Busy Week for City Landmarks

On Sunday, the New York Times ran a story on the City and Suburban apartments, a historic model tenement complex on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Community advocates and Council Member Jessica Lappin (who is also the new chair of the Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses Committee ) have fought to save two of the buildings from a proposed tower development while attempting to undo a deal by the former Board of Estimate which stripped the buildings of their landmark status. As Council Member Lappin noted: "What happened was a mistake in government...And I view this as an exciting and unique opportunity to fix what was a bad backroom deal."

Then, the Times wrote another story on Wednesday, November 15th regarding the Dakota Stable on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The building itself is of course important to save but the story of the stables provides an excellent example of the shocking loopholes and lack of agency coordination in the landmarking process. In this case, the developers were able to get Department of Buildings permits to begin demolition before the stables were considered by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. This caused quite a stir at the Commission, as the buildings were then disqualified for landmarking and will therefore soon be completely demolished with the city's blessing.

So let's recap what the Times has "uncovered" here during this busy week for city landmarks: back room deals, loopholes in the landmarks process and a shocking lack of agency coordination.
Sounds like a job for the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation. Our campaign seeks to solve the three major problems in the landmarking process: a Lack of Fairness in the Process , a Lack of Independence on the Commission and a chronic Lack of Resources . Join our growing movement today!

More on the City and Suburban complex here .
More on the Dakota Stable saga here .
Word to the wise: read the stories soon before the Times makes you pay for them!

Similar stories just like the Dakota Stable have been played out in all five boroughs. Tell us your stories about buildings lost in your neighborhood by pressing the "Comments" link below.