|
 |
|
|
| Preserving Preservation: The Campaign to Restore the Effectiveness of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission | |||
In late November 2008, the New York State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation (CECPP), a coalition formed with LW’s instrumental help after the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s refusal to hold a public hearing for 2 Columbus Circle led to the building’s destruction. CECPP’s lawsuit challenged the Commission’s inaction on landmark nominations (Requests for Evaluation). This significant victory was the lead in the first of four investigative articles in The New York Times between November 26 and December 2, 2008, bookended by two Times editorials on October 18, 2008 and December 6, 2008. |
|||
|
|||
 More images of historic 2 Columbus Circle Recent press on 2 Columbus Circle 2 Columbus Circle Advocacy Archive |
“And we will probably be judged
not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.“ |
||
| ~ New York Times editorial on the demolition of Penn Station, 1963 | |||
In 2005, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), supported by Mayor Bloomberg, destroyed the white-marble façade of 2 Columbus Circle, an original work by architect Edward Durell Stone. |
|||
The New York Times wrote: “…dooming this building without a hearing is an enormous mistake, one that seriously erodes the Landmarks Preservation Commission's purpose and whatever political independence it has managed to
attain since it was first created.”
|
|||
| Read the full New York Times editorial | |||
How many more historic places will be lost before New York gets serious about preserving its landmarks? Click here for a photo gallery of historic places at risk now. |
|||
| Unless New Yorkers work together to help the Landmarks Commission… | |||
| *Ensure fairness, transparency and public accountability in its process, | |||
*Exercise political independence, and |
|||
| *Secure funding it needs to do its job | |||
…history will repeat itself again…and again. |
|||
Learn more! |
|||
| Recent and ongoing advocacy to restore the Landmarks Commission | |||
| Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation (CECPP) In May 2006, in the wake of 2 Columbus Circle and other losses citywide, CECPP was formed to focus attention on our city's landmark emergency and to implement a campaign to aggressively address the causes behind it. Visit www.savelpc.org. |
 |
||
| Preservation Campaign 2009 (check back soon!) Because of term limits, 2009 represents a watershed in city politics. We will be electing a new Mayor, Public Advocate, Comptroller, 4 Borough Presidents and dozens of new City Council members. The last time this happened was 2001 - click here to learn more about the 2001 Preservation Platform and related advocacy. |
|||
| Mayoral Breakfasts and Other Candidate Forums | |||
| For more than two decades, LW! has invited candidates to come speak with preservationists about ideas and plans for safeguarding New York City's historic places. Click here for links to sessions with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others. | |||
Preservation Lobby Days on the steps of City Hall |
|||
| In 2008, Mayor Bloomberg proposed a $300,000 budget cut to the Landmarks Preservation Commission - at a time when the Commission's workload is at an all-time high and historic places throughout the city hang in the balance. Preservationists flocked to the steps of City Hall for Preservation Lobby Days in 2007 and 2008. Click here for the Preservation Lobby Day 2007 Fact Sheet and here for a list of supporters. | |||
Women's City Club Report: Problems Experienced By Community Groups Working with the Landmarks Preservation Commission (2004) Click here for a copy of the full report, which led to a series of City Council oversight hearings on the Landmarks Commission in 2004 and 2005. |
|||
 |
|||
|
|||