Communities & Cornices:
Preservation in a political world
Preservation conference 2009

The 2009 Preservation Conference was inspired by the upcoming municipal elections and the power of civic engagement to effect real change on a neighborhood level. The Conference will examine this partnership between community-based civic organizations and elected officials to highlight the strategies and benefits of working together. Additionally, we will examine the importance of legislation in effective preservation efforts. Looking at city, state and federal laws, speakers will discuss the success of several types of regulations.

A distinguished group of preservationists, planners, elected officials, government-agency representatives, educators and community advocates from across New York City’s five boroughs will address these issues. The Conference will consist of two panel discussions, “Preservation Tools: The Importance of Legislation and Regulations” and “Partnerships and Preservation: Working with Your Elected Officials.” These important discussions will help establish a foundation upon which the neighborhood advocates in attendance can base their future grassroots campaigns.

Additionally, all current candidates running for the Office of Mayor of the City of New York have been invited to attend the conference and present their land-use and preservation platforms. Each candidate will be given 20 minutes to speak, followed by questions from the audience. Candidate appearances will be interspersed throughout the day.

The Historic Districts Council is New York City’s only citywide grassroots advocate for historic buildings and neighborhoods. Since 1971 we have been committed to preserving New York’s rich architectural and historical heritage, working with communities to landmark and otherwise protect significant neighborhoods and structures, as well as helping already designated historic communities to understand and uphold the city’s Landmarks Law.

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Opening Night Reception

Friday, March 6, 2009
6:00-8:00pm
The Puffin Room
435 Broome Street, Between Broadway and Crosby
Manhattan

For this year's Opening Night Reception HDC welcomes guests to the Puffin Room, an independent art gallery located within the SoHo-Cast Iron District. In addition to refreshments and good preservation-minded conversation, this festive kick-off event will also feature presentations on proposed historic districts across the city. Come meet fellow neighborhood advocates and learn about their efforts.

Click image to enlarge

 

Conference Panels

 

Saturday, March 7, 2009
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at East 103rd Street
Manhattan

8:30-9:30am
REGISTRATION AND COFFEE

OPENING REMARKS, Simeon Bankoff, executive director, Historic Districts Council *listen to the audio here*

9:30am-10:45am
A HISTORY OF CIVIC ENGAGEMENT IN NEW YORK
Keynote Address by Dick Dadey, executive director, Citizens Union of the City of New York

Civic engagement is an integral part of good-government practice. Preservation efforts are more successful when citizens are actively involved in the community and informed about city government.
This year, Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, will discuss and take questions on the importance civic engagement and the impact good government can have on moving city issues forward. He will discuss the history of citizen involvement in New York, including watershed movements of change directly attributed to the efforts of New Yorkers. Attendees will also lean about ways to create, impact and reform public policies affecting the City and its constituents. The Citizens Union has been in existence since 1897 as an independent, non-partisan civic organization of members that promote good government and advance political reform in the city and state of New York.

 

**Click here to view Mr. Dadey's powerpoint presentation **

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

 

photo: Jesse A. Ward

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11:00-11:30am, 2:30-3:00pm, 4:30-5:00pm
MAYORAL CANDIDATE REMARKS

Throughout the Conference, candidates for Mayor have been invited to speak on their platform and their ideas for land-use and community preservation in New York City. After the candidates address the Conference, there will be a question-and-answer period.

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photos: Jesse A. Ward

 

11:30am-1:00pm
PARTNERSHIPS AND PRESERVATION: WORKING WITH ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES

Anyone who has launched a community-based campaign knows that political support is a vital component for success. Efforts opposed by elected representatives face an uphill battle that, while not impossible to overcome, can be quite difficult to maneuver. To ensure the victory of their cause, advocates must facilitate working relationships with their elected officials and municipal agencies. When effectively crafted and publicized, these partnerships help foster a political will that is essential to moving a campaign forward from distant hope to achievable reality

This panel will feature a discussion with Assemblymember James F. Brennan, 44th Assembly District and chairman of the Cities Committees; John Sabini, former New York State Senator (13th District), former New York City Councilmember (25th District) and chair of the Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses; and Nellie Longsworth, past president of Preservation Action, a national advocacy organization.

 

photo: Jesse A. Ward

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

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1:00-1:30pm
MAYORAL CANDIDATE REMARKS

Councilmember Tony Avella
photo: Jesse A. Ward

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

 

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1:30-2:30pm
LUNCH

Explore the current exhibitions at the Museum of the City of New York and nearby cultural establishments. Museum admission is included for conference attendees. A list of local eating establishments will be provided.

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2:30-3:00pm
MAYORAL CANDIDATE REMARKS

 

Bill Talen, "Reverend Billy"
photo: Jesse A. Ward

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

 

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3:00-4:30pm
PRESERVATION TOOLS: THE IMPORTANCE OF LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS
Land-use and environmental laws are crucial to understanding and benefiting from preservation. It is imperative that the preservation community develop a comprehensive knowledge of the laws and regulations that will affect their efforts, both through the proper utilization of existing laws as well as the ability to craft new, improved legislation. Speakers on this panel will address a variety of existing laws that can help Conference attendees better understand how to press their campaigns and share past successes in the environmental, preservation and conservation fields.

A diverse group of panelists including, Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel, National Trust for Historic Preservation and Mark Silberman, chief counsel, New York Landmarks Preservation Commission

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

 photo: Jesse A. Ward

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4:30-5:00pm
MAYORAL CANDIDATE REMARKS

Representative Anthony Weiner
photo: Jesse A. Ward

(( LISTEN TO THE AUDIO RECORDING ))

5:00-6:00pm
CLOSING RECEPTION

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Walking Tours

Sunday, March 8, 2009
Meeting times, locations and directions for the tours will be provided upon registration. Tours generally start between 10:00am and 1:00pm and last approximately two hours.

All Walking Tours are $25 per person.

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BROOKLYN HEIGHTS: THE DESIGNATION HEARD ROUND THE NATION
Brooklyn Heights was the first historic district designated in New York City after the passage of the 1965 Landmarks Law. But the success of this district did not occur without the dedicated efforts of local residents in the preceding decades. Tourgoers will explore this incredibly intact neighborhood that was protected with the creation of the historic district. They will also hear about some of the buildings lost during the campaign.

 

 

 

 

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STATEN ISLAND’S FIRST CIVIC CENTER: HISTORIC RICHMOND TOWN
Historic Richmond Town is a living-history village and museum complex on Staten Island. It is also noteworthy as being the civic center of Richmond County before it became an official New York City borough in1898. From the 1700s through the late 1890s, all municipal functions on Staten Island were centered in Richmond Town. Hear about the development of this remarkable community and tour some of the remaining civic structures, including the landmarked Third County Courthouse and the County Clerk’s and Surrogate’s Office.
- Photo courtesy of the Staten Island Historical Society.

 

 

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HEART OF THE METROPOLIS: MANHATTAN’S CIVIC CENTER
Join Joseph Svehlak to learn about the rich history of the area around Manhattan’s City Hall. Highlights include the former Newspaper Row, numerous courthouse buildings, the Municipal Building and other existing government-related structures throughout Lower Manhattan. Although many of these structures are designated landmarks, the area is in the midst of enormous change as this commercial and government hub is becomes more and more residential.

 

 

 

 

Photos from the tour:

Click image to enlarge

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BOHEMIAN MELTING POT: THE SOUTH VILLAGE
Visit this historic yet unprotected link to New York's immigrant and bohemian past. Largely surrounded by designated historic districts, the South Village includes a vast array of tenements of nearly every style and type, prominent religious structures and social institutions. Although some
alterations have occurred, the neighborhood remains a vital link to New York's immigrant past and to its artistic and countercultural avant-garde from the 1890s to the 1960s. Hear about the current efforts to gain historic district status for the area and how the designation process works. This tour will be led by Andrew Berman and co-sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos from the tour:

Click image to enlarge

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BEAUX-ARTS BRONX: THE HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS AT BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Join tourleader Howard Charles Yourow, SJD, and visit the original Hall of Fame in the United States, right here in The Bronx! Designed by the eminent Gilded Age architect Stanford White, dedicated in 1901, and originally the Uptown, or University Heights, campus of New York University, the Hall of Fame is an open-air colonnade of 102 bronze busts – the most distinguished assemblage in the nation – honoring prominent Americans significant in the evolution of the country. Attendees will also visit the classical adjoining buildings of the Hall of Fame complex, including the Pantheon-inspired Gould Memorial Library, the Hall of Languages, and the Cornelius Baker Hall of Philosophy.
- Photo courtesy of Danielle Jean-Marie, Bronx Community College

 

 

Photos from the tour:

Click image to enlarge

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URBAN VILLAGE IN THE BIG CITY: QUEENS’ KEW GARDENS
Tour this picturesque suburban style community of Tudor Revival style stores and apartments, garden-style buildings and single-family houses in styles ranging from Tudor to Georgian. In addition to catering to businessmen who flocked to the neighborhood, attracted by the 16-minute train ride to Pennsylvania Station, Kew Gardens became the home of an artistic and intellectual set in the 1910s and 1920s that included such notables as Charlie Chaplin, Anais Nin, George Gershwin and Ralph Bunche. This tour, co-sponsored by the Kew Gardens Civic Association, will end at Queens’ modern-day civic center, Queens Borough Hall, which borders the Kew Gardens neighborhood.

click here to see photos from the tour

 

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PANELIST INFORMATION:

James F. Brennan, Assemblymember, 44th District, chairman of the Cities Committees
Dick Dadey, executive director, Citizen's Union
Nellie Longsworth, Preservation Action past president
Elizabeth Merritt, deputy general counsel, National Trust for Historic Preservation
John Sabini, former NY State Senator (13th District)
Mark Silberman, chief Counsel, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission

 

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CONFERENCE AUDIO RECORDINGS

Click the links below to listen to selections from the 2009 Preservation Conference!

Mayoral Candidate Remarks
• Council Member Tony Avella
• "Reverend" Bill Talen
• Representative Anthony Weiner

Conference Panels
• Opening Remarks, Simeon Bankoff, HDC executive director
• Keynote - Dick Dadey
• Panel 1: Partnerships and Preservation: Working with Elected Representatives
• Panel 2: Preservation Tools: The Importance of Legislation and Regulation

 

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