Brinckerhoff Cemetery. Credit: LPC

Property owners want to develop site; claim cemetery no longer contains human remains. On May 15, 2012, Landmarks held a public hearing on the potential designation of the Brinckerhoff Cemetery at 69-65 182nd Street in Fresh Meadows, Queens as an individual City landmark. Landmarks held a public hearing to consider the site in December 2000, but never voted on the proposed designation. The family cemetery is named for the Brinckerhoff family, who were among the first Dutch settlers in Queens. According to Landmarks, the cemetery was used from 1736 to 1872, and accommodated at least 76 burials. There are no visible grave markers, and it is unclear whether human remains are still buried at the site.

The City in the 1950s foreclosed on the cemetery site and sold it to Joseph DeDomenico. Problems arose when the DeDomenico family considered developing the property and it was discovered that the site had been used as a cemetery. In 1999, the Queens Historical Society and descendants of the Brinckerhoff family sued to reclaim the site, (more…)

Parks intends to preserve community gardens under its jurisdiction. There are more than 600 community gardens participating in the City’s GreenThumb Program. Since 2001, gardens on City-owned lots have been administered pursuant to practices memorialized in a 2002 agreement between the City and the State Attorney General’s Office, which expired on September 17, 2010. Prior to its expiration, the Department of Parks and Recreation published a new set of rules that codified and strengthened the agreement’s practices and established formal regulations for administering the 283 gardens under Parks’ jurisdiction.

The new rules require Parks to renew the license of any community garden as long as it satisfies the registration criteria. If a garden fails to comply with the registration criteria, or the garden is abandoned, Parks will attempt to identify a new group to take over the garden. The rules also increase Parks’ responsibility for identifying alternate garden sites in the event that an existing garden’s lot is transferred or developed. The 2002 agreement’s Garden Review Process required Parks to provide the garden’s representative with a list of available vacant City-owned land within a half-mile radius, if any existed. Under the new process, if no vacant lots are identified within a half-mile radius, Parks will extend its search to the entire community district. According to the new rule’s statement of purpose, Parks intends to preserve all active gardens that are in good standing. Parks will only apply the transfer provisions to abandoned or persistently noncomplying gardens and only if it has been unable to identify a new group to care for the garden. (more…)

Sunnyside homeowners would no longer need Planning Commission special permits. On February 13, 2008, the Planning Commission heard testimony regarding the Department of City Planning’s proposal to amend the zoning for a 16block area within Sunnyside Gardens. A planned community designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the 1920s to house work-ing-class families, architecture historians and preservationists have praised Sunnyside Gardens for its large landscaped courtyards and unique mixture of single- and multifamily buildings.

In 1974, the City zoned the area as a Special Planned Community Preservation District to protect its unique character. The preservation district’s zoning required property owners to apply to City Planning for a special permit before altering buildings or renovating landscaped areas. This special permit would, in turn, trigger the City’s lengthy land use review procedure. (more…)

The new historic district becomes the largest in Queens. On October 29, 2007, the City Council approved Landmarks’ proposal to designate Sunnyside Gardens, making it the seventh largest historic district in the city.

In June, Landmarks voted to designate Sunnyside Gardens despite it being zoned as a Special Planned Community Preservation District, which requires local homeowners to apply to the Planning Commisssion for a special permit before altering their building or landscaping. 4 CityLand 92 (July 15, 2007). Two months later, City Planning proposed a rezoning that would eliminate the special permit requirement and make Landmarks solely responsible for reviewing any plans that impact the area’s unique character. 4 CityLand 121 (Sept. 15, 2007). City Planning’s proposal has not yet reached the Council.

On October 9, 2007, the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses heard testimony regarding the designation. A small number of homeowners testified against it, arguing that complying with Landmarks’ rules would be too difficult, burdensome, and costly. Also testifying against designation, Ira Greenberg, Counsel for “Preserve Sunnyside Gardens,” cited his group’s concern that Landmarks would focus its efforts on Sunnyside Gardens’ buildings, not its open spaces and courtyard areas.

Landmarks Chair Robert B. Tierney, however, testified that Landmarks did not propose to designate Sunnyside Gardens solely because of its buildings’ architecture. Rather, Chair Tierney told the Council that the neighborhood’s history and “small, private courtyards and gardens,” combined with the “human-scale buildings,” compelled designation.

Landmarks also addressed concerns over preservation costs, testifying that it would work with the community to devise low-cost preservation methods. Landmarks further testified that the not-for-profit New York Landmarks Conservancy would provide homeowners with professional advice, and, in some cases, help secure grants and low-interest loans for preservation work. Chair Tierney also announced that Landmarks would hold regular “office hours” near Sunnyside Gardens so that residents could speak directly with Landmarks representatives.

Council Member Eric Gioia, whose district includes Sunnyside Gardens, read a statement in favor of designation, praising Landmarks for its commitment to preserving the area while accommodating the community’s concerns. Representatives from the American Institute of Architects, the Municipal Art Society and the Historic Districts Council, as well as a large number of residents, also testified in support.

The subcommittee’s chair, Council Member Jessica Lappin, acknowledged Landmarks’ efforts to make compliance more user-friendly for local residents. The subcommittee, and later the full Council, voted unanimously to approve designation.

Council: Sunnyside Gardens Historic District, Queens (Oct. 29, 2007).

Under proposal, Landmarks would be solely responsible for all permits to alter Sunnyside Gardens’ buildings. On August 20, 2007, the Planning Commission sent a proposal to Queens Community Board 2 and Borough President Helen Marshall that would make Landmarks solely responsible for all permits to alter buildings in Sunnyside Gardens, a planned community of single-family homes and apartments built in the 1920s.

Landmarks had voted in June 2007 to designate a 600-building historic district covering Sunnyside Gardens, which created a potential conflict with an existing section of the zoning text. 4 CityLand 92 (July 15, 2007). The City, in 1974, decided to protect the unique nature of Sunnyside Gardens by zoning it as a Special Planned Community Preservation District, and requiring all property owners to apply for a special permit to City Planning if they wanted to demolish or alter their building, or to change its landscaping. The special permit triggered the City’s land use review procedure, ULURP. (more…)