Stuyvesant Heights Historic District Expands, is Landmarked

It’s been a long and bumpy road -- years of letter-writing, meetings and lobbying by local elected officials residents, and landmarking advocacy groups in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

But finally, on Monday, The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to approve the expansion of the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

The expansion triples the size of the existing district, which was first approved by LPC in 1971, from a 430-building area to 825 buildings, and lengthens the area’s designation borders to Tompkins Avenue to the west, Macon and Halsey streets to the north, Malcolm X Boulevard to the east and Fulton Street to the south.

"This a hard-fought victory for Bedford Stuyvesant residents who understand the architectural, cultural and historic significance of the neighborhood and want to protect it for themselves and future generations," said Claudette Brady, co-founder of The Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation.

The Commission held its first public hearing on a proposal to expand the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in 1993, and a second one in 2011. 

And over the past two and half years, with the help of Council Member Albert Vann and the community board, local preservation groups, including primarily The Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation, have lobbied the LPC more aggressively than ever for the designation of the Stuyvesant Heights Extension and four other proposed districts as landmark districts in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“We finally crossed the finish line today, thanks to a great deal of work by the residents, homeowners and leaders of this community,” said Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney who called Bed-Stuy’s streetscapes “one of the most renowned in New York City.”

“The historic district extension speaks not only to Bedford-Stuyvesant’s rich architectural diversity but also to its extraordinary social and cultural diversity and deserves to be protected for present and future generations,” said Tierney.