July 4, 2007

Dear Friend of LANDMARK WEST!:

Tell us what you really think. Don't hold back. We can take it. Checks and credit cards are accepted, words of praise and abuse embraced. Both forms of communication (financial and verbal) get their message across, loud and clear. And, like we said, we can take it. Really.

But, whatever you do, please don't ignore this letter. The Upper West Side—its historic architecture, that special sense of time and continuity you get just strolling down the blocks, past the buildings, along the paths in Central Park and Riverside Park—your neighborhood needs you! That is to say, LANDMARK WEST!, the only grassroots group single-mindedly devoted to preserving the unique physical character of our neighborhood, needs you. More than words can say.

Some interesting words have been used to describe LW! in recent years: Feisty. Nimble. Tenacious. The Taliban…! We jest not. A former Landmarks Commissioner invoked this term, offended by LW's persistent, resourceful, no-holds-barred advocacy to get the Landmarks Preservation Commission to do its job and hold public hearings on sites deserving landmark protection. Open, democratic, public hearings, in keeping with New York's Landmarks Law, on places that matter most to the people of our city. Obviously we touched a nerve. We must be doing something right.

Just a few weeks ago, we were proud to receive the Jesse Crawford Community Service Award from the Three Parks Independent Democrats on the same stage as Congressman Charles Rangel, who received the Ted Weiss Public Service Award, and Riverkeeper, which received the Three Parks Green Award—a nice acknowledgement of how our efforts are making a difference for the West Side and beyond. But even more important to us is knowing that we make a difference to you.

Each spring this letter goes out to LW's most loyal allies and supporters. We need to hear from you. And to facilitate your prompt response, a remittance envelope is at the top of this page. Donations are particularly necessary and welcome. So is your input on any of LW's vital programs and initiatives described below. Use this letter as your vehicle for telling us what's on your mind—fill in the blanks, fold the letter up, and stick it in the return envelope with your check. Please.

Here's what LW! is doing:

EDUCATING TOMORROW'S PRESERVATION LEADERS: Our school-based education program, Keeping the Past for the Future (KPF) is designed to foster within our city's young people, primarily in grades 1 to 5, a strong sense of engagement, ownership, and responsibility toward their community through learning about the built environment and its history. KPF's hands-on lessons support literacy, mathematical ability, analytic thinking, problem solving and creative thinking. Meanwhile, the program emphasizes the important role of historic preservation in sustaining the quality of life of our community for present and future generations. A LW! educator works directly with students and teachers in 3 to 5 sessions, one of which is always a neighborhood walking tour. During the 2006-2007 school year, KPF reached over 1,000 students in 40 classrooms and 8 schools on the Upper West Side—and at no cost to public schools in our neighborhood. Your financial support makes this possible!

This success, and the growing demand for KPF (now in its 10th year!), motivated us to hire our first, full-time, on-staff Director of Education, Elyse Newman. A graduate of Pratt's graduate program in Historic Preservation, Elyse has been working to make our youth education program even more central to our advocacy work. To see kids' faces light up when they learn to distinguish a dormer from a dentil, brick from brownstone, Art Deco from Renaissance Revival—it's priceless!

Give yourself a treat and click here to read one of 60 letters written by KPF students in response to a New York Times editorial on May 2, 2007, about the closing of the individual landmark Claremont Riding Academy (Frank A. Rooke, 1892) at 175 West 89th Street.

Please tell us if you'd like to learn more about this program and why it interests you (and if it doesn't interest you, tell us what we can do to make it hit a little closer to home).

PUBLIC PROGRAMS AND PUBLICATIONS: Even if you're no longer in the 5th grade, hopefully you've received news and participated in LW's many other public programs. (If you haven't been getting the word, please make sure you're on our email list by sending us your email address. Email saves us a bundle in printing and mailing costs (41 cents per piece - can you believe it?!).

Our public programs include walking tours, lectures, and workshops—in fact, we just
introduced a series of 1-day seminars on landmark nuts-and-bolts, geared especially towards real-estate professionals and attended by many others who just want to be informed.

Our recent workshops received such raves as "the best continuing education seminar I have ever attended" and "I think teaching brokers about art and architecture is not only educational, but also increases their (our) effectiveness." If you are interested in participating in our Fall 2007 workshops (approved for NYS continuing education credits for real-estate brokers), please email us. We'll send you more information. In addition, we regularly broadcast the latest news on preservation and development issues through our website, blog, email list, and newsletters.

Please email us with suggestions for future lecture/walking tour subjects!

LANDMARK ADVOCACY: Our Certificate of Appropriateness Committee—made up of architects, historians, preservationists, planners and other volunteers—helps LW! take consistently strong, informed, persuasive positions on timely preservation issues. Fortified by their expertise, LW! works as a liaison between local residents, businesses, and the government agencies whose decisions impact the shape of our neighborhood and our city. We recently mobilized Upper West Siders to fight the New-York Historical Society's proposal to radically alter the façade of its "Triple Landmark" on Central Park West. The plan finally approved by the Landmarks Commission was far less invasive than it might have been without LW's swift, sharp advocacy, working closely with the West Side community. And the 280-foot tower that the Historical Society has long coveted is still at bay. So far. For now. We are, and ever remain, in action mode. Stay tuned.

As advocates, we too often find ourselves in reactive mode. On the proactive side, we have hired the architectural and planning firm Weisz + Yoes to help us create a roadmap for future advocacy to protect one of New York's most valuable—and perennially threatened—historic resources, the skyline of Central Park West. This summer, W+Y will produce a full digital model of Central Park West and the adjacent middle blocks west to Columbus Avenue from 59th to 110th Street. This model, in conjunction with maps and other visual analyses including press-ready renderings, will serve as an invaluable, proactive tool for informing the community and government agencies, and for preserving the character and integrity of our neighborhood.

This project will cost $75,000 all told. We've already raised close to $65,000. If you would like to support this special project, please mail a check to:

LANDMARK WEST!
45 West 67th Street
New York, NY 10023

WISH LIST FOR LANDMARK DESIGNATION: And if officially designated landmarks require our vigilance and protection from those that eye them purely as "development
opportunities," the as-yet unofficial landmarks of the Upper West Side need us even more. Since 1985, LW! has maintained a Wish List of buildings and areas that we believe deserve designation as New York City Landmarks and Historic Districts. Spurred by our campaign, the Landmarks Commission designated 2 new Individual Landmarks, the New York Cab Company (on Amsterdam Avenue at 75th Street) and the Horn & Hardart Automat (on Broadway at 104th Street), and 1 new Historic District, Manhattan Avenue (between 104th and 106th Streets), bringing the total number of Upper West Side landmarks to nearly 2,700 (up from a mere 337 when LW! was founded in 1985)!

Send us nominations of buildings that you think should be added to LW's Wish List of future Upper West Side landmarks!

Please, make the most of this opportunity. Use the return envelope well.

Sincerely,

Arlene Simon, President
Kate Wood, Executive Director

P.S. The incomparable Dakota Apartments (1 West 72nd Street) will host LW! and friends for a benefit to support our preservation advocacy work on Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Mark your calendar, look for your "Save the Date" card in the mail, and contact us for more information, 212-496-8110,
landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org.