On the Summit

Note: SaveLPC.org went live on November 15th. From now on, we plan to post something new on our blog every day.

On Monday, November 13th, nearly 100 preservationists from all five boroughs, along with elected officials and press, came together in midtown Manhattan to help kick off the Citizen's Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation's campaign to reform the city's Landmark process. Attendees learned about CECPP's legislative, legal and budget agenda, gave their much-needed input, and raised more than $1,000 for the campaign's war chest. This brief summary really doesn't describe the true spirit of the night, but the summit's closing statement by CECPP Steering Committee member Anthony Wood did. Here is an excerpt of his rousing speech:


You and I are here tonight because we recognize it is our duty to step forward and do something to address the preservation emergency that exists today in NYC.

Since 1994 the Landmarks Preservation Commission has been on a downward trajectory. Those whose interactions with the commission only began during this period have never witnessed what a fair and transparent Commission, fully using the powers of the landmarks law and driven by a true preservation ethic, can accomplish.

After a dozen years of constant erosion, we have a commission that is reaching the tipping point—a true point of no return. Unless the three issues raised this evening [the campaign’s call for fairness, independence, and funding] are successfully addressed, the landmarks law will have been operationally rewritten to undermine its ability to preserve and protect our city’s landmarks. These past 12 years will have successfully wiped out any memory of the 29 years of Commission policies, values, and ethics that preceded them.

During the decline of the last dozen years, most preservationists have been silently, and a few less silently, complaining about the sorry state of affairs at the commission. There has been much hand wringing, report writing, quiet conversations with people in power, and considerable private bitching and moaning. However, the assessment was made that nothing could be done and anyway, the next Administration would solve the problem. The success of this strategy is all around us: demolished and stripped landmark quality buildings and the further erosion of commission procedures and policies. If anything, the signal sent to future administration has been that preservation community will put up with anything.

It is time for a different approach. It is time to go public. In social organizing there is the old manta: “speak truth to power.” Such action has brought about larger social change that the modest reforms we seek. It is time to do what needs to be done whether using the courts, the legislature, the press, or the political process. The strategy outlined tonight is in its infancy, it will need to evolve and be refined, but at least it represents a new start.

In the history of preservation in New York, there are countless examples of where individual citizens have stepped up and joined together with likeminded folks, to fight the good fight for preservation. Such efforts have begun with fewer numbers than are here tonight and with even fewer dollars in the bank. Such efforts have taken on equally daunting odds—and they have won. They have addressed equally thorny problems, and solved them. We can too.