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

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Press Release

For Immediate Release: March 2, 2021
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 will receive between $15,000 and $35,000 to make much needed repairs as well as hands-on assistance from LPC 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 grant recipients for fiscal year 2021 include three homeowners from historic districts in the Bronx and Brooklyn and two not-for-profit organizations, one in Brooklyn and one on Staten Island. Each recipient will receive between $15,000 and $35,000 to restore, repair or rehabilitate the facades of their buildings as well as hands-on technical assistance from LPC staff throughout the project.

"I am thrilled that this year's grant recipients will get the funding they need to restore their landmark buildings," said Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll. "Property owners are critical to the success of preservation and LPC's Historic Preservation Grant Program helps us support low to moderate-income homeowners and non-profit organizations in their preservation efforts and bring pride of place to these communities."

This year's grant recipients are as follows:

Homeowner Awards

273 Alexander Avenue, Bronx – Mott Haven Historic District: $15,000 matching grant awarded for the repair of the brownstone stoop and restoration of missing ironwork.

841 Manida Street, Bronx – Manida Street Historic District: $35,000 awarded for restoration of the brick façade.

386 Macon Street, Brooklyn – Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District: $30,000 awarded for restoration of the brownstone façade and stoop repair.

Non-Profit Awards

Casa Belvedere, 79 Howard Avenue, Staten Island – Individual Landmark: $35,000 matching grant awarded for the repair of existing historic wood windows and doors.

South Bushwick Reformed Church, 855 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn – Individual Landmark: $30,000 matching grant for the stabilization of the church's spire.

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.

In addition to funding, grant recipients receive help with preparing the contractor bid documents and selecting qualified contractors. LPC grant program staff makes site visits as work is underway and see the project through to completion.

"Historic districts play an important role in preserving and recognizing the contributions of neighborhoods during New York City's most formative years," said Council Member Rafael Salamanca, Chair of the Land Use Committee. "Last year, I was proud to work with Hunts Point homeowners and LPC to secure the designation of the Manida Street Historic District, the city's 150th historic designation. One of the benefits that comes with a neighborhood historic district is the ability for New Yorkers to take advantage of grants to facilitate exterior property renovations. I am thrilled to see LPC has awarded a $35,000 grant as part of the Historic Preservation Grant Program (HPGP) to a Manida Street homeowner to maintain the historic nature of their property, and the district as a whole. I thank LPC for their tireless efforts to preserve New York City's rich history."

"I feel so grateful and fortunate to have been selected for this opportunity," said Steven Toledo, homeowner of 841 Manida Street in the Manida Street Historic District, a 2021 grant recipient. "Without the support of LPC, we wouldn't have been able restore our home to its original beauty. I was born and raised in the Bronx and it is so special to be able to bring back some of the original beauty that our borough was known for."

"We are thrilled to receive one of the highest matching grants from the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, earmarked for refurbishing the historic windows of the 1908, Louis A. and Laura Stirn Mansion," said Gina Biancardi, President/Founder of Casa Belvedere, a 2021 non-profit grant recipient. "After a decade-long restoration, we are nearing the completion of restoring this significant landmark atop Grymes Hill, Staten Island with breathtaking views of NYC's harbor and the Verrazano Bridge. It's thanks to organizations like the LPC that significant sites, such as ours, can literally walk the halls of America's early 1900s history."

"As a grant recipient we were overjoyed!", said Reverend Sharon Codner-Walker of Stuyvesant Heights Christian Church in the Bedford Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, a past non-profit grant recipient. "We felt that our presence in this community mattered and we were not overlooked, forgotten or bypassed. Our hopes and joys were once again restored by the authentic caring and compassion wrought in the representatives of LPC who took us by the hand and walked with us in this process of restoration and revitalization. We will forever be in gratitude to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission."

The Historic Preservation Grant Program, established in 1977, 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. For more information on the grant program, visit LPC's Historic Preservation Grant Program webpage.

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 151 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. Learn more about LPC's Historic Preservation Grant Program and how to apply.

In addition to LPC's Historic Preservation Grant Program, the New York State Historic Preservation Office offers a tax credit program for rehabilitation of historic residential buildings. Buildings must be located in a qualifying census tract in order to qualify for the tax credit. LPC recently added a census tract layer to its Discover NYC Landmarks map to make it easier for people to determine whether an area or property is within an income-eligible census tract.