Please send comments to the Community Board & CHNA
City Council Oversight Hearing on Landmarks - Wednesday, 3/2 at 10am
Wednesday, May 2, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. in the 14th Floor Committee Room, 250 Broadway, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, jointly with the City Committee on Land Use will hold a hearing on four proposed bills affecting the Landmarks Preservation Commission:
Int. No. 20 - In relation to work permits previously issued by the department of buildings when a property is designated as a landmark. Int. No. 80 - In relation to regulating construction operations occurring near landmarks. Int. No. 220 - In relation to establishing a survey division within the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Int. No. 357 - In relation to the use of green technologies in landmarked buildings.
Take a look at these bills and examine them on their merits . For the record, HDC supports all of them although we would like some clarifications on some details of individual bills. We are in strong support of Intro 20 (sponsored by CM Rosie Mendes) and would especially welcome its adoption. However, we understand that none of these bills are scheduled for an upcoming vote-the hearing is going to be more of an investigative/public comment meeting aimed not only at these pieces of legislation but also at concerns which have arisen at the Council about the workings and costs of landmark designation.
During the recent Council deliberations over the designation of the Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper Historic District, opponents to preservation raised questions about the financial burden of landmark designation which caught the attention of several council members. Additionally, there have been a number of articles in the recent press opposing the practice of historic district designation and claiming that current landmark practices are economically bad for the city and lead to astronomical real estate prices and economic segregation.
HDC is extremely concerned that this upcoming hearing is aimed at creating a political and media environment which would lead to a systematic weakening of the Landmarks Law. We need your help to stop this from happening. Steps You Can Take to Help Protect the Landmarks Law: 1. Come to the hearing and testify in favor of preservation.
a. Even if the LPC has not responded to your request (or especially if they haven’t), demonstrating to the Council members that ordinary New Yorkers want to preserve their communities and are crying out for help is a powerful statement. We need to show the Council that PEOPLE WANT PRESERVATION.
b. If you have had work done on a landmarked property or If you are a real estate or building professional – – please come and testify. The Council members really don’t have any experience with actually working with LPC and will be taking everything the development industry says as gospel.
c. Even if you do not want to testify, showing up with your posters/buttons/postcards/etc. is a powerful statement to the Council members.
2. Contact your elected officials a. Use the deadline of May 2nd to send in your Requests to LPC – and make sure to copy them to your elected official. If LPC has not responded to your request, send in a reminder and copy your representative. Show your Council member that people in their district want action from the agency. Please help us defend the Landmarks Law. Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director Historic Districts Council www.hdc.org