HDC’s City of Yes Advocacy

HDC is proud to be one of many civic organizations offering feedback on the Department of City Planning’s (DCP) proposed City of Yes zoning text amendments. Our Advocacy Committee reviewed DCP’s initial proposals at the end of 2022, and gave preliminary feedback in January 2023. As the City’s plan developed, HDC has offered more specific […]

HDC Launches NEED Landmarks: Neighborhoods Expecting Equitable Designation

HDC is excited to launch NEED Landmarks: Neighborhoods Expecting Equitable Designation, a preservation affinity group for community organizations advocating for designations in neighborhoods underserved by landmark designation. Who is this group for?: Community groups advocating for designations in neighborhoods underserved by landmark designation may be interested in joining this group. In this context, “underserved” means […]

2024 Six to Celebrate

HDC, is pleased to announce its Six to Celebrate, an annual listing of historic New York City neighborhoods that merit preservation attention. Six to Celebrate is New York’s only citywide list of preservation priorities.

HDC NYT Appelbaum Response

Letter to The New York Times Editor, January 2024  Binyamin Applebaum thinks New York would be a better city if we tore it down.  In his Op-Ed “I Want a City Not a Museum,” (December 30th, 2023), Applebaum writes that he is sad to see buildings where his forebears lived in New York City still […]

HDC Responds to Vornado’s Proposed Tennis Courts on Hotel Pennsylvania Site

HDC is both baffled and outraged by Vornado’s latest plan to erect four tennis courts and a 10-story billboard on the site of the former Hotel Pennsylvania, which was once a 2,200-room hotel that could have been converted into thousands of units of centrally located housing in one of the city’s most transit rich environments. […]

HDC’s 5G Advocacy

Link5G is a public-private partnership between the private carrier, CityBridge, and the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation.  The stated goal is to “bring better cellular service, increased opportunities to connect to free Wi-Fi, and improved options for in-home broadband internet access.” The program has some similarities to the 4G wifi internet kiosks […]

HDC’s West Park Advocacy

West Park Presbyterian Church, at 165 West 86th Street, was designated as an individual landmark on January 12, 2010. The church was designed by architect Henry Kilburn in 1899, including the redesign of an 1885 chapel on the site by prominent architect Leopold Eidlitz. It is widely considered one of the finest examples of the […]

HDC’s Vulnerable Buildings Advocacy

Communities across New York City have been affected by the rise in demolition of landmarked structures over the past three years. As the city-wide advocate for all of New York City’s historically, culturally, and architecturally significant neighborhoods, HDC has been at the forefront of an effort to protect what we are deeming Buildings at Risk […]

HDC, VSNY and Coalition of Advocates Send Scenic Landmarks Policy Report to LPC

On December 1st, 2023 HDC and the Victorian Society New York presented a Policy Report to the Landmarks Preservation Commission outlining what we see as  shortcomings and gaps in the agency’s current Scenic Landmark Review process, and offering a host of policy proposals that we believe would improve the process. The report, which was cosigned […]

HDC Compiles List of Preservation and Advocacy Resources for Community Partners

HDC is the citywide advocate for New York’s architecturally, historically and culturally significant neighborhoods. It is always an honor to work with community partners across all five boroughs to protect the places New Yorkers love.  We have compiled the following list of Preservation Resources for Community Partners that HDC hopes will help boost their advocacy […]