Landmarks unanimously designated despite community controversy. On June 26, 2007, Landmarks voted to designate Sunnyside Gardens, Sunnyside, Queens, as a historic district. A planned community designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the 1920s to house working class families, Sunnyside Gardens’ distinctive characteristics include its large landscaped courtyards and its mixture of single- and multi-family buildings. It was one of the first planned communities built by a private limited-dividend corporation, and, as a non-car dependant suburb, boasted accessible public transportation and commercial establishments within walking distance. 4 CityLand 44 (April 15, 2007).
At the designation hearing, residents voiced strong opinions both in support and in opposition to landmarking. Some alleged that the controversy had led to spying and harassment between members of the community. Many residents argued that the City already adequately protected the buildings and landscaping by its zoning as a Special Planning Community Preservation District, while others argued that the zoning imposed an unnecessary burden, or did not sufficiently protect the community. 4 CityLand 59 (May 15, 2007). (more…)
Opposing sides report neighborhood friction, allegations of spying and harassment. On April 17, 2007, in front of an audience exceeding the hearing room’s capacity, Landmarks heard testimony on the potential designation of a Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. Sunnyside Gardens, a planned community built between 1924 and 1928, features a mixture of single-, double-, and multi-family dwellings arranged around large, landscaped open courtyards. Funded by a limited dividend company, the development provided high-quality housing for the working class. 4 CityLand 44 (April 15, 2007).
The area’s buildings and landscaping are currently protected by its status as a Special Planning Community Preservation District under the City’s zoning resolution. Under the text, any demolition, construction or enlargement of a structure within Sunnyside Gardens or any change to the landscaping requires a special permit from the Planning Commission, and triggers the full ULURP review process. (more…)
- Built in the 1920s, Sunnyside Gardens influenced housing development throughout the country. Photo: LPC.
Idealistic planned suburban housing to be considered as historic district. On March 6, 2007, Landmarks voted to consider the potential designation of Sunnyside Gardens, a 600-building complex of one- and two-family homes and multi-family apartment buildings built between 1924 and 1928 in Sunnyside, Queens. Covering almost 16 blocks, only 28 percent of the site contains buildings, and much of the housing is built around large landscaped courtyards. Landmarks also included Sunnyside Park and the Phipps Garden Apartment buildings, added in the early 1930s, within the district’s boundaries.
Designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright and developed by the City Housing Corporation, Sunnyside Gardens was the first development to incorporate the planning theories of the Residential Planning Association of America, a progressive planning organization formed by Stein to respond to the nation’s housing crisis and the lack of quality low-income housing. An RPAA member, Alexander Bing, formed the City Housing Corporation as a limited dividend corporation to show that quality lowincome housing could be built while providing a guaranteed six percent return to investors. As one of the first low-density housing projects constructed around significant landscaped open space and designed for the working class, Sunnyside Gardens influenced regional planning throughout the United States. (more…)
Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race or class. (more…)
The Ford Amphitheater sits on the former site of a garden. Image Credit: Molly Kaszuba
City-owned land was used as an unlicensed community garden. The City of New York owns a parcel of real property at 3052 West 21st Street along the Coney Island Boardwalk. Between 1997 and 2004 the City licensed the site as community garden under the City’s “Green Thumb” program. In 1999 the City terminated the garden’s license in order to develop the site into a parking lot for a minor league baseball stadium. The City relicensed the garden in 2000 and 2003 following litigation stemming from the 1999 license termination. The City entered into a settlement agreement with the community garden in which the community garden expressly recognized that the site was not dedicated parkland. (more…)
