brooklyn avenue kinko houses

The Landmarks Preservation Commission this morning voted to landmark the proposed Crown Heights North III Historic District. The vote was unanimous.

It was a very short meeting, about 15 minutes. The vote took place after a quick presentation about the proposed district, which had been “calendared” way back in June 2011.

Some noteworthy features of the district, which includes 640 buildings between Brooklyn and Albany avenues, are the quaint one- or two-block stretches of Hampton, Revere and Virginia places. These blocks feature Colonial and Renaissance Revival homes, as well as a collection of two-family “Kinko” houses (shown above) built between 1907 and 1912. Designed by Mann & McNeille, every house includes two duplexes, each of which has its own front door, house number, stairway, porch and cellar. 

The Crown Heights North Association and members of Community Board 8 were jubilant about the vote, which they’ll discuss at an upcoming town hall meeting. “I think it’s wonderful,” said CB 8 member Adelaide Miller, who’s lived on Virginia Place for 67 years. “I go into areas where they tore down beautiful churches and buildings, and I’m happy that won’t happen here.”

Deborah Young, president of the Crown Heights North Association, added that right now the group is trying to educate home owners on how to keep and maintain their properties. “Our focus is on designation but maintaining a healthy community… We want to give elderly people the resources they need to take care of their homes.”

To that end, the group’s next push is to get the Crown Heights Historic Districts on the National Register of Historic Places, which offers tax benefits to property owners.

CHNA will discuss senior housing and the new historic district at a town hall meeting on April 15 from 6:30 to 8:15 at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Representatives from the Historic Districts Council and the LPC will be on hand to explain how the new historic district will affect residents.

LPC to Vote on Designation for Third Crown Heights North Historic District Tuesday [Brownstoner]


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Go to Williamsburg and see the crap development the Jewish areas. The politicians have allowed illegal attachments and conversions to once beautiful town homes. The DOB could balance the state budget if they decided to issued fines in that area…but they sic their agents on folks replacing their countertops in Crown Heights and Clinton Hills.
    lets not allow them to turn Bed Stuy into the mess that has become Williamsburg

  2. It’s a double edged sword but I rather preserve these beautiful buildings than knock them down to build some square boxed monstrosity.
    Please get to Bed Stuy further east before these vultures tear down these existing homes to replace them with crap. Stay active otherwise our neighborhoods will look a complete mess like Lee Avenue and the surrounding area does

    • miserable1971 I am very nervous about the future of Bedford Stuyvesant. The developers are really starting to destroy blocks and put up crap. I hope LPC moves a bit faster to protect this great Victorian neighborhood.

  3. Who mentioned anything about their belief system. I am talking about systematically destroying entire neighborhoods with their crappy construction. And I am talking about blatant discriminatory housing practices