Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz, one of the three sites calendared by LPC on January 19th. Image Credit: LPC
Support for landmarking included a push for further preservation of the area south of Union Square. On March 23, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held public hearings on two proposed landmarks located in Manhattan. The Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz at 715 West 179th Street in Washington Heights and the Educational Building at 70 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village were two landmarks originally calendared as part of the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s new Equity Framework. The Equity Framework highlights the agency’s efforts for landmark designations that represent the city’s diverse and inclusive history. For CityLand’s prior coverage of the Equity Framework and calendaring, click here. (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…)
