PLG and Crown Heights Locals Share Landmarking Secrets, Hard-Won Preservation Savvy Tonight

In the face of increased development and the demolition of many Edwardian and Victorian homes in the area for new construction, concerned PLG residents are getting together in an effort to preserve their neighborhood.

Preservationists and advocates for the neighborhood will discuss landmarking and preservation strategies tonight at “Landmark It or Lose It,” an event organized by the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Heritage Council.

Speakers at the event will include Gib Veconi, a member of Community Board 8 and also a member of the Prospect Lefferts Gardens Neighborhood Development Council. Preservationist and author Suzanne Spellen (a.k.a. Brownstoner columnist Montrose Morris) will also speak at the workshop.

“The meeting is being organized as an educational forum specifically in an attempt to begin the landmarking process in order to expand PLG’s landmarked district, which is quite small. It would be a good meeting for anyone who is interested in getting their own community landmarked,” Spellen told Brownstoner.

The discussion for the evening will center on the challenges that Prospect Lefferts Gardens faces in the effort to preserve the area’s architecture and character, and what can be learned from similar efforts in adjacent areas like Crown Heights. The speakers will describe their experiences attempting to landmark their own neighborhoods, and discuss the responsibility of neighborhoods to uphold their historic communities.

The event takes place tonight, Thursday, September 14, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Congregational Church of the Evangel at 1950 Bedford Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. To learn more and to RSVP, visit the event’s Facebook page.

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