Fall in Love This Valentine's Day… with HDC's Events!

Keynote and Opening Reception

March 6, 2015 6:30 pm 

The Diana Center at Barnard College

3009 Broadway at 118th Street

Keynote Speaker: Jake Dobkin, co-founder and publisher of Gothamist
Today’s Youth and the Future of Landmarks
Jake Dobkin is a lifelong New Yorker  and the publisher of Gothamist, a city-centric blog that focuses on news, events, food, culture, and other local coverage. He writes the popular “Ask a Native New Yorker” feature, where he offers useful advice on neighborhoods, transit, culture, and the ever-important work of interacting with your fellow New Yorkers on a daily basis. He lives in Park Slope with his wife, two kids, and parents.

Plus the Preservation Fair!

Conference Panels:

Wednesday, March 11, 6:30PM

Eldridge Street Synagogue

12 Eldridge Street

Lower East Side

Barack Obama Slept Here: Recognizing Today’s Sites of Cultural Significance

More than simply celebrating architectural merit, New York City’s cultural landmarks proudly declare thatHistory Happened Here! Since the signing of the Landmarks Law, many buildings, both individually and as part of historic districts, have been recognized and protected for their cultural significance to the city. These sites, along with those that are still not officially recognized, speak to the vast history of nation-building, housing, social welfare, the arts, entertainment, and all the innumerable aspects of life which New Yorkers have pursued since the city’s founding. Author David Freeland will discuss those cultural sites which have been officially designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission since 1965. The panelists, including Marie Falgeul of 5Pointz, will then take on the conversation of what does recognition and preservation of these places look like moving forward. In an increasingly diversifying world, how do we best acknowledge and protect the significant places that speak to recently-arrived communities, historically-marginalized groups, and emerging cultural movements?

Wednesday, March 18, 6:30 PM

ShapeShifter Lab

18 Whitwell Place

Gowanus

Tomorrow’s Yesterdays: Historic Districts of the Future

When Brooklyn Heights was designated the very first New York City historic district in 1965, the architectural styles found there exemplified the types of buildings that the Landmark Preservation Commission saw as worthy of protection. While protecting classic federals and grand rowhouses has never gone out of style, over the past 50 years, the question of what types of buildings can be landmarked has slowly been re-examined. Beginning in 1973 with the designation of the SoHo Cast-Iron District, acceptance has slowly warmed to the potential diversity of historic districts, including with vernacular or industrial buildings. This panel will include a presentation of the evolution of historic districts by architectural historian Francis Morrone, before considering the issues of the present and future.  Panelist, including urban planner Paul Graziano and Gowanus advocate Marlene Donnelly will discuss potential historic districts, technological and bureaucratic  strategies  for looking ahead, and questions such as Can Gowanus ever be designated? and Is there a place for a historic district in suburban Queens?

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 PM

MoMA PS1

22-25 Jackson Avenue

Long Island City

Cocktails at the Post Office: Adaptive Reuse of Public Institutions

New York City possesses a treasure trove of historic institutional buildings of grand character, which add immeasurably to our neighborhoods throughout the boroughs. Unfortunately, as schools, hospitals, libraries, police stations, post offices, and military facilities age, require modernization, or close, hard questions are raised about the next lives of these local landmarks.  After looking at the history of these buildings and early examples of how some have been preserved and repurposed successfully, the discussion will focus on current and future projects that aim to reinvent these spaces to maintain not only their iconic and landmark facades, but also their valued place as a neighborhood anchors. Dr. Jeffrey Kroessler, HDC board member and historian will begin the panel with a look at the last 50 years of preservation and reuse before the discussion of the present and future is considered by panelists Joseph Coppola, principal at Dattner Architects and Naomi Hersson-Ringskog , Executive Director of No Longer Empty.

Conference Tours

1. Brooklyn Army Terminal: A Public Institution Transformed

-Saturday, March 7, 2015, 12PM

2. Village Institutions

-Saturday, March 21, 2015

3. Classical Culture at Carnegie Hall

-Saturday, March 28, 2015 11AM

4. DUMBO and Fulton Ferry

-Saturday, April 11, 2015, 11AM

5. Preserving West Chelsea                                                                                                               -Saturday April 18, 2015

For more information and to register for the tours click here 

A Rose for the Rose