NYC Landmarks Law and Regulation of Open Space

The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has jurisdiction over both buildings and landscape features on landmarks sites.   But the Commission rarely directly regulates changes to landscape features. For routine landscaping changes and in urban contexts, the landscape features are rarely a concern. In other cases the landscape takes on central importance. This is especially true where there where the existing landscaping and natural land features figure prominently in the beauty and importance of the site. In … <Read More>


Landmarks Names New Executive Director

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has named Sarah Carroll as its new Executive Director. As Executive Director, Carroll will oversee LPC’s research and preservation divisions and manage the Commission’s budget, operations, technology, staffing, communications, and public outreach. She will serve as primary advisor to the Chair in developing and implementing agency policies and strategic plans.


Landmarks Applies Double Standard for Townhouse Addition

A recent decision by the Landmarks Preservation Commission to approve a non-compliant addition to a building within an historic district has enraged residents who are held to stricter standards, and preservationists who see the floodgates opening to the deterioration of the historic districts on a broader scale.


Landmarks Does Not Approve New Building for NoHo Historic District Despite Revisions

Applicants take measures to ensure construction does not harm adjacent Merchant’s House. At a public meeting on February 11, 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission reviewed a revised proposal for a new building at 27 East 4th Street in the NoHo Historic District Extension.  The applicants returned with a revised plan following Commissioners’ comments at a public hearing on March 12, 2013 (Read Cityland past coverage here). 


Preserving the Past While Looking to the Future: LPC Executive Director Kate Daly on Community Outreach and Partnership, and her Career and Goals at Landmarks

 

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 … <Read More>


Proposed Reforms to Improve the Landmarks Preservation Commission

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 … <Read More>