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Landmarks Preservation Committee Will Drop 100 Sites From Its List
By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 1, 2014
Modified Dec 1, 2014
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Dec 1, 2014
Modified Dec 1, 2014
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Nearly 100 sites are set to be removed from consideration for landmark status in an attempt to clear a "backlog" of items from the Landmark Preservation Committee's unwieldy list, DNAinfo reports.
Among the 95 sites included are the Pepsi sign in Long Island City, Union Square Park and Green-Wood Cemetery. The current process allows a site to be nominated for landmarking by the LPC or members of the community, at which point it's scheduled for a hearing. But the hearings do not always result in a decision, and when that happens, the item is "calendared," meaning that the Department of Buildings must first notify the commission before it can be knocked down.
"In my mind, it's basically saying 'Go ahead knock 'em down because we're not interested in these sites," said Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, adding that the better way of handling the backlog would be to address more at each hearing, not simply eliminate them from the list.
"Over the course of four months you could easily get rid of 96 items," he said. "This isn't transparency—it's radical surgery." Furthermore, Bankoff said he hasn't heard any complaints about the backlog in the first place. And even if there were, "there are a lot of ways to deal with this that doesn't involve releasing a list over Thanksgiving weekend."
But Wiley Norvell, spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio, told DNAinfo that the the removal isn't a sneaky attempt to build condos on top of hundreds-year-old graves—it's simple housekeeping. "Cleaning up that backlog will ensure the LPC can much more effectively fulfill its mission of responding to the landmarking issues of today in real time," he said.
The Landmarks Preservation Committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment. You can view the list of sites slated for calendar removal here.
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Lauren Evans
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