Mayoral Breakfast: William Thompson

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

City Comptroller WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, JR. talking about our city's landmarks and his preservation policies.

Two Council Bills With Promise

For more than three years, the Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation has been working hard to bring more transparency to New York City's landmark process. We have done this through lawsuits, media and even legislation.

In fact, over the past year and half, CECPP has worked with two Council Members, specifically, to introduce two different pieces of legislation that could have a significant impact on the way that the Landmarks Preservation Commission responds to landmark applications. Below are some details of the two bills that have the most promise:

Intro. 1034-2009: Written more than 20 months ago by Council Member (and Mayoral Candidate) Tony Avella and only recently introduced, this legislation is intended to assure timely consideration by the Landmarks Preservation Commission of proposals for landmark designation made by community groups, members of the general public and elected representatives. It is intended to ensure that such nominations are presented at least once to the full Commission at a public meeting for consideration. The bill does not obligate LPC to hold public hearings, unless desired by at least 3 members, but it does assure that no good faith nomination for landmarking is disposed of in secret behind closed doors or simply falls between the cracks. A public record of Commission votes on every RFE is required. To read the full text of Intro. 1034 and to track its progress, click here.

Intro. 1020-2009: Council Member Jessica Lappin, Chair of the Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Committee, took a strong interest in the results of our lawsuit (CECPP v Tierney). As a follow-up, CECPP worked with her to craft a simple piece of legislation that would require that every landmark application be submitted to the Commission RFE committee and acted on in a timely manner. Decisions on these applications would then be reported to the public. To read the full text of Intro. 1020 and to track its progress, click here.

We thank both Council Members Avella and Lappin for their leadership in trying to bring transparency to the Landmark Preservation Commission. Hopefully, these bills will move forward in the coming months.

As we wait for progress, we'd love to hear your feedback on the bills. Read them and let us know your thoughts!

Mayoral Breakfast: Tony Avella

The first Mayoral Breakfast on Preservervation took place on July 29th at O'Neals' Restaurant.

Mayoral candidate Tony Avella shared his vision for a better planned and preserved city, while fielding questions from the packed house of landmark advocates.

To read more about Tony's policy positions, click here.

Next Up:
City Comptroller WILLIAM C. THOMPSON, JR.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 (RSVP by August 10)

Reservations:

PHONE: 212-496-8110
EMAIL: landmarkwest@landmarkwest.org
WEB: http://hdc.org/mayoralbreakfasts.htm

Photo (Right): Mayoral Candidate Tony Avella with Peg Breen