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October 28, 2009

LPC Tees Up Phase 2 of Crown Heights Landmarking

crown-heights-north-2-map
Two and a half years ago, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to create the Crown Heights North Historic District, which included 472 buildings on Dean Street between Bedford and Kingston. Yesterday, the Commission got the ball rolling on the next phase of landmarking in the neighborhood when it held a hearing about the 610 buildings bounded roughly by Nostrand Avenue to the west, Brooklyn Avenue to the east, Eastern Parkway to the south and Bergen Street to the north. (The exact boundaries are detailed in this agenda from yesterday's meeting.) Of particular note, the Hebron School complex, which has been considered vulnerable to development, made the cut. From what we hear, 15 people spoke for the creation of Crown Heights North, Phase II, including Borough President Marty Markowitz and members of the Crown Heights North Association!




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:59 AM | Comments (16)
Categories: Crown Heights, Landmark

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We are very pleased that the Landmarks Preservation Commission has seen fit to continue the process of landmarking the original boundaries of their 1976 survey of Crown Heights North. At the time, they surveyed us, as well as several other Brooklyn neighborhoods. All of the other neighborhoods were designated, except us. 30 some odd years later, the Crown Heights North Association was founded by a group of homeowners to revive that old survey, and persuade Landmarks to designate the area. LPC, in these latter days of budget and staff cuts, decided CHN was too large to landmark in one fell swoop, it would be the largest HD in the city, and broke it into phases. Phase I was designated in 2007, at which time they promised to not drop the ball on the other phases. Ironically, most of the original members of CHNA do not live in Phase I, so the quest was continued, and LPC kept their word. Phase II is not the end of it. The original survey actually would cover most of the rest of the above map, from Rogers east to Albany Ave. There's a lot of great architecture, and significant social history in the still unlandmarked areas, and we will eventually see it all protected.

In the meantime, we are grateful to the LPC, our local elected officials, CB8, the hard workers in the Crown Heights North Association, and the many proud and perservering residents of Crown Heights North for working to make this possible.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at October 28, 2009 10:20 AM

When I found this out I was so happy for Crown Heights North. You guys are really moving forward. When I walk to and from the park I always go by the New York Ave corridor it is such a beautiful street full of interesting architecture Bedford Corners really entire Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood also got no love in 1976.

Posted by: Amzi Hill at October 28, 2009 10:35 AM

Landmarking is a huge deal for Crown Heights- a wonbderful plus. We had already begun to see some of the most significant architectural treasures torn down or allowed to rot and fedders buildings springing up. The homeowners who began CHNA were long time residents, including some who still lived in the houses in which they were born. Landmarking in Crown Heights was not the result of gentrification- it was the work and passion of people with long histories and deep roots in the neighborhood. Kudos to them.

Posted by: bxgrl at October 28, 2009 10:36 AM

I so appreciate that the movement from landmarking began with long time residents and not with "gentrification" as some people believe. My father, thought that Crown Heights was the best neighborhood in Brooklyn and encouraged both friends and colleagues to buy one of the beautiful houses there.

As one of the many children and grandchildren of the nabe, we our so proud to see that our home has been recognized for its beauty. It is the one of the reasons that so many of us still call Crown Heights, home.

Posted by: BrooklynIsHome at October 28, 2009 10:44 AM

Yesterday's testimony from several long-term residents was so inspiring! Good luck to all, and here's to CHN III!

Posted by: babs at October 28, 2009 11:45 AM

I heard about this too late, but why in the hell would you not continue until Franklin Ave?

90% of the housing found Franklin to Bedford from Eastern Pkwy to Atlantic are the original brownstones - which are the housing stock LPC is looking to protect, are they not?

Posted by: crazypants at October 28, 2009 12:07 PM

Brownstoner:

Having lived in Crown Heights as a boy during the 1950s and early 1960s, it’s very interesting to see the map of the original Crown Heights North Historic District and its extension.

These are the blocks where I spent most of my time, dipping in and out to visit relatives in Park Slope and Manhattan; make the occasional trips to the Brooklyn, Metropolitan, and Natural History museums; and hit the hills for sledding in Prospect Park. Otherwise in them was virtually everything a kid needed: the pals, the doctors and dentists, the bank, the library, the toy shops and (even!) the bowling alley (for nights out with Dad). And just on the fringes were Brower Park and the Childrens Museum, P.S. 138, and movie houses at Eastern Parkway and Grant Square.

In other words, a complete town!

The local folks were a diverse lot: working people, professionals, “bohemians” (like my parents), European refugees, old-line WASPS, African Americans, and Jewish and Irish Americans, the last two groups speaking classic Brooklynese. And although during this period Crown Heights was torn by block-busting and “white flight,” numbers of these people mixed and mingled, their kids attending the same schools, birthday parties and impromptu ball games and served by probably the most racially-integrated cadre of teachers, doctors, nurses and dentists anywhere in Brooklyn at the time.

On a recent walk through the neighborhood with Montrose Morris, Amzi Hill, and BxGrl, I was surprised by how little Crown Heights has changed, physically. Its architecture is older and greyer but most of its outline and detail are intact. The big apartment houses on St. Marks Avenue. The creamy ridge of town houses on New York Avenue. Millionaires’ Row opposite Brower Park. The “taxpayers,” shops and tenements on Nostrand Avenue. Combined, these features rival – if not surpass – the quality found in other designated historic districts and beg the question: What took so long?

Brownstoners comfortable in their landmark digs may not have a memory as long as mine. Most of Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Cobble Hill, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene were considered irredeemable by middle-class people of my parents’ generation. And as for Williamsburg, Red Hook and Greenpoint? Slums!

It took 50 years for Park Slope to re-assert itself as one of the most desirable in the city. (I know. My family’s lived there for generations.) It took 30 years for Crown Heights to get landmark designation. In 20 years it may be considered superior to the Slope (my grandmother's opinion back in the 1930s). Whether it becomes so or not is less important than that it has at last received its due as one of the handsomest and architecturally rich neighborhoods in the city.

Nostalgic on Park Avenue

Posted by: NOP at October 28, 2009 12:13 PM

Does anyone know what the next step is? Is the district landmarked, or will there be more hearings, procedures, votes, etc?

Posted by: lincolnlimestone at October 28, 2009 12:15 PM

Lincoln, the next step is a vote by the LPC to landmark. That will probably happen next spring sometime. If approved, and there is no reason to think it won't be, it's a done deal. There is a final, official vote needed by the City Council to complete the deal, which takes place sometime after that, which is a formality.

Incidentally, although not officially designated yet, if you are in Phase II, you are eligible for loans and other programs targeted towards HD's, such as from the Landmarks Conservancy, now.

Posted by: Montrose Morris at October 28, 2009 12:26 PM

I must say, the Crown Heights North Association has served as both a role model and real source of support for those us over on Ocean on the Park! So it truly was inspiring to see the community come out to testify at yesterday's LPC hearings about their homes, the gardens, the churches and other institutions that make up Crown Heights North. It's one thing to have the architectural and historical beauty of the area explained by the preservation experts. But, it's another to be able to hear the love and pride in the voices of the people as they argue for why it should be protected. IMHO, Crown Heights community contains some of the most handsome,remarkable housing stock in all of the City. And, as a former resident of the nabe(Bedford between Sterling and St. John), and with many friends who live there, I know I've got CH in my heart. It's so good to see it get its props!

Posted by: Brooklynista at October 28, 2009 12:34 PM

I was very happy to hear the testimony at the LPC hearing yesterday--I was really impressed that there was NO opposition voiced to landmarking. Congratulations CHNA (and M.M.).

Posted by: Bob Marvin at October 28, 2009 2:40 PM

Brooklynista- and yet you deserted us for Ocean on the Park? The nerve :-)

Posted by: bxgrl at October 28, 2009 2:59 PM

No, Bxgirl! We actually deserted you for the South Bronx, then the West Bronx, back to the South Bronx, then West Harlem and only then to Ocean on the Park. LOL!

Posted by: Brooklynista at October 28, 2009 3:29 PM

Oh, the Bronx. Then it's ok ;)

Posted by: bxgrl at October 28, 2009 3:59 PM

The houses along New York Avenue are so beautiful. I think this will bring more visibility to one of the most "undiscovered" neighborhoods in "brownstone Brooklyn."

Posted by: BrooklynBandana at November 1, 2009 2:09 PM

Any ideas why the boundaries are so much smaller than the original Landmarks study that was done in the 1970's? Many worthy blocks have been left out and some not as worthy included.

Posted by: argentina at November 5, 2009 9:20 PM

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