(Photo:reclaimedhome)

Over 400 people crowded into a basement meeting room at Restoration Plaza last night to attend an informative meeting on landmarking, hosted by Community Board 3′s Landmark Committee. Panelists included representatives from the LPC, Historic Districts Council, and Landmarks Conservancy. Representation from the grass roots organizations Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation, Bedford Corners Joint Block Association, Save Bedford Stuyvesant and SEPAL, along with other block associations, joined a large crowd of neighbors and elected officials. Executive Director Kate Daley announced that the LPC would be going ahead with designating the already calendared Stuyvesant Heights Extension, and would be looking at other areas, citing a recent survey conducted by the LPC of over 8,000 landmark worthy buildings in the very large Bedford Stuyvesant community. Smaller historic districts would be phased in across a period of years.

City Councilman Al Vann stated he would advocate in the City Council for Bedford Stuyvesant, as he did for Crown Heights North, when the Council votes to designate. State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries promised to press for the Bedford Corners Historic District to be the next area to be landmarked, and vowed to keep that neighborhood on the LPC and City Council’s front page. A question and answer session followed with residents asking questions about the LPC’s rules and regulations regarding changes to facades, windows, the grandfather clause, and the usual general landmarking questions. The overall impression at the end of the meeting was that Landmarks was very pleased by the turnout and positive interest of the majority of the crowd, an important part of their decision to landmark any area. Hopefully, this is another step towards historic designation of a long overdue, architecturally rich part of New York City.