According to an email that went out last night from the Historic Districts Council, the Ocean on the Park Historic District, which has received broad support at every step of the landmarking process, is in jeopardy of being sabotaged at the last minute by Councilman Mathieu Eugene. Calling the situation a “preservation emergency,” HDC reports that the Councilman “seems to have been swayed by the anti-preservation rhetoric of one property owner, who has put their property up for sale and has marketed it specifically as a development site.” A letter-writing campaign is already under way to make Eugene realize how many constituents and other Brooklyn residents he will permanently alienate if he stands in the way of this Historic District getting signed into law. You may call his district office at 718-287-8762, fax to 718-287-8917 or email mathieu.eugene@council.nyc.gov. We’ve posted some text on the jump that you can easily cut and paste into a quick email. Please take one minute to do so.

UPDATE: We’re hearing that the Council Member has reversed his opposition to the Historic District. Wooohoooo! Hopefully there will be something in the papers in the morning providing some more detail on how the decision played out and what role the email campaign played.

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LPC to Consider Ocean Avenue Historic District [Brownstoner]

Dear Council Member Eugene,

I am distressed to learn that you are contemplating voting against the landmarking of the Ocean on the Park Historic District in its entirety and urge you to reconsider. A large number of longtime community residents have spent years working to preserve the integrity of this important architectural grouping of buildings; they, and the many thousands of Brooklyn voters for whom the borough’s history is of primary concern, would feel deeply betrayed by any move on your part to undermine this effort. Please do not compromise the trust the public placed in you by bowing to the wishes of one greedy property owner over the long-term interests of the community.

Sincerely,