NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

August/September 2023

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August/September 2023 Newsletter

Inside This Issue

LPC Calendars Two Sites in the Bronx

Adams Administration Announces Plan to Convert Vacant Office Space to Housing

Advancing the Conversation on Protecting NYC’s Vulnerable Historic Buildings

Commemorating the March on Washington’s Harlem Headquarters

Celebrating Community at the 2023 National Night Out Against Crime

LPC Visits Governors Island Historic District for Staff and Commissioners’ Retreat

LPC’s 2023 Summer Interns

Meet LPC’s 2023 Placzek Fellow, Jerry Schmit

LPC Calendars Two Sites in the Bronx

Joseph Rodman Drake Park and

Enslaved African Burial Ground

Old Croton Aqueduct Walk

The Bronx was a focus for the LPC once again this month, as the Commission voted unanimously on August 15th to calendar two sites as an individual landmark and scenic landmark in the borough:

Joseph Rodman Drake Park and Enslaved African Burial Ground, which contains two colonial-era cemeteries: one for those descended from the area’s early settler families, and another for people enslaved by these families. Those buried in the enslaved people’s cemetery are anonymous and the burial site was largely forgotten until recent years.

Old Croton Aqueduct Walk is a public walkway built on top of the Old Croton Aqueduct, an engineering marvel constructed in 1842 that brought the first direct water supply to New York City. The walkway quickly became a popular attraction for local residents, including author Edgar Allen Poe, and officially became a NYC Park in 1930.

Check out some of the coverage of these two calendared sites in the Amsterdam News and on News12 The Bronx.

Adams Administration Announces Plan to Convert Vacant Office Space to Housing

On August 17th, LPC Chair Sarah Carroll joined Mayor Eric Adams, Department of City Planning Director Dan Garodnick, and other City leaders to announce a 3-step plan to streamline the process of converting vacant office space to create much needed housing for New Yorkers as part of the Administration’s “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity.” As laid out in the proposal, LPC will partner with other City agencies to create a new Office Conversions Accelerator to centralize resources and expedite office-to-housing projects.

LPC is proud to serve as part of the team working to create more housing for New Yorkers, and excited for the opportunity to show the integral role preservation can play in the City’s long-term housing solution.

You can read more information about the Administration’s proposal here.

Advancing the Conversation on Protecting NYC’s Vulnerable Historic Buildings

On September 5th, LPC Deputy Counsel John Weiss joined the Municipal Arts Society of New York (MAS) and the Historic Districts Council, along with fellow panelists from Save Harlem Now!, Landmarks Conservancy, and Robert Silman Associates, for an important discussion on protecting New York City’s vulnerable buildings. As the sold-out crowd that filled Sixth Street Community Center made clear, this is topic of critical importance, and we were pleased to be a part of such a thoughtful event.

Enhanced community and educational outreach are an important part of LPC’s ongoing commitment to strengthening the protection of at-risk historic buildings as part of the administration’s Vulnerable Buildings Action Plan, so be on the lookout for more events like these in the months ahead.

Commemorating the March on Washington’s Harlem Headquarters

This month marked the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington – but did you know that its leaders planned the historic event from their headquarters located right here in New York City? On August 28th, LPC’s Executive Director Lisa Kersavage joined Mayor Adams, State Senator Cordell Cleare, and Save Harlem Now! to commemorate the anniversary and unveil a special plaque at the site of the March on Washington’s headquarters at 170 West 130th Street, which is part of the Central Harlem–West 130th-132nd Streets Historic District designated by LPC in 2018.

LPC was honored to take part in this special day of remembrance and celebrate the important role this site played in the Civil Rights movement. You can read more coverage of the event in Harlem World Magazine.

Celebrating Community at the 2023 National Night Out Against Crime

Great food, live music – and a truly amazing community! On August 1st, LPC Chair Sarah Carroll and LPC staff were thrilled to join the 108th Precinct and Commanding Officer Captain Tony Wong, along with local leaders including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Council Member Julie Won, Assembly Member Juan Ardila, and members of Queens Community Board 2 for the 2023 National Night Out Against Crime. The celebration is an annual community-building event that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, more caring places to live. The night was a huge success and a lot of fun, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s festivities.

LPC Visits Governors Island Historic District for Staff and Commissioners’ Retreat

While Governors Island Historic District is an amazing place to visit all year round, it’s an extra bonus when you get picture-perfect weather, as we did for LPC’s staff and Commissioners’ retreat in August. The Trust for Governors Island staff gave the LPC staff and Commissioners an in-depth tour of this special historic district, including an overview of the amazing efforts to reuse, restore and renovate the historic buildings that will inspire future uses and restoration, and their connection to the new Center for Climate Solutions envisioned for the island’s south end.

Looking to plan your own visit? More information can be found on Governors Island's website

LPC’s 2023 Summer Interns

New York City continues to invest in its youth by creating opportunities for them to learn new skills and explore career possibilities through paid summer internships, and LPC was lucky to be joined this summer by an incredible group of interns. LPC’s summer interns spent the past few months learning about the Commission’s work, helping digitize LPC’s photo library, and working with artifacts from the NYC Archaeological Repository’s collection. We loved having them with us, and look forward to seeing all that they accomplish in the future!

Photo 1: (L-R) Sonja Aibel, Veronica Smolinski, LPC Chair Sarah Carroll, Miranda Asaro, Rahul Sarker

Photo 2: (L-R) Emily Tenaglia, Teresa Figueiras, Jeanwon Kim

Meet LPC’s 2023 Placzek Fellow, Jerry Schmit

The Commission was excited to welcome Jerry Schmit to the team this summer as LPC’s 2023 Placzek Fellow. As part of his fellowship, Jerry spent eight weeks partnering with LPC’s Preservation and Research departments on special projects, including work supplementing and enhancing the agency’s dataset on existing landmark buildings and sites. We asked Jerry to tell us more about his experience:

What drew you to apply for the Placzek Fellowship?

When I read the handout describing the 2023 Placzek Fellowship, I felt there was a lot of resonance with my professional aspirations and interests. I have been considering adaptive reuse of historic buildings as one of my thesis topics. The Placzek Fellowship was appealing as it seemed to offer a deeper dive into a specific area of this subject.

Favorite aspect of the fellowship experience:

One of my favorite aspects of the fellowship experience has been the ability to listen in on the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s Public Hearings. I was fascinated to see the types of proposals introduced to some of the historic fabrics in New York and equally intrigued by the insightful feedback given to these by the Commission.

The Placzek Fellowship is a paid eight-week position sponsored by the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation (NYLPF). The summer fellowship is open to graduate degree candidates in historic preservation, architecture, urban planning, architectural history, or a related field.

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