Announcement: Preservation Summit III

You are invited to join the
Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation for

PRESERVATION SUMMIT III
Thursday, April 17, 2008
General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen Library
20 West 44th Street, Manhattan
(between Fifth and Sixth Avenues)

The program will begin promptly at 6:00 PM.
A wine reception and opportunity for discussion will follow.
Invite a friend—or ten!

Summary of Agenda

1)Special presentation by former Landmarks Chair Gene A. Norman on a new, independent process for evaluating candidates for appointment as Landmarks Commissioners
**CECPP’s 2007 lawsuit succeeded in getting commissioners serving on expired terms re-appointed or replaced, underscoring the importance of keeping LPC membership up to date.

2)Update on advocacy to increase the LPC budget
**Last year’s advocacy helped the LPC get resources to increase its designation and regulatory activities to the highest levels since before the Giuliani administration.

3)Report on CECPP’s new lawsuit to compel LPC action on longstanding Requests for Evaluation on potential landmarks and historic districts

This event builds on two previous Preservation Summits, each attended by over 100 New Yorkers concerned about the future of our city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). The first Summit, held on May 2, 2006, officially launched the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation to lead a strategic campaign designed to 1) ensure fairness in the LPC’s process, 2) re-establish LPC independence, and 3) secure appropriate resources so that the LPC has the budget and staff it needs to perform its crucial mandate.

Please join us!

RSVP: Send an email to citizens@savelpc.org or call 212-380-8612.

CECPP Sues to Open the City's Landmarking Process

On March 5th, the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation (savelpc.org) filed a lawsuit against New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) in State Supreme Court.

In the suit, CECPP challenges LPC Chair Robert Tierney's absolute power over the Commission's landmarking process. Currently, Chairman Tierney makes all decisions on whether landmark requests will be brought before the full commission for consideration. CECPP believes that this practice is an "unlawful usurpation of the power of the full Commission, and is authority in excess of his jurisdiction." As stated in the arguments before the court: "If staff members or a subcommittee, or the Chair alone, can reject proposed landmarks with no input from the full commission, who will protect the public interest against political pressures, lobbying, bias or just plain ignorance?" CECPP believes that Chairman Teirney's actions violate city, state and federal law and lead to unnecessary delays in the landmarking process, while excluding the valuable input of the full roster of commissioners, whose knowledge and participation are desirable.

In addition, CECPP is challenging LPC's "standards" by which Landmark applications are judged. Many taxpaying citizens, including knowledgeable preservation experts and professionals, have submitted landmark Requests for Evaluation (RFE) to LPC requesting that specific structures or neighborhoods be considered for either individual landmark status or inclusion within/as historic districts. These applicants have received letters stating that their proposed site or structure did not meet LPC's “criteria”. However, it is not clear who created the criteria since LPC has never published them in any way that is accessible to the public. It is critical that the LPC make public and fully transparent any criteria it considers relevant to judging the merits of RFE's so that preservation professionals and members of the preservation community have full understanding of the process and practices used by LPC.

By bringing this lawsuit, CECPP hopes to bring more transparency and openness to the city's landmarking process, and to make it a fair public process free from political interference and influence, as dictated by the 1966 NYC Landmarks Law. For a full copy of CECPP's petition, click here. To review a copy of CECPP's Memorandum of Law associated with this case, click here.

If you have questions regarding this case, please email them to citizens@savelpc.org or call Mark at (646) 228-6370.

We will update you on the case over the next couple of months.

Another Budget Update

A quick update on our effort, and the efforts of many Landmarks advocates citywide, to restore Mayor Bloomberg's proposed budget cuts to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

On March 6th, a number of advocates attended a City Council budget hearing and gave testimony in favor of restoring the Mayor's proposed cuts to LPC. A copy of the Historic Districts Council's testimony is available here.

Also, this week CECPP joined a number of landmark advocacy groups in sending another letter to Mayor Bloomberg, urging him to restore the funds he proposed to cut from the Landmarks Preservation Commission's (LPC) Fiscal Year 2009 Budget. The letter's language follows below:

March 10, 2008


Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg
Mayor, City of New York
City Hall
New York, New York 10007

Dear Mayor Bloomberg:

There are currently more than 50 areas, touching every borough, where citizens and community groups are asking for new historic districts. These proposed districts encompass thousands of buildings and thousands of voters. A list is attached.

Given this demand, it is imperative that the Landmarks Commission be able to operate efficiently. The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation believes it is imperative that the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s budget be put on course for an increase of at least $1 million. This amount would restore the Commission’s 1991 highpoint funding level, adjusted for inflation. On the road to achieving this parity, we ask you, at a minimum, to restore the proposed cuts to LPC's budget, renew last year’s $300,000 increase and establish this increase as a baseline for future Landmarks budgets.

We appreciate that your plan for 2030 understands the importance of neighborhood character. Historic districts help protect that character by raising property values and providing popular places to live. Addressing the demand for additional districts is crucial to our city, even with difficult budget times ahead.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,



Mark Caserta
Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation



cc. Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris


More updates to follow!