Our Response to Chairman Tierney

Actually, this is our response to Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert Tierney's Letter to the Editor, which was written in response to Tom Wolfe's Op-Ed in the New York Times. Confused? Here is Tierney's letter if you didn't see it:

Re “The (Naked) City and the Undead,” by Tom Wolfe (Op-Ed, Nov. 26):

Backed by the country’s strongest landmarks law, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has protected more than 7,000 historically, architecturally and culturally significant buildings and structures in the last 20 years alone.

The notion that the commission has been “defunct” for two decades simply doesn’t hold up.

In total, there are 23,000 designated landmarks in New York City. The commission is slated to designate over 1,000 more in the coming year, including the Crown Heights North section of Brooklyn, a historic district that is poised to become the city’s largest designation in more than a decade.

The commission works throughout the five boroughs and in close consultation with communities and other city agencies. This comprehensive approach ensures that we preserve what’s distinctive about our great city for future generations, even at a time of tremendous growth.

Robert B. Tierney
Chairman, N.Y.C. Landmarks Preservation Commission
New York, Nov. 27, 2006

Here's our response, which at this point may or may not be published in the New York Times. That's why we have this blog!

To the Editor:

Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Robert Tierney's response to Tom Wolfe's Op-Ed proves Wolfe's point. Tierney notes that in the last 20 years the Landmarks Preservation Commission has protected 7,000 of the 23,000 designated landmarks in the city. The implication is that, during the previous 22 years, greater than double that amount -16,000 structures - were protected. Mr. Tierney appropriately characterizes the last two decades as witnessing "tremendous growth", yet the "country's strongest landmarks law" was used half as much than in the previous decades. The Commission may not be dead but its life signs are weakening. The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation has been formed to get the Commission off life support.