Mayor de Blasio announces a $50 million capital investment in the Brooklyn Museum. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office.

The art museum has served as a community gathering and support space. On November 22, 2021, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a $50 million capital investment in the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located on Eastern Parkway near Prospect Heights. (more…)

Frampton Tolbert. Image Credit: Historic Districts Council.

On March 2, 2022, the Historic Districts Council announced that Frampton Tolbert will be the next Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council. The Historic Districts Council advocates for the preservation of New York City’s historic neighborhoods and buildings. The appointment of Tolbert follows the departure of Simeon Bankoff, the previous Executive Director, last September, after 20 years at the helm. (more…)

Kenseth Armstead and Deborah Marton (pictured above) are the two new members of the NYC Public Design Commission. Image Credit: NYC Public Design Commission

Kenseth Armstead and Deborah Marton join the eleven member board. On November 5, 2020 Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed two new members, Deborah Matron and Kenseth Armstead, to the Public Design Commission. Both were approved by an overwhelming majority of the City Council. (more…)

Faith Rose of O’Neill Rose Architects is the new Executive Director of the Public Design Commission. Image credit: Office of the Mayor

Appointee previously served as Director of the Design Excellence program. On October 7, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Faith Rose to serve as Executive Director of the Public Design Commission. Ms. Rose, a licensed architect and partner at O’Neill Rose Architects, earned her Masters of Architecture from Yale University and comes to the Commission from the Department of Design and Construction. As Director of the Department’s Design Excellence program, Ms. Rose oversaw the renovation and expansion of the Queens Museum of Art, along with over two hundred other projects. Ms. Rose told CityLand via email “I look forward to working with Mayor de Blasio to harness the power of public architecture, landscape architecture and art to benefit all New Yorkers.”

Since 1898, the Public Design Commission has been responsible for reviewing the construction, renovation, and restoration of public buildings, and currently oversees the rehabilitation of City Hall. The Commission also designs, installs, and conserves public parks, playgrounds, and artworks, as well as serving as curator and caretaker of the City’s public art collection. The Commission is composed of eleven members, serving pro bono, and include an architect, landscape architect, painter, sculptor, and representatives from the Brooklyn Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the New York Public Library.

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…)