Landmarking: Gaining Community Consensus

In the first of our five-part series on landmarking “,” we looked at the importance of seeking historic designation in a developing community with old architecture.

This week, we outline the next step: Gaining community consensus.

Attaining historic district designation for a neighborhood is not unlike the process a community would undergo to get a speed bump installed on a busy block or a traffic light installed in a school zone: The interested party has to get consensus from its block association, the community board and city councilmember.

Then together, with one petition, the community solicits the city. In this case, that city agency is The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC).

The Historic Districts Council (HDC), a non-profit organization that advocates for historic preservation, works for both the local community groups and the Landmarks Preservation Commission to help counsel and make recommendations about preservation methods and designation.

“We’ve been doing this a long time, working with a lot of neighborhoods across all five boroughs," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director at HDC. “We know strategy, and we have a lot of experience in being able to look at a neighborhood and figure out appropriate techniques and help represent it to your elected officials and those that have the power to give designation.”

And the service is free. HDC does not offer grants, brick-and-mortar technical assistance nor architectural expertise, but it knows a lot of agencies that do.

HDC can speak widely about the A-to-Z process, but also is familiar with those neighborhoods in the city that merit historic designation, whether the community has initiated a solicitation or not.

“Fortunately, Bed-Stuy has architecture that is by and large in really good shape. There’s not a lot of tear down and in-fill like you have in a lot of areas. The history is there and the architecture is gorgeous,” said Bankoff.  

Bankoff acknowledged that the Bed-Stuy has been slow to gain community consensus.

“You have to do a lot of education and outreach to the neighbors and property owners, because people get a little freaked out when they think there’s government interference in their property,” said Bankoff.

“There’s an enormous financial and emotional investment in where you live, and so you have talk to people. Find out what their feelings are about their buildings. Do they cherish their buildings or do they plan to live there a few years and just sell?

“But even people who feel strongly about their house get nervous when they feel like they have to give up a little control. So you have to do a lot of outreach, answer a lot of questions to get the community comfortable with the idea of preserving something,” said Bankoff.

Once that hurdled is cleared, the next step will be figuring out how to talk to LPC. And this is where a relationship with HDC can be most useful.

LPC already has canvassed most of Bed-Stuy from previous evaluations of the area that date back to the early 90’s. At that time, a historic expansion was in motion for the Stuyvesant Heights area, but it was never completed. One of the reasons LPC never finished was a disagreement on the boundaries the community board proposed, which LPC felt were not big enough, said Bankoff.

Even today, what stands in the way is a consensus on which territories should be demarcated for landmarking and an agreement by the homeowners to move forward.

“What I would recommend is that everybody keep the landmarks commission looking at the bigger area, rather than going back to finish what they started,” said Bankoff. “Because what they started will be included in the bigger issue. We’ve gotten the city’s attention. Let’s get working on something bigger.”

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will host a community meeting on February 16th at Restoration Plaza, 6:00 pm. The meeting is open to the public and is an important event in the process of getting the proposed districts in Bedford-Stuyvesant landmarked.

This is the second installment in a 5-part series that will look at the process of land marking, from community organizing, to what to look for in a designation, to the benefits and challenges to how to navigate within the various agencies.