Mayor Bloomberg Releases His Budget

Mayor Bloomberg is releasing the Fiscal Year 2008 Preliminary Budget (July 1, 2007-June 30, 2008) today. We are keeping a close eye on the Mayor's Press Conference and we will be closely reviewing the budget, to determine its effect on the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Stay Tuned!

980 Madison: Rejected!

We'd like to take this opportunity to celebrate the rejection of the 980 Madison proposal. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's near-unanimous decision was not just a thumbs down to an inappropriate project proposed for one of the city's most prominent historic districts, it was a reaffirmation of the importance and power of the city's landmarks law.

According to the New York Times, Author Tom Wolfe ( who spoke vehemently against the project in his New York Times Op-Ed and provided testimony at the recent LPC hearing), he was 'surprised and relieved' by the decision, 'not so much because it looks as if they’re not going to accept any building that big, but because they showed some backbone.”

“'They should be commended,' he said."

We agree. We commend the Landmarks Preservation Commission and hope for more, wise decisions like this one in the future. Also worthy of some reflection is the impact a unified and organized preservation community can have on matters of such critical importance.

For a full news round-up on this decision, check out the Historic Districts Council's Newstand here .

An Internal Memorandum Revealed

Today, we are posting an internal memorandum (prepared by a then-employee of the Municipal Art Society but never approved or released by MAS) which gives a thorough review of the current problems with the Landmarks Preservation Commission and provides well thought-out recommendations for reforming it.

The report looks closely at current issues with the Commission (like making important application decisions behind closed doors), ways to increase revenue (especially important these days in the face of continued budget stress), emerging preservation issues and the need to make timely commissioner appointments to ensure Commission independence ( we know a little something about that ).

One telling passage:

The Commission should carefully examine its own current practices with regard to designation to make sure that both the letter and the spirit of the Landmarks Law are being carried out. Once it has done so, it should clarify the workings of the process for the public; otherwise it may soon find itself challenged by an unlikely adversary: the preservation advocates who have been the city's greatest supporters of landmark designation.

As far as we know, this report was written in 2003. The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation's campaign was launched in 2006, so it looks like their prediction came true! You can read the report in full here .

Note: The condition of the copy we are posting is a bit rough, as it has been marked up with pen and poorly scanned. We hope that you find it informative, nonetheless.

Lawsuit Update

On Tuesday, January 9th, the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation filed additional papers in support of our lawsuit, CECPP v Bloomberg. Among the documents presented was a supportive Affidavit by Charles Platt, former Landmarks Commissioner (1979-1984) and nephew of Geoffrey Platt, founding Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

In general, Platt's statement discussed the original intent for Commissioners to be more independent through the use of staggered, 3 year appointed terms. We won't go into details, since his statement is short, but you can read it for yourself here .

In Platt's words "In the spirit of those who worked so long and unselfishly to protect and preserve New York City's heritage, I urge the Court to issue a writ of mandamus directing the Mayor to fill the existing and future vacancies on the Landmarks Preservation Commission with staggered terms in order to fulfill the wise intent of the drafters of the Landmarks Law.

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

Trade With Us

Okay, we finally had time to add links to our website. As a beginning, we've chosen a smattering of sites that we visit regularly. Check them out in the lower portion of the left-hand column.

Now, this is where you and your organization come in. Consider trading links with us by emailing us your website URL and by adding Savelpc.org to your site.

The more link trading we do, the more our advocacy efforts will be noticed online. Let the trading begin!

The Building Boom...Over?

Well, it had to happen some time. Brownstoner is reporting that 2006 saw a downturn in the number of building permits issued by the city. These premits include renovations, so the question is: is this downturn good for the city's landmarks, which have been ravaged by the city's endless, ravenous appetite for development? As Council Member Avella noted "Obviously a construction boom is good in many respects. Unfortunately there is an aspect of it that has really been undermining the very nature of neighborhood life in this city."

Or, does this downturn mean that less attention (and money) will be paid to improving our historic buildings?

Only time will tell.

More on the building permit downturn here .

Record Tourism in 2006

By almost every measure, 2006 was a good year for New York City. Sure, the Murder Rate increased by 10% (to be fair, the increase was largely the result of some reclassified old murders and the rate is still one of the lowest in recent history) and thousands of New Yorkers lost power during the hottest months of the summer, but every year has its bumps in the road. Do you want a good measure of the city's overall success? According to NYC & Co , tourism increased by more than 7% over 2005, with a record 44 million visitors coming to the city in 2006.

As we work together to make this campaign a successful one, we should all keep in mind that this city is strong because of its landmarks, not in-spite of them, as some developers and newspapers would have us believe. Think about it: Do tourists come to New York to visit nameless glass towers and newly-built luxury housing developments or do they come to take photos of themselves in front of famous landmarks like Grand Central Station? It's just that simple: landmarks are good for our city. 44 million tourists can't be wrong.

More on the city's tourism boom here .

Happy New Year!

We hope you enjoyed your New Year's Eve. Have a Happy New Year and get ready to fight in 2007!

We have only just begun.

Photo via the Times Square Alliance , which put on a great show last night.