Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
East Village Historic District Could Become Reality Tomorrow
By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 8, 2012
Modified Oct 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 6
By
Garth Johnston
Published Oct 8, 2012
Modified Oct 8, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
We hope you like the way Second Avenue between Second and Seventh Streets looks, because soon enough it may never change. That's because the Landmarks Preservation Commission is set to vote tomorrow afternoon on the proposed East Village Historic District and, well, it has a very high probability of passing. Yay?
The oddly shaped proposed district (see above, or for the exact specifications click here) stretches up from 2nd Street on Second Avenue all the way up to St. Mark's and then over on Sixth Street all the way to Avenue A and has lots of carefully carved out areas that aren't part of the district (hi former La Salle School building on 2nd and Second!). It includes a number of lovely tenement buildings, a few brownstones and a number of religious buildings including the Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Protection.
It also isn't necessarily popular with many longtime residents—religious institutions in particular have been vocal about the financial burden of the district designation. "We have spent nearly $1 million in the last decade alone conserving our building and for the city to come in and tell us that they can do it better is, quite frankly, an insult," Richard Wright, of the Orthodox Cathedral, said.
Still, Professional preservationists like the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation's Andrew Berman are gung-ho for the district's creation and are pushing it through. Still, we're more than a little leery of it. Yes, there are good historical reasons to try and designate landmarks and districts in New York—but there also has to be a point when it gets to be too much. Otherwise New York stops being a constantly changing place and neighborhoods become completely gentrified museums for the rich (hi, West Village!).
To that end, this latest designation, which doesn't even include an entire block on the north and south sides, is less a "district" as it is a chance to penalize property owners (many who stuck through the "bad old days") who haven't made any serious changes to their exteriors from taking advantage of the neighborhood's changing character. For example: the brownstone at 28 East 2nd Street is included in the district, but its neighbor at 26 East 2nd Street is not, despite being built at the exact same time and still having essentially the same exterior. Why not? Because the owners of 26 built a tumor building over it in 2007. And so it goes.
If the district is approved tomorrow it goes into effect immediately.
Tagged
andrew berman
east village historic distric
landmarks preservation commission
Lower East Side
Garth Johnston
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
The Bridge to Home program, which began last year, will officially expand to Brooklyn on Tuesday.
By
Karen Yi
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. ET
Early Addition: Billy Joel is auctioning off 70 of his motorcycles
Because he doesn't need that many bikes, here are your early links: NYC Ferry fares could be going up, Hell's Kitchen climbing gym closing, Jalen Brunson just wasn't that funny on SNL and more.
By
James Ramsay
News
Early Addition: Billy Joel is auctioning off 70 of his motorcycles
Because he doesn't need that many bikes, here are your early links: NYC Ferry fares could be going up, Hell's Kitchen climbing gym closing, Jalen Brunson just wasn't that funny on SNL and more.
By
James Ramsay
Man dragged to death by Subway in Brooklyn after getting caught on closing doors
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Upper East Side braces for affordable housing fast track, and backlash from residents
By
David Brand
Plan to modernize NYC's diesel-spewing produce market falls apart under Mamdani
By
Elizabeth Kim
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .