More on the Landmarks Black Hole

In case you missed it, the Wednesday November 26 2008 front page of the New York Times featured an article titled "An Opaque and Lengthy Road to Landmark Status", beginning an investigative series by Robin Pogrebin. The piece examines the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and uncovers "an overtaxed agency that has taken years to act on some proposed designations, even as soaring development pressures put historic buildings at risk."

The story marks an important turning point for the city’s preservation movement and highlighted CECPP’s recent victory in the case CECPP v. Tierney, in which the New York State Supreme Court ruled that LPC's inaction on Requests for Evaluation was "arbitrary and capricious" and ordered the agency to make timely, public decisions on designation requests. The full decision is available here


The article also featured a great photo of several of CECPP's volunteer Steering Committee Members (above, via nytimes.com)

The article offers proof positive that the NYC Landmarks Law has suffered serious setbacks under the current administration, citing examples of numerous structures that have been lost or irrevocably defaced while languishing unprotected despite, in some cases, years of community cries for designation.


Another important article appeared in the NY Post on Sunday, November 30: "New York on the Block" written by Julia Vitullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Today, December 1, the next article in Robin Pogrebin's series appeared in the NY Times, focusing on the preservation efforts to save religious structures.

CECPP highly recommends that you read these articles if you are at all concerned about the state of New York City's landmarks and the current inner workings of the LPC. To read the first article by Robin Pogrebin, in full, click here.

Stay tuned for CECPP’s suggested strategies and actions to counter the current situation.