LP-2664
Melrose Parkside Historic District
ITEM PROPOSED FOR PUBLIC HEARING
The proposed Melrose Parkside Historic District is a remarkably cohesive and intact group of 38 single- and two-family row houses located on Parkside Avenue between Flatbush and Bedford avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.
As the citywide advocate for New York’s historic neighborhoods, HDC enthusiastically supports the designation of the Melrose Parkside Historic District. This remarkably intact and cohesive group of 38 single- and two-family neo-Classical row houses built between 1909 – 1915 reflects the early 20th Century residential development of Flatbush.
While most of the LPC’s district designations in Flatbush recognize freestanding victorian homes, or single family row houses, the Melrose Parkside Historic District offers recognition for a distinguished group of duplex two-family homes designed by Benjamin Driesler, a Flatbush resident, and one of the area’s most prolific and celebrated architects. The proposed district also includes eight single-family rowhouses by Driesler embellished with Jacobean style gables, and ten “American basement” rowhouses designed by Axel S. Hedman embellished with neo-Classical detail.
This block was an advocacy focus of HDC’s as part of our selection of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens as a 2017 Six to Celebrate area. The block members have worked diligently with their neighbors to gain support for the designation and we are so pleased that this worthy area is moving forward in the process.
There is much to celebrate in Flatbush, and in addition to our previous work in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, this year HDC is honored to be working with Caribbeing in the Little Caribbean neighborhood as a Six to Celebrate partner. HDC hopes the Landmarks Commission will continue to recognize the historic, architectural, and cultural resources of Flatbush, and to make additional designations aligned with the goals of community advocates.