E-bulletin- February Full of Fun!

In This Issue: 2015 Six to Celebrate Party- February 3 Secret Lives Tour:E.R. Butler & Co. Decorative Hardware- February 24 United to Save the Frick The 2015 Six to Celebrate!  Join HDC in celebrating the 2015 Six to Celebrate  and congratulating the 2014 Six to Celebrate on their accomplishments at the launch party! Date: February 3,2015 Location: Community Church of New York 40 East 35th Street – New York, NY 10016  Time: 6:00-8:00 PM   http://www.6tocelebrate.org/events/   Six to Celebrate identifies six historic New York City neighborhoods or institutions that merit preservation. They will be priorities for HDC’s advocacy and consultation over a yearlong period.   Crown Heights North, BrooklynThe architecture of Crown Heights North encompasses an astonishing variety of brownstones, rowhouses, wood frame structures, free-standing mansions and churches. The neighborhood has two historic districts, but despite the community’s best efforts, efforts to broaden the neighborhood’s protected areas have currently stalled. Over the next year, the Crown Heights North Association (CHNA) will focus on reviving their preservation campaign, as well as ensuring that this beautiful neighborhood will continue to have strong advocates for years to come.   East Harlem, ManhattanEast Harlem has a long history of settlement by immigrant populations. In the 1960’s, after a mass migration of Puerto Ricans to East Harlem, the neighborhood acquired the name “El Barrio.” Building on a long tradition in Latin American art, the painting of murals on East Harlem’s tenement buildings became a popular form of expression and storytelling. East Harlem Preservation, Inc., will showcase its neighborhood’s “buildings as canvases” tradition through public awareness and outreach and work to preserve and restore endangered community art.

Long Island City, QueensA new preservation group based in Long Island City called +Partners has formed to design, preserve, and catalyze the development of environments and places. Their inaugural project is an ongoing campaign to landmark the Long Island City Clock Tower, a beloved neighborhood anchor. They have recently launched a comprehensive survey of the industrial architecture of Long Island City, with plans to create a publicly-accessible internet resource to guide further preservation efforts.

South Street Seaport, ManhattanThe South Street Seaport is the oldest intact neighborhood in Manhattan. As the nation’s major port for over 100 years, its history is still anchored by the distinct sense of place created by its historic buildings, harbor views and tall ships. The Seaport faces major development pressures from the Howard Hughes Corporation, which would irreversibly and insensitively distort this character. HDC has partnered with Save Our Seaport Coalition (SOS) and Friends of the South Street Seaport (FOSS) to protect this unique district, from the 200-year old mercantile buildings to the Belgian block paving and soaring views of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Woodlawn Heights, The BronxWoodlawn Heights is a small residential neighborhood bordered by Van Cortlandt Park, Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx River and Westchester County. This historically Irish enclave is bisected by a bustling commercial thoroughfare that still exhibits its Irish flavor through long-standing small businesses and architectural flourishes like green trim and shamrock details. Current threats include the demolition and replacement of historic homes with out-of-scale and non-contextual development. Formed in 2014, the Women of Woodlawn count historic preservation as fundamental to their mission of enhancing local quality of life. They look forward to exploring and preserving the area’s rich history through education and outreach, encouraging tourism, and fostering good stewardship.

 

Landmarks under Consideration, CitywideIn November 2014, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced a plan to remove 96 previously considered sites and properties from its calendar. Although the agency chose not to take immediate action on the plan, there remain over 150 sites under consideration that are unprotected. Over the coming year, HDC will document, publicize and conduct community outreach for these sites to increase public awareness and gather support to move their designations forward, while simultaneously aiding the LPC in managing its backlog.

Support is provided in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Additional support is provided by City Councilmembers Margaret Chin,  Inez Dickens, Matthieu Eugene, Daniel Garodnick, Vincent Gentile, Corey Johnson, Ben Kallos, Stephen Levin, Mark Levine, and Rosie Mendez

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Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 5:00 PM

Join HDC for a tour of E.R. Butler & Co.’s beautiful Prince Street building and impressive decorative hardware showrooms.

Behind the doors of many of New York’s most architecturally stunning façades, are equally elegant interiors. E.R. Butler & Co. has been designing, creating and distributing fine architectural hardware and decorative furnishings in the spirit of 19th-century American craft since 1990. Their Manhattan showroom is located in the buildings which were once the home to the legendary Prince Street Works, the silver department of Tiffany & Co. Rhett Butler, founder of E.R. Butler, will guide the tour through the cast iron and brick building on Prince Street and into the showrooms which house an archive of more than 25,000 pieces.

$35 for Friends of HDC, students and seniors, $45 for general public

To register, please click here

http://hdc.org/featured/secret-lives-tour-e-r-butler-co-decorative-hardware

If you have any questions, please contact Brigid Harmon at [email protected] or 212-614-9107.
The exact meeting location will be emailed to registrants the week prior to the tour. Space is limited.

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Unite to Save the Frick is made up of concerned individuals and organizations from New York City, across the U.S. and around the world. We are architects and landscape architects, historians, design professionals, scholars, artists, authors, preservation advocates, art and museum critics, journalists, students, and members of the Frick Collection.

We unite to protect the Frick’s signature ensemble of elements from short-sighted destruction and to advocate for responsible modernization.

One Sunday in October, Unite to Save the Frick visited the Frick Museum’s East 70th Street Garden. As usual, many museum patrons and passersby were stopping to enjoy the serenity of the Russell Page’s garden artistry. When told of the Frick’s plan, people were shocked to learn that the Garden and Pavilion were under threat of destruction. In the video they shared their reactions to the plan.

Click here to learn more about the proposed plan for the Frick Museum http://unitetosavethefrick.org/fricksdesctructiveplan/

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