South Village Declared Eligible for S/NR; GVSHP to be Honored by Preservation League
From the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, www.gvshp.org
South Village District Eligible for State & National Register of Historic Places: As part of our ongoing campaign to preserve and honor the South Village, GVSHP has sought to place the proposed South Village Historic District on the State and National Register of Historic Places. Placement on the Register affirms an area’s historic, cultural, or architectural significance, offers protections against state or federal actions or use of state or federal funds which could be harmful to the district’s historic character, and offers property owners grants and tax breaks for restoration or renovation of historic properties.
As a result, GVSHP has received a determination from the State’s Historic Preservation Office that the proposed South Village Historic District is eligible for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places (see www.gvshp.org/documents/SNRDetofElgblty507.pdf ). The determination cites the area’s historic and architectural significance, including its immigrant history, extraordinary collection of intact tenements, and its rich traditions of cultural innovation. With about 750 buildings, the South Village Historic District is the largest district in Manhattan to be determined eligible for the State and National Register since 2000.
Formal listing on the register (such as was recently accomplished with the Meatpacking District — see www.gvshp.org/gansevoortnatreg.htm ) requires significant further documentation and will likely take several more years. However, with the determination of eligibility now in hand, the the area’s historic significance has clearly been affirmed by the State Historic Preservation Office, and the protections regarding state and federal actions and use of funds are now in effect. So, for instance, if NYU wanted to demolish historic buildings and build a new 26-story dorm in the area using State Dormitory Authority funds, they would not be able to do so without it being subjected to a review to determine if it would negatively impact the historic resources in the area.
GVSHP’s South Village Historic District proposal (www.gvshp.org/documents/SouthVillageDolkartReportPDF.pdf ) was funded by Preserve NY, a grant program of the NY State Council on the Arts and the Preservation League of NY State. Research for the the report was funded by the Kaplen Foundation; City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Member Alan Gerson through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; State Senator Tom Duane and Assemblymember Deborah Glick through the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; and our generous members.
For more information on the South Village preservation effort, see www.gvshp.org/southvillage.htm.
GVSHP to be Honored at the Preservation League of NY State Annual Awards, May 16: GVSHP is honored to be chosen by the Preservation League of NY State (PLNYS) to receive their “organizational excellence” award at their upcoming Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, May 16 at 6 pm at the Princeton Club, 15 West 43rd Street. PLNYS is the state’s premier historic preservation organization, and has long supported many of GVSHP’s most important preservation projects, including our Save Gansevoort Market campaign and our work to preserve and document surviving federal-era rowhouses (1790-1835) in Lower Manhattan.
From the PLNYS announcement: “This statewide awards program recognizes individuals and organizations for demonstrating an outstanding commitment to the preservation of New York State’s irreplaceable architectural heritage…the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation’s efforts to build grassroots support, and to monitor and inform the decisions of New York City agencies, should serve as an inspiration to other preservation organizations.”
For more information on the awards or to purchase tickets, see www.gvshp.org/honors.htm and www.gvshp.org/documents/preservationleagueawardscelebration.pdf .