Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll Retires

Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll has announced her retirement from the agency after almost seven years in the job.

The New York Times broke the news this morning that Carroll was retiring with plans to move to Maine. Carroll was approved as chair of the agency in September 2018 with unanimous support from preservation groups and others, after months of complaints the group was not doing its job.

In 2022, Mayor Eric Adams greenlit Carroll to serve as the head of the agency for another seven-year term, fresh on the heels of the shocking demolition of Bed Stuy’s Jacob Dangler mansion the agency was considering landmarking.

In almost seven years as chair, Carroll has overseen the designation of nine historic districts and nine individual landmarks in Brooklyn (the majority in 2019), including Bushwick’s first historic district on Linden Street, the highly anticipated Sunset Park and East 25th Street historic districts, and the individual designation of the Downtown Brooklyn abolitionist house at 227 Duffield Street. According to the New York Times, Carroll was behind the landmarking of a total 1,437 sites during her tenure.

In a recent unexpected move, Carroll and commissioners voted unanimously to calendar two new historic districts in the area south of Prospect Park, once part of the historic town of Flatbush. The proposed Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West historic districts will be the subject of forthcoming public hearings prior to a vote on designation.

Carroll has also been at the center of some landmarking controversies, including the development of the Hebron School site and the aforementioned demolition of the Jacob Dangler mansion. The community outcry and activism around the demolition of the 120-year-old French Gothic Revival mansion did lead to the creation of the Willoughby-Hart Historic District in 2024.

While Carroll was met with praise for creating a more inclusive definition of what made something landmark-worthy, she also faced criticism that the pace of designations slowed under her lead and the agency had lost some independence to City Hall.

Frampton Tolbert, executive director of Historic Districts Council, told Brownstoner that during her tenure, Carroll improved communications with community groups and started initiatives backed by HDC, such as finding ways to protect vulnerable buildings from demolition. He also credits her for simplifying and streamlining processes for owners of landmarked buildings to obtain permits.

He did share that, like other preservation organizations, HDC was disappointed with the decrease in overall designations under her leadership. “We have found that the historic districts they have done have been smaller and smaller, much more modest in scale, and not necessarily what the communities have been asking for.”

Tolbert said he hoped any new chair of the agency would be “much more active and vocal in showing how, and in demonstrating how, preservation is part of the solution to a lot of the issues we’re having in the city.”

“The agency should really be promoting the great work that they’re doing, and saying, you know, preservation is part of the solution to our housing crisis. I would love to see a chair that was really part of the conversation around making sure that preservation was one of the tools we were using to address these things, and not necessarily taking a backseat to city planning or other agencies, because preservation is so important in the conversation.”

Carroll has worked at the LPC since 1994 and prior to her role as chair she served as LPC’s executive director. She has a master’s degree in historic preservation from the Savannah College of Art & Design.

The news of Carroll’s retirement comes hot on the heels of news commissioner Frederick A. Bland was stepping down from the commission after 17 years and 640 public hearings. An Architect and Brooklyn Heights resident, Bland was the longest-serving panel member. Commissioner Angie Master, who was appointed to the commission in 2023 with a background in real estate and marketing, was tapped to replace Bland as vice chair of the commission.

Brownstoner reached out to LPC to find out who would be stepping to replace Carroll as interim commissioner (a role Bland held before Carroll was appointed), but we have not heard back.

Editor’s update 8/12/25: Angie Master, former LPC vice chair, is interim chair until the mayor appoints a new chair to head the agency. Brownstoner received this statement from Carroll via email: “I am immensely proud of the work the agency and I have done to shape the City of New York’s built environment during my 31 years at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, through designations – especially of places that reflect the full diversity of New York City – and through our regulatory work, in preserving important historic places while also fostering new and innovative design that responds to the historic context. I take great pride in what we have done to make LPC’s regulatory process both faster and easier to navigate for property owners, and am deeply grateful to LPC’s Commissioners and talented staff, whose expertise and dedication have been instrumental in these achievements.”

Related Stories

• After Years Shaping Brooklyn, Architect Fred Bland Leaves LPC
• Mayor Taps Preservationist Sarah Carroll to Head Landmarks Commission for Seven More Years
• Bed Stuy Locals Celebrate as Willoughby-Hart Historic District Markers Debut

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