeting with and educating people about the responsibilities and benefits of landmarking.

Daly came to Landmarks in 2002 after completing her graduate degree in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania, where she wrote a thesis on the preservation of ruins at “sites of conscience,” including World War II internment camps, Pennsylvania’s Eastern State Penitentiary, and New York’s Tenement Museum. Daly earned an undergraduate degree in history from Cornell, which she followed with work in publishing and at human rights non-profits. She sought her graduate degree to better pursue a career related to her interest in history While studying at Penn she began in her professional career in preservation, working for the historic house trust, where she conducted surveys of historic buildings. (more…)

Steven Spinola, President of the Real Estate Board of New York

The Landmarks Law, enacted in 1965 to preserve the city’s architectural, historical and cultural resources, contains few standards about what merits designation and few rules governing the process.  This has resulted in broad brush designations that are of questionable significance and that are impeding the City’s larger planning, economic development, and housing efforts.  It is time to amend the Landmarks Law to bring designations more in line with other city policies, provide more timely information on potential designations, and earlier guidance on design options for historic districts.

The Law has enabled the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to protect a wide range of noteworthy properties, such as Grand Central Terminal and Lever House, as well as a collection of buildings that represent a distinct section of the city, such as Greenwich Village and Brooklyn Heights.  The Law has also been used to landmark properties that have no architectural or historical merits, such as vacant lots, parking lots, and significantly-altered buildings.  Needless to say, these are not properties of what the Law envisioned protecting when it was established nearly 50 years ago. (more…)

Rendering of original proposed reconstruction at site of Old St. Patrick’s Convent and Girls School.  Approved rendering not available.  Image Credit: LPC

Application affecting individual landmark would include the demolition of a 1950s extension and the construction of a glass brick townhouse. On October 8, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a proposed project for a portion of the 1966-designated Old St. Patrick’s Convent and Girls School.  The project site, located at the corner of Prince and Mott Streets in Manhattan, was originally built as an orphanage and was most recently used as school. The project proposes to demolish an addition to the building from 1950 which faces Mott Street, and build a new one-family townhouse. Additional extensions would be built on the roof of an 1860 extension, also facing Mott Street. The owners would also restore the orphanage building and convert it for residential use.

Monsignor Donald Sakano of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral testified that the school, which had long occupied the building, closed three years ago. He stated that the church intended to use the proceeds from the sale of the building to maintain and restore the church’s other historic structures. Sakano said the church would retain use of three stories in the former orphanage, primarily to further its work in adult education. Abby Hamlin, President of developer Hamlin Ventures, testified that the work proposed would include the “superb” restoration of the façade of the original 1826 orphanage building, while redeveloping the interior for residential use. She stated that the work constituted a “modest expansion” of the existing square footage, which is much less than what would be allowed as-of-right under the area’s zoning. (more…)

Rendering of proposed tower on 109 West 57th St, Manhattan. Image Credit: ShoP Architects, Courtesy of Historic Districts Council.

Applicants stated that a tower could be built as of right without the need to seek Landmarks’ approval, but the proposed plan would be more respectful toward the individual landmark. On October 1, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the proposal for the new development of a through-block site at 109 West 57th Street. The proposed residential tower, with commercial use on the lower stories, would occupy a vacant lot, as well as a portion of the adjacent lot where the individually landmarked Steinway Hall is located.  A portion of Steinway Hall’s first-floor interior was recently designated by Landmarks.

Michael Stern, Managing Partner of JDS Development Group, testified that it would be possible to build a tower that is as tall at the street front as of right. Instead, they presented an application to Landmarks that would overlap with landmarked site, but minimize the development’s visual impact on Steinway Hall. Stern said the fundamental question before Landmarks was “which configuration is the better and more appropriate plan.” Stern noted that JDS had endorsed the interior landmark designation, and that the new development would entail the “meticulous restoration” of Steinway Hall.

Higgins and Quaseberth consultant Bill Higgins said the developers intended to build a “dramatic vertical skyline building in direct juxtaposition with the landmark.”  Higgins said the proposal was “keeping with the spirit of New York City” and the “vertical instinct” of Manhattan development. (more…)

Mary Beth Betts

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Director of Research Mary Beth Betts supervises a staff of 12 that is responsible for the research and writing of designation reports, the review of requests for evaluation submitted to the Commission, and the conduct of surveys to identify buildings or districts worthy of designation. She is also involved in the environmental review process for major City projects, the identification of significant historic resources, and helps to educate the public about the City’s landmarks.

Betts has served the Commission for almost 14 years, after a career spent largely in academia and museums. She received her doctorate in architectural history from City University after obtaining her undergraduate degree in art history from the University of Virginia. The subject of her doctoral dissertation was Austrian-born architect Joseph Urban, whose work in the City includes the New School and the Hearst Building. She has taught architectural history at the Cooper Union, worked for the Brooklyn Museum, where she helped organize their archives, and served as curator of architecture for the New York Historical Society. She began serving the City in the mid-1980s through the Art Commission, where she worked in the archives and curated exhibitions. Betts applied to Landmarks after the preceding Director of Research, Marjorie Pearson, left the position in 1999, and has been at Landmarks ever since. (more…)