Carroll Gardens Historic District May Grow
The Landmarks Preservation Commission released the boundaries of the expanded Historic District it is pushing for in Carroll Gardens and, not surprisingly, not everyone was pleased. The city would like to expand the pitifully small area that was protected back in 1973 (shown above) to include all the blocks bounded by Court Street, Henry Street,…
The Landmarks Preservation Commission released the boundaries of the expanded Historic District it is pushing for in Carroll Gardens and, not surprisingly, not everyone was pleased. The city would like to expand the pitifully small area that was protected back in 1973 (shown above) to include all the blocks bounded by Court Street, Henry Street, Huntington Street and First Place. Sounds like a nice idea to us but there are bound to be some whiners, right? Right. “Landmarking will force the old-timers out,” said John Esposito, co-founder of Citizens Against Landmarks. “All the new people who have $100,000 income a year think this is a great idea.” (This choice of this number seems reminiscent of Dr. Evil’s famous “one million dollars” line in Austin Powers; after all, it’s not like $100,000 a year goes too far in the Carroll Gardens housing market these days!) The plan for expanding the historic district is supported by the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association and the Brooklyn Preservation Council, and seems to be in keeping with the spirit of last year’s rezoning which made it harder to put up new out-of-context buildings in the low-rise community. No-brainer!
City Wants Second Carroll Gardens Historic District [NY Post]
it would be very difficult to measure the ‘public benefit’ in $$$ – because not easy to determine and subjective and different sides will disagree.
But – consider that can be argued that many ‘preserved’ bldgs become listed and part of our tourist appeal.
Landmarked neighborhoods can become more desireable and people willing to spend more money fixing up and preserving. When people spend money and maintain – some people believe that inspires others to also spend and maintain.
(would you spend major money when you see your neighborhood going downhill and not maintained?).
So – improves economy, vitality of neighborhood, jobs,
tax base, etc.
Would I want to redo front of my architecturally significant appealing house in Crown Hts if could chance some developer is going to put up some Fedders box with meters in front and SUVs parked in the front yard? no.
Does it make a difference everywhere, no. Is it even warranted everywhere, no. But some bldgs and blocks I think so.
(BTW – absolutely not on my block, that would be a joke-Brownstoner has truly mocked it couple of times).
Christopher;
Long time since I’ve seen you around.
Thanks for adding a dose of reality to this thread.
“The LPC spends about $4 million of CITY money each year on, primarily, staffing”
How much does the city pay to have its government workers post on brownstoner all day? 🙂
I’m a 3rd generation Brooklyn Heights kid. My wife and I bought a building in Carroll Gardens.
While I hated leaving Brooklyn Heights one of the things I love about Carroll Gardens is the lack of Landmarking.
Repairing any of my family’s properties in the Heights was always a hassle. Having to go through Landmarks, sometimes getting turned down for petty reasons, extra time and expense to get Landmark approval, neighbors calling the LPC to complain about things they thought were un-approved, etc. Ridiculous nonsense.
Carroll Gardens is fine with out Landmarks. LPC causes more problems, and cost more money, than they are worth.
And as someone who lived in Brooklyn Heights, went to elementary school in Cobble Hill, and middle school in Carroll Gardens I can say all the stories posted above (racism, etc) are exaggerations with tints of truth. New York use to be very provincial, all neighborhoods little villages. I wouldn’t hang in CG after school because it wasn’t my neighborhood. Not that it was dangerous or whatever, you just didn’t do that back then. My friends from CG or CH wouldn’t hang in Brooklyn Heights either. Everyone had their neighborhoods and stayed in them. It’s just the way it was when the only people who lived in Brooklyn were people who were from Brooklyn, not tourists from out of state…
Babs — As I said above….
The LPC spends about $4 million of CITY money each year on, primarily, staffing. There are also indirect costs to the city — LPC approval adds another layer to almost all other building related approval processes (increasing the costs in those city agencies). These spending levels will only increase as landmarked areas increase, requests for landmarking increases, and, of course, cost of living increases for the employees.
I’m not concluding whether this regulatory agency is “worth” the money or “not worth the money” — I’m just asking the question. Is the PUBLIC BENEFIT appropriate for the socialized cost of this program?
(FYI — This budget is the equivalent to about 50 school teachers.)
Or, perhaps, is this not a clear public benefit like a education, fire, police, parks, etc? Are the de facto beneficiaries not bearing the appropriate level of the costs?
Pignoli? No word for walnuts in French either – they’re just nuts (noix), everything else is some kind of nut. So does everything else come from walnuts?
I don’t really think we’re forgoing too much due to landmarking. Not like we are by giving Bruce Ratner the Vanderbilt Yards for cheap and the land surrounding it for cheaper.
“One can’t put a dollar valuation on the preservation of historical architecture.”
Nor can one put a dollar valuation on the right to occupy one’s property as one sees fit, as long as nobody else is being hurt.
Some of the things my neighbors have done to their homes leave me baffled and a little sad, but I would far rather live and let live than have us all be subject to the decrees of the LPC taste police.
DIBS;
Pinolis are pine nuts.
A+ for effort, though.
“One can’t put a dollar valuation on the preservation of historical architecture”
Really?