Park Slope Historic District Likely to Expand
The hard work of the Park Slope Civic Council and others is paying off: On Friday, reports The Observer, the Landmarks Preservation Commission began the process of expanding the Park Slope Historic District by officially “calendaring” the revised boundaries; the move would expand the currently western boundary to the far side of 7th Avenue; currently…
The hard work of the Park Slope Civic Council and others is paying off: On Friday, reports The Observer, the Landmarks Preservation Commission began the process of expanding the Park Slope Historic District by officially “calendaring” the revised boundaries; the move would expand the currently western boundary to the far side of 7th Avenue; currently it stops at 8th Avenue between 5th and 15th Streets and the eastern side of 7th Avenue between 5th and Union Streets. The expanded district would also include a couple of cut-outs that remain unprotected on Prospect Park West. If ultimately approved (which is highly likely) the number of protected buildings would grow from 2,000 to over 2,500. You can read the precise boundary definitions on the LPC website.
Park Slope Historic District To Grow [NYO]
Expanding the Historic District [PSCC]
>ut I also think that the stewardship of our historic buildings are worth it, both to ourselves as homeowners, and as part of the larger community.
Ah, there’s the fundamental difference about how we define ‘stewardship.’ To LPC and, maybe, you, it means ‘preservation in stone as it was when the building was built;’ (if I’m not putting words in your mouth, which I’m frequently accused of;) to me it means ‘maintaining an essential order and harmony within reason and allowing for individual tastes.’ In this case, I would NOT necessarily re-slate the roof. Modern building materials are perfectly sightly and much more cost effective. And no, LPC did not allow non-slate in this case.
I also can cite the case of a friend who was asked to install shutters because “all the other buildings nearby” had them. The fact that that apartment had never had them did not move LPC.
Minard,
Actually, it is the largest intact area in the COUNTRY…not just the city…
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“No neighborhood in America has a finer and more intact collection of late 19th-century row houses than Park Slope,” notes architectural historian and Columbia University professor Andrew Dolkart. “Block after block is virtually unaltered, with houses ranging from grand townhouses designed by Brooklyn’s leading architects, to long rows of vernacular speculator-built housing designed by the obscure architects who provided character to so many urban neighborhoods.”
I don’t agree etson. As was said before by Minard and Montrose, landmarking doesn’t mean ONLY setting aside the mansions. There is beautiful housing stock all over Park Slope which is significant.
Take a closer look sometime.
Of course 15th and 7th isn’t the same as President and 8th, but that doesn’t make it any less an important part of our architectural history to be saved.
I’m glad this is happening DESPITE all the naysayers. One instance where nothing anyone says on this thread will stop tomorrow’s ruling on the matter.
Cmu, if you have a slate roof, for instance, and you need to repair it, more than likely you will pay for someone who does slate roofs, and yeah, you will more than likely pay more than for a flat tar roofer. But that would be true whether landmarked or not. You bought the house with the slate roof, at some point in your thinking (using the universal “you”, not you specifically) you had to think that the envitable repair to that roof would be more than a neighbor with a flat roof. If that building is landmarked, the LPC is not requiring that you hire the best roofer in NYC, who charges megabucks, but merely someone, who could even be you, if you know what you are doing, who will ably repair the roof with materials approved by Landmarks. Those are more than likely the same materials you’d use anyway. In these days of better replacement materials, chances are they’d let you use them, provided they are up to snuff.
I’m not sitting here pretending the process getting that approved isn’t an extra PITA, or as cheap as sending Joe Handiman on the roof with some Home Depot roofing materials, but I also think that the stewardship of our historic buildings are worth it, both to ourselves as homeowners, and as part of the larger community.
Among the historic districts I know, Park Slope is the most intact and well-preserved. It never experienced a real down period like Brooklyn Heights for example, which was decimated by the Great Depression and subsequent decades when the wealthy fled and many brownstones were converted to boarding houses and brothels. Park Slope by contrast always held on to some measure of middle-class respectability probably due to its greater distance from the docks and the big bad city across the river.
I think it is silly to maintain that people living in multi-million dollar houses will be put out by having to hire “good” contractors to repair their roof or stoop. While I don’t doubt that there are wealthy misers in the area as there are in the Heights and elsewhere, most property owners are proud of their homes and want to take care of their most valuable asset.
“have you SEEN 7th and 15th?”
Yes. Would you compare 15th Street to President or Carroll?? Talking about in general.
Or 15th between PPW and 8th?? Nothing wrong with it, but hardly distinguished.
As of now, less than 5% of NYC is landmarked (I actually think it’s like 3%).
Montrose…do you know the real figure?
I agree 100% with Minard and Montrose. If and when all 3 phases of the Park Slope historic district expansion passed, it will be the largest landmarked area in all of NYC.
And ok, maybe I was exagerrating 4x on the roof, for effect, but does anyone think 400k on a roof is reasonable?
>Landmarks does not “force” anyone into hiring the most expensive contractors or specialists in the business, nor do they make recommendations towards any contractors. If someone pays 4 times as much to get something repaired, it’s not because the LPC “made” them, that would be because they hired people more expensive than perhaps others would be, and down the line to materials, labor, etc. Nothing is cheap today, not even crap
Cannot believe you’re saying that, it’s plain not true *in reality*. Of course LM ‘forces’ you to spend more money, that’s incontrovertible. It’s your opinion that there’s only LM-style and ‘crap’ but that’s a false dichotomy. I spend adequately on my building, and yes, I’m a cheapskate but only traditional aesteticians would argue with my choices; they’re plenty durable (and not vinyl or really cheap stuff either) but I spend less because I’m not LMarked.
As for LM ‘not making recommendations,’ again, true in the letter but in the spirit you have to hire LM specialists, who are, gasp, more expensive.
I find this level of sophistry odd.