Spotlight on Upcoming State Landmarks
Regular readers are at least passingly familiar with the New York City Landmarks process, but the New York State process is still a vague mystery to even most landmarks aficionados. Well now’s as good a time to learn as any, since in September, a number of interesting and provocative items are going to be deliberated upon for possible inclusion on the New York State Register of Historic Places. The actual process whereby buildings get placed on the NYS Register is a reasonably straightforward process; the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), a gubernatorial agency, is contacted by a property owner, member of the public or another governmental agency to determine whether a site or area is eligible for inclusion on the New York State & National Registers of Historic Places. SHPO assesses the site based on the following criteria:
- that it is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or national history; or
- that are associated with the lives of persons significant to our history; or
- that embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
- that have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
In addition, with some specific exceptions, the site being assessed must be over 50 years old. One site or area can fall under multiple criteria and obviously, the more information included in the initial request for determination, the stronger the case is for positive determination.
After a site or area is determined eligible, the next step is for the sponsor to submit a full nomination form which includes a narrative history, detailed architectural descriptions of contributing features, historic and contemporary photos and an overall statement of significance. The sponsor typically works closely with SHPO staff to assemble this nomination, and while many people and organizations hire professional consultants to file out these forms, just as many advocates write them themselves.
SHPO then studiously reaches out to affected property owners and holds community information meetings to explain the many benefits and very few restrictions of being listed on the New York State and National Registers. Essentially, being listed on the Registers opens the door to several voluntary preservation incentives while imposing no restrictions on private development.
At the same time, SHPO schedules the nomination to be heard by the New York State Review Board for Historic Preservation, which meets quarterly to evaluate and vote on these nominations. The next meeting is going be on September 15 where the Board is considering a number of interesting nominations including:
- Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District (sponsored by the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council)
- Westbeth Complex (the entire complex) (sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation)
- 1964-1965 New York World’s Fair State; NYS Pavilion (sponsored by the New York City Parks Department)
- And a number of interesting synagogues in Queens and Brooklyn. (sponsored by The New York Landmarks Conservancy)
For more information on these and other upcoming nominations to the NYS & National Register, see http://nysparks.state.ny.us/shpo/register/nominations.htm.
If the State Review Board votes to accept the nomination, the property is placed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then sent down to Washington to be considered by the Keeper of the National Register for inclusion. Typically, if a property is listed on the NYS Register, it subsequently gets included on the National Register.
THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN HELP: If you want to support these designations, please write a letter to:
Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation
Peebles Island, P.O. Box 189
Waterford, NY 12188-0189
Or email to [email protected] and for the NYS Pavilion & other Queens sites: [email protected]. Letters must be received by September 14th to be considered.