More on Term Limits

On Friday, October 17, the New York Times published an editorial titled The Missing Landmarks Commission, which documented the lack of transparency and openness at LPC.

Much of the piece focused on 2 Columbus Circle, the story of which served as a perfect example of what's wrong with LPC in the 21st Century. According to the Times:

Despite a public debate over the fate of Stone’s building, the Landmarks Preservation Commission never held a public hearing. The commission’s chair — with the encouragement of the Bloomberg administration — had the matter shelved. In June 2005, the city issued a permit to destroy the old facade and rework the building.

The piece went on further to say:

The Landmarks Preservation Commission should be a vital part of the planning process in New York City. Instead, it has become a bureaucratic black hole, the place where requests for evaluation — the formal nominations of buildings or districts to be landmarked — go to get filed and forgotten.

We couldn't agree more. With the future of New York City's term limits law being debated at City Hall, issues like reforming the LPC are getting lost. Whether Mayor Bloomberg is granted an opportunity to win a third term, we must all fight to make sure that the next LPC is an agency we can all be proud of.

To read the full editorial, click here.

Term Limits and NYC Landmarks

As the Presidential race dominates national and local news, many have missed the movement underway at City Hall to change the city's term limits law, to allow the Mayor and City Council to run for a third term in office, rather than leaving office at the end of 2009. Driven by Mayor Bloomberg's desire to serve for four more years (despite his earlier support for the current law) a new term limit expansion law may pass the City Council within the next few weeks.

The Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation is concerned about the effect that this law change may have on our city's landmarks and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Over the past two years, we have expressed our concerns about the lack of Fairness, Independence and Resources at LPC. A third term by Mayor Bloomberg could spell more of the same.

When we started CECPP, we had expected to ramp up our efforts in 2009, as many Council Members and the Mayor were schedule to leave office and new candidates were to run in their place. We believed that this election would give the landmarks community an opportunity to advocate for reform and to move landmark issues to a higher priority position in the next administration.

Should the term limits laws be changed, however, we are determined to bring our concerns directly to the voters, Mayor Bloomberg, returning City Council Members and new candidates, alike. We would love to hear your comments and thoughts as the landmarks community gears-up for a strong campaign in 2009. You can share your thoughts by clicking on the 'Comment' link, below, or emailing us at citizens@savelpc.org.

We look forward to working with you in the coming months!