Tuesday, November 10, 2026
6:00 – 9:00 PM
St. Bartholomew’s Church
325 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022
As it has for more than 20 years, the Historic Districts Council honors a special New Yorker who has made a particularly significant contribution to the celebration and preservation of New York City. This year, HDC is delighted to present the 2026 Landmarks Lion Award to Carol Clark and Franny Eberhart, two luminaries in New York City’s preservation movement at our fall gala. Read more about them below!
Carol Clark
Carol Clark is known across New York City and State for her involvement in almost every aspect of the preservation movement—leading numerous organizations, serving for years at government agencies, and nurturing generations of new preservation advocates.
Earning an MS in Historic Preservation from Columbia, Carol’s early career included acting as Director of the Planning Center at the Municipal Art Society and working at the New York Landmarks Conservancy. During her time at the Conservancy, the organization created some of its signature initiatives including the Historic Properties Fund, Easements, and Sacred Sites Programs. She also previously served as President of the Brooklyn Historical Society and Executive Director of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter.
Working for municipal and state agencies has also been a hallmark of her career, holding positions at the New York City Departments of City Planning, Housing Preservation and Development, and Design and Construction. From 2012-2015, she was a Deputy Commissioner in the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. In 2020, Carol was appointed by the Governor to serve as a Member of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation, which considers nominations to the New York State and National Registers of Historic Preservation.
Education and mentorship have been a key piece of her legacy since beginning to teach graduate students in 1981. She is an Adjunct Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and at NYU’s School of Professional Studies. She was a member of the faculty for over 40 years at Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture. She has taught numerous courses on neighborhood preservation, planning, zoning, and preservation law and policy to hundreds of students, many of whom now populate New York preservation field.
Carol has received the George McAneny Award for Unsung Preservation Leadership from the New York Preservation Archive Project, and the Preservation Leadership Award from Columbia University’s Preservation Alumni, as well as an Award for Teaching Excellence from New York University.
Franny Eberhart
Franny Eberhart has been an unsung leader, involved in nurturing and growing numerous preservation organizations that advocate for our city’s architectural and historical places.
A graduate of Columbia University’s historic preservation program, she first worked in public affairs at the New York Landmarks Conservancy, helping to successfully stave off a change to the New York City Charter to exempt houses of worship from being designated. While at the Conservancy, she initiated a survey of religious properties providing a basis of the survey work the Conservancy continues today. She also became a recognized expert in the New York City Landmarks Law’s hardship provision through her work fighting the proposed demolition of St. Bart’s Community House.
Subsequently she joined the Historic Districts Council (HDC) as its first paid Executive Director, leading the grassroots group from 1992 to 1998. In this role, she helped professionalize HDC, which had started as an all-volunteer committee of the Municipal Art Society as it spun off into its own fully-fledged organization. After leaving this role, she has remained involved with HDC as a member of its board of directors and advisers for almost 30 years.
At Friends of the Upper East Side, the organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the architecture, history, and livability of that iconic Manhattan neighborhood, she has served on the board for 31 years, leading as the president since 2013. During that time, Friends has been at the forefront of several successful campaigns including saving the landmark-designated City and Suburban First Avenue Estates affordable housing complex from demolition.
Franny has always been committed to community and civic engagement, first getting involved in the preservation movement through her work to stabilize and restore the landmark Church of the Holy Trinity. She is a longtime board member of the Historic House Trust of New York City, the Merchant’s House Museum, the City Club of New York, as well as sitting on the Municipal Art Society’s Preservation Committee. She has also taught historic preservation at NYU and supported numerous efforts to bring preservation learning to young people at Friends of the Upper East Side and by overseeing the creation of HDC’s Community as Classroom curriculum guide.
Your support in joining the Benefit Committee will truly celebrate Carol and Franny’s remarkable contributions to New York City and beyond. Joining the committee will also ensure that the Historic Districts Council is able to continue its valuable work with more than 500 communities and neighborhoods to preserve, protect, and celebrate New York’s historic places.
It will be a great pleasure to see you at the 2026 Landmarks Lion gala this fall. All of us at HDC thank you for your support.
Benefit Committee and Tickets
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