ALERT: 4BNPA Proposes 3 Queens Preservationists for LPC
For Further Information: Robert Furman, chair of the Four Borough Corporation at 212-751-0038 or email at [email protected] and Councilmember Helen Sears at
(718) 803-6373.
The Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance Corporation, the legislative support arm of the principal other borough preservation organization, has nominated three prominent Queens preservationists to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. This is part of the citywide protest against the degradation of the LPC by Mayor Bloomberg. The three are the prominent architect Kevin Wolfe, Ivan Mracovcic, a preservation architect who also chairs Queens Community Board Nine, and the well-known community planner Paul Graziano.
At the confirmation hearings for the registered lobbyist and developer’s attorney Margery Perlmutter as a Landmark commissioner on May 24 before the City Council Rules Committee, Councilmember Helen Sears (D- Jackson Heights) protested that Ms. Perlmutter, a Manhattanite, would replace one of the two Queens commissioners. Manhattan has six members, Brooklyn two and the other boroughs one each. Mr. Tierney and Ms. Perlmutter are the only commissioners serving current terms—all the others’ terms have expired. Ms.
Sears nominated our choices, and this petition was received by LPC chair Robert Tierney.
Ms. Sears received an award from the Alliance for this bold action on September 21, 2006. Queens is the most under-landmarked borough in the city. It is the largest by area, the second highest by population but has only six historic districts. The Commission has resisted further designations. Proposed historic districts for Richmond Hill, Parkway Village, Bellcourt, Kew Gardens, Broadway-Flushing and Sunnyside Gardens await action.
An oversight hearing on Queens historic districts held on April 4 chaired by Council Landmarks Subcommittee Chair Jessica Lappin (D – Manhattan), Land Use Committee Chair Melinda Katz (D-Forest Hills), and attended by Queens delegation chair Leroy Comrie (D – St. Alban’s) and the executives of the Landmarks Commission resulted in an outpouring of support from local activists and demands for action.