LPC Awards Five New Grants to Help Homeowners and Non-Profit Organizations Restore their Buildings

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Press Release

For Immediate Release: January 16, 2020
Contact: lpcpressoffice@lpc.nyc.gov, 212-669-7938

LPC Awards Five New Grants to Help Homeowners and Non-Profit Organizations Restore their Buildings

Each recipient, one in each borough, will receive between $10,000 and $35,000 to make much needed repairs and hands-on assistance from staff throughout the project.

New York – Today, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) announced that it has awarded five new grants through its Historic Preservation Grant Program to help low-to-moderate-income homeowners and non-profit organizations make much needed repairs to their landmark properties. The grants, funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG), are awarded based on the number of applications received and funding available, income eligibility and financial need, building conditions and repairs, and the effect the grant will have on improving the building and/or historic district.

"The LPC Historic Preservation Grant Program is a great resource that enables us to support homeowners and non-profit organizations," said Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll. "I am thrilled that this year's grant recipients, who represent all five boroughs, will get the funding they need to maintain their landmark buildings and bring pride of place to these communities."

The grant recipients for fiscal year 2020 include three homeowners and two not-for-profit organizations. Each recipient will receive between $10,000 and $35,000 to restore, repair or rehabilitate the facades of their buildings and hands-on technical assistance from staff throughout the project. Recipients receive help with preparing the contractor bid documents and selecting qualified contractors. Grant program staff makes site visits as work is underway and see the project through to completion.

529 47th Street, Brooklyn – Central Sunset Park Historic District: $35,000 awarded for repairing and recoating the brownstone stoop and bottom portion of the façade; repainting the iron work, cleaning the limestone at the upper floors, repainting the cornice, and repainting the parlor floor entrance door.

17 Marion Avenue, Staten Island – St. Paul's Avenue – Stapleton Heights Historic District: $35,000 awarded for replacing windows and repairing and repainting wood elements of the façade.

Homes for the Homeless, 734-36 Kelly Street, Bronx – Longwood Historic District: $35,000 matching grant awarded for restorative work at the façade, including repointing and repairing masonry and replacing doors.

34-37 84th Street, Queens – Jackson Heights Historic District: $15,000 awarded for replacing gutters at the primary façade and reconstructing the front steps.

Estonian Educational Society, 243 E 34th Street, Manhattan – Individual Landmark: $10,000 matching grant awarded for patching of limestone and terra cotta elements, and repairing balusters on the front façade.

Established in 1977, the Historic Preservation Grant Program has awarded more than $5.4 million assisting 177 homeowners and 147 not-for-profit organizations across the five boroughs. These grant awards have been used to help fund the cost of non-emergency restoration work, including masonry rebuilding and repointing, restoration of façades, sills, lintels and roofs, paint removal, stoop repair, and repair and replacement of windows, cornices, and front doors.

"I am so pleased to have received a $34,000 grant to fix my home," said homeowner Catherine Bridges, a past grant recipient from the St. George/New Brighton Historic District. "My house is everything to me. It's my safety net. This saved me."

"I have been the recipient of compliments from all my neighbors who rave at the transformation that this house has gone through," said homeowner Ah Ling Neu, a past grant recipient from the Fort Greene Historic District. "This would not have happened were it not for the generous funding and the most helpful guidance given by the Landmarks [Preservation] Commission, which offered professional advice and encouragement throughout the process."

"The generous grant we received from the Landmarks Preservation Commission allowed us to put the finishing touches on a major exterior restoration project of our historic headquarters on the Lower East Side, allowing us to restore the building's highly decorative original cast and wrought iron railings from the 1830s," said Renee Epps, Chief Officer of Facilities for Henry Street Settlement, a past non-profit grant recipient. "Henry Street takes seriously its responsibility to steward our historic buildings and is grateful for the support of the Commission in doing so. This funding enabled us to engage the craftspeople at Spirit Ironworks, who restored these railings to their exquisite beauty and uncovered details that had been lost to time."

In order to receive grant funding, applicants need to be located in an income-eligible census tract. As part of its grant program outreach, LPC has been partnering with elected officials and community groups to host information sessions in eligible communities. During the past year, the agency has hosted events in the Ridgewood and Stockholm Street historic districts in Queens, Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Brooklyn, and St. Nicholas, Central Harlem West 130th-132nd Street, and Mount Morris Park and Extension historic districts in Manhattan. This year, outreach begins tonight in Sunset Park, where LPC recently designated four historic districts.
Since the grant program is federally funded, in light of the upcoming 2020 Census, LPC will be encouraging communities to participate in the upcoming 2020 Census to help ensure everyone gets counted because this information could impact the amount of federal funding the City receives for programs like this.

About the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is the mayoral agency responsible for protecting and preserving New York City's architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings and sites. Since its creation in 1965, LPC has granted landmark status to more than 37,000 buildings and sites, including 1,439 individual landmarks, 120 interior landmarks, 11 scenic landmarks, and 149 historic districts and extensions in all five boroughs. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/landmarks and connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCLandmarks and www.twitter.com/nyclandmarks.