Historic Preservation

Vermont Downtown Projects Honored at State Conference

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Vermont’s downtowns and village centers have been in the spotlight recently for efforts to make them more vibrant and prosperous. The Green Mountain Awards were part of the Vermont Downtown Program’s annual Downtown Conference in Middlebury last week, which celebrated 11 years of revitalizing Vermont.

“These awards recognize the hard work and dedication to community revitalization that goes on in so many Vermont towns,” said Joss Besse, Director of the Division of Community Planning and Revitalization. “Our downtowns and village centers are so critical to our way of life, and much of the effort that sustains them is volunteer.”

One of the award winners was the venue that hosted the awards – Middlebury’s Town Hall Theatre, which had fallen into serious disrepair after it was abandoned as the municipal offices years ago, won the Best Building Renovation award.

“In addition to restoring a landmark building in a prominent location, this building is providing a space for many uses that can help ensure the long term economic vitality of a historic downtown in changing times,” Besse said.

The Best Economic Restructuring Story award went to the Downtown Rutland Partnership for their “Free Rent For A Year” initiative, which provided funding for a new or relocating business in Downtown Rutland to.

“Facing an all-too-common problem for downtowns – vacant retail space – the Partnership came up with an innovative solution that brought positive statewide attention to the city and helped bring a new business downtown,” said Besse.

In addition to providing training, technical assistance, and administering grant and tax credit programs, the Downtown Program also oversees designation of downtowns and village centers.

To date, 23 downtowns and 94 village centers are designated and all older and historic buildings in these designated areas are eligible for these investment incentives.

To become a Designated Downtown, communities must have both a downtown revitalization organization and demonstrate their commitment and capacity to support such a program, as well as meet several other requirements. Village Centers go through a similar, but abbreviated process.

Designated communities become eligible to compete for funding for building rehabilitation and safety improvements, and transportation projects.

The award winners announced at the Green Mountain Awards Luncheon:

Best Building Renovation
The Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury
The restoration/renovation has restored original detail to the interior and exterior, including windows throughout the building- installing the town’s original bell in the bell tower- and installing a weather vane similar to the original.

The restoration/renovation project has allowed a state of the art performance space, art gallery, and dance studio to be created within a 19th century building. The Town Hall Theatre will play a pivotal role in bringing residents and visitors to Middlebury for many years to come.

Best Public Space Improvement
Bank Lot Park, Wilmington

Best Public space improvement is given to a community that has demonstrated a willingness to invest in public space improvements as an integral part of a community revitalization effort.

On Easter Sunday, April 7, 2007, one of Wilmington’s landmark buildings, the old bank building burned to the ground. One third of the land fell into the Deerfield River as a wooden retaining wall also burned and gave way.

After a special town meeting, a plan was developed including a special set of criteria created by The Beautification Committee with the goal of creating a “gathering place” both for community and for tourists to enjoy.

After a planning grant and approval by the citizens at town meeting, funding was secured and work began. After much hard work and volunteer hours, the Wilmington community’s Bank Lot Park was completed in May of 2009.

Best General Image Campaign
Destination Historic Poultney, Poultney

The general image award honors any campaign designed to improve the overall perception of a downtown or village center. Poultney took the position that historic preservation is integral to a vital downtown and village center. They adopted in their Economic Development Strategy opportunities that stress the area’s cultural, historical and recreational assets. Believing such, Poultney created Destination Historic Poultney – Historic Walking & Driving Tours – comprised of a website, C.D.s and brochures. The website offers the tours as streaming audio, downloadable MP3 files and a podcast with photographs accompanying the audio.

The production was a community partnership involving the Town of Poultney, The Poultney Downtown Revitalization Committee, the Poultney Historical Society and Green Mountain College. Teams of GMC students and Historical Society members collected oral histories from longtime Poultney residents. The Society advised the College’s Communications class in taping those histories as well as in collecting crucial historical data for use in writing the tours.

As a result, the community has seen increased, community enrichment and the ultimate goal to promote Poultney as a destination for historic tourism.

Best Special Event
Pocock Rocks Music Festival and Street Faire, Bristol

The Bristol Downtown Community Partnership sought to create an event that involved the broad spectrum of the community and to celebrate what makes Bristol special and its heritage.

Bristol was founded in 1762 and originally named Pocock, after a British Admiral, so the Promotions Committee picked that name for the event and the date of June 20th and began the planning.

The goals were to showcase downtown, support downtown businesses, involve diverse groups, support the arts, and celebrate the Lake Champlain Quadricentennial.

Despite the challenging economy, the promotions committee secured three major media sponsors the Addison Independent, 99.9 The Buzz, and Spin Creative which provided marketing expertise.

On the day of the event they closed off the street and filled it with local food booths, arts, crafts and businesses in celebration of the town and its history. Local bands played in the street and young and old enjoyed the sounds, shopped and ate, and Pocock Rocks has now become the annual signature event for the Bristol Downtown Community Partnership.

Organizational Excellence
RUDAT-Building a New Newport, Newport

To create a durable vision plan for Newport, the Newport City Renaissance Corporation board of directors engaged in a Regional Urban Design Assistance Team (RUDAT) visit, a 5-day resource team visit from experts with the American Institute of Architects that blend citizens concerns with national quality expertise in town planning, landscape architecture and Historic Preservation.

From November 2008 to April 2009 the NCRC board of directors and a steering committee of 25 began to plan to for the comprehensive visit. During the March 2009 RUDAT visit, nearly 30 volunteers assisted the eight member team and over 150 community members participated in three separate community forums to create the vision for a “New Newport.”

As a result of the visit and the RUDAT report, action plans have been developed with direct recommendations for the Promotions, Design and Economic Development subcommittees.

Additionally, The NCRC received over 50 letters of support for its USDA Rural Business Opportunity Grant application and the result was a grant award for $120,000 toward resource development that will assist in sustaining the organiz
ation over a two year period.

Best Economic Restructuring Story
Downtown Rutland Partnership’s Free Rent For A Year Initiative, Rutland

Converting underutilized space in the downtown into economically productive property helps boost profitability and creates economic vitality. In an effort to help build business in uncertain economic times, the Downtown Rutland Partnership launched a new initiative called Free Rent For A Year in Downtown Rutland to one new or relocating business into downtown.

The award went to a new retail business that was located in a first floor vacancy and signed a three year lease. From this new downtown business a retail incubator of artisans has been created in an attempt to fill other downtown vacancies. It has been a remarkable success and the Partnership plans on rolling out phase two of the program later this year.

Outstanding Staff Achievement
Karen Bresnahan of Downtown St. Albans, St. Albans

Karen Bresnahan of Downtown St. Albans was nominated for the award by fellow downtown director, Michael Coppinger, of the Rutland Downtown Partnership. He praised Bresnahan for her collaboration in working with other downtown directors, and for her work on St. Alban’s master plan, saying “This plan shows great vision and it will lead to the continued success and sustainability of her downtown community.” Coppinger noted Bresnahan’s direct support Rutland established a relationship with a real estate developer working in both communities.

Volunteer of the Year
Paul Trudell of the Morristown Alliance for Culture and Commerce, Morristown

This award is granted to an individual who has exhibited a commitment to the community’s business district revitalization efforts through the unselfish donation of time and talent. Paul Trudell of The Morristown Alliance for Culture and Commerce has volunteered his services to the various “downtown” efforts in Morristown even before it was a “Designated Downtown.”

Trudell has been on the MACC board since its creation and has played a vital role in almost every grant written and awarded by providing professional drawings, such as streetscape improvements and building facades. He has also worked with downtown property owners assisting them with drawings for improvements to their building facades and helping with tax credit applications. Trudell has also been on the street helping to plant trees, spread mulch and fill the 60 planters distributed around downtown.

For more information please visit: www.historicvermont.org/programs/downtown.html

NYC Landmarks Commission Rejects Half of a Building

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The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 6-3 on Tuesday to designate the B. F. Goodrich Company Building (1780 Broadway) as a landmark and at the same time reject the B. F. Goodrich Company Building at 225 West 57th Street. Although the buildings face adjacent streets, they are on the same lot and were both developed in 1909 by the same architect, Howard Van Doren Shaw, for the B. F. Goodrich Company. They are Shaw’s only extant buildings in New York.

The Historic Districts Council issued the following Preservation Alert after the vote:

At today’s hearing, all nine commissioners present stated their support for the designation of 1780 Broadway, mentioning its architectural design but stressing its historic connection to Automobile Row. Six commissioners stated that 225 West 57th Street was of lesser significance because it did not have Broadway frontage and was “an accessory building” to the larger Goodrich headquarters. The other three commissioners defended the significance of the building and spoke highly of its architectural merit as well as its history of automobile-related uses.

225 West 57th Street, cureently under scaffolding and construction shroudOf particular interest was LPC Chair Robert Tierney’s statement referring to the City Council’s concerns about this designation. After the public hearing on August 11th, Council Members Daniel Garodnick, Melinda Katz, Jessica Lappin and Christine Quinn sent a joint letter to the Landmarks Preservation Commission opposing the designation of 225 West 57th Street based on “its drab appearance”, that “the company never occupied the building” and that “the designation of 225 West 57th Street could fatally compromise the footprint of the proposed development on this site”. This unprecedented message reframed deliberations about the significance-based worthiness of the buildings into “the argument for preservation against the economic development rationale… [of] allowing for new development on sites where buildings stand today”. Commissioner Tierney went on to state his belief that since there was a likelihood that the City Council would overturn the designation of 225 West 57th Street, the LPC should make a priority of designating 1780 Broadway which everyone agreed should be preserved.

The buildings’ preservation had been supported by HDC, other preservation groups and the local community boards on the basis of their significance to the development of New York City as the center for the nascent American automobile industry, as well as for the importance of the buildings’ architectural design. 225 West 57th Street specifically was a very early and unusual fusion of traditional and Modern design elements, using motifs and techniques from the Chicago and Viennese Secessionist Schools. These points were supported by research in the LPC’s files.

Representatives of the owner, Extell Development, as well as the American Institute of Architects/New York Chapter testified in favor of the designation of 1780 Broadway but opposed to 225 West 57th Street, stating that the buildings were only significant historically as they related to Automobile Row. Since West 57th Street was not on Automobile Row and the building was not occupied by the B. F. Goodrich Company, it was not worthy of being preserved. Additional owner’s representatives also stated that they might pursue a hardship application if 225 West 57th Street was designated (Extell is proposing to build a 60+-story building on the block including this site and has been assembling lots and air-rights to allow for this development for some time.)

In the end, it would appear that the developers won. Thanks to their lobbying efforts the City Council leadership was apparently convinced that this landmark designation was detrimental to the City. The Council’s opposition to the designation resulted in the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s rejection of the building. This is not how it should work.

HDC is exceptionally disappointed in the LPC’s yielding to political pressure. If the City Council was going to reject the designation of a worthy building, then the Council should have been put in a position of justifying that action. By ceding the designation of 225 West 25th Street, the LPC has set a terrible example for future designations.

HDC is also extraordinarily disturbed by the Council’s actions in this instance. While it is entirely appropriate for CM Daniel Garodnick to weigh in on a designation within his district, doing so before the community board has a chance to review the project is, at best, precipitous. The joint letter from the four council members, with its not-so-veiled threat, was a direct assault on the independence of the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the integrity of the Landmarks Law.

HDC has contacted these council members about our concerns over their involvement and we will be taking additional steps to make sure that the Landmarks Preservation Commission and their process remain transparent and independent. We look forward to updating you in the coming months.

Photo: 1780 Broadway, NYC

Books: Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville

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Cultural historian and journalist David Freeland has published his latest book,Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville: Excavating Manhattan’s Lost Places of Leisure, a rediscovery of the historic remnants of New York City’s leisure culture, including bier gartens in the Bowery, music publishers on Tin Pan Alley, jazz clubs in Harlem, and other locations throughout the city that remain partially intact, but obscured by the city’s development.

From the lights that never go out on Broadway to its 24-hour subway system, New York City isn’t called &#8220the city that never sleeps&#8221 for nothing. Both native New Yorkers and tourists have played hard in Gotham for centuries, lindy hopping in 1930s Harlem, voguing in 1980s Chelsea, and refueling at all-night diners and bars. The island is packed with places of leisure and entertainment, but Manhattan’s infamously fast pace of change means that many of these beautifully constructed and incredibly ornate buildings have disappeared, and with them a rich and ribald history.

David Freeland serves as a guide to uncover the skeletons of New York’s lost monuments to its nightlife. With an eye for architectural detail, Freeland opens doors, climbs onto rooftops, and gazes down alleyways to reveal several of the remaining hidden gems of Manhattan’s nineteenth- and twentieth-century entertainment industry.

From the lights that never go out on Broadway to its 24-hour subway system, New York City isn’t called &#8220the city that never sleeps&#8221 for nothing. Both native New Yorkers and tourists have played hard in Gotham for centuries, lindy hopping in 1930s Harlem, voguing in 1980s Chelsea, and refueling at all-night diners and bars. The slim island at the mouth of the Hudson River is packed with places of leisure and entertainment, but Manhattan’s infamously fast pace of change means that many of these beautifully constructed and incredibly ornate buildings have disappeared, and with them a rich and ribald history.

Yet with David Freeland as a guide, it’s possible to uncover skeletons of New York’s lost monuments to its nightlife. With a keen eye for architectural detail, Freeland opens doors, climbs onto rooftops, and gazes down alleyways to reveal several of the remaining hidden gems of Manhattan’s nineteenth- and twentieth-century entertainment industry.

From the Atlantic Garden German beer hall in present-day Chinatown to the city’s first motion picture studio—Union Square’s American Mutoscope and Biograph Company—to the Lincoln Theater in Harlem, Freeland situates each building within its historical and social context, bringing to life an old New York that took its diversions seriously.

Freeland reminds us that the buildings that serve as architectural guideposts to yesteryear’s recreations cannot be re-created—once destroyed they are gone forever. With condominiums and big box stores spreading over city blocks like wildfires, more and more of the Big Apple’s legendary houses of mirth are being lost.

HDC Honors Thomas F. Pike With Landmarks Lion Award

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The Historic Districts Council will honor the many achievements of Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Pike with their 2009 Landmarks Lion award on October 28th, at the Players Club near his home on Gramercy Park. To learn more about the Lion ceremony, visit this site– to see one of the many things Reverend Pike is involved with currently, go to here. The following article is a preview from the upcoming issue of District Lines, the HDC’s newsletter.

Rev. Dr. Thomas F. Pike

Reverend Thomas F. Pike has helped run so many organizations devoted to preserving buildings and landscapes nationwide that when he walks around a place where he has been proactive, people stop him to say thanks. During a recent stroll through Gramercy Park, for which he currently serves as a trustee and archivist, Arlene Harrison, head of the neighborhood’s block association, came through the glossily painted black iron gates and hugged him. “We love this man, he’s very special, he’s the real, real deal,” she said. “He understands what this park means spiritually to this community.”

For four decades, Reverend Pike has served as an Episcopal rector at Manhattan churches while finding countless hours each week to volunteer as a leader at city agencies and nonprofits, including the Landmarks Preservation Commission, The New York Landmarks Conservancy, Partners for Sacred Places, Preservation League of New York State and Partnership for the Homeless. On Oct. 28, he will receive HDC’s Landmarks Lion award at the Players Club near his home on Gramercy Park.

On a balmy afternoon in the park a few weeks ago, he was asked to reflect on his influence and quietly replied, “When I look back, I just wish I’d done more.” He attributes his lifelong interest in performing good works for historic architecture partly to his childhood in progressive intellectual circles. He grew up in Hastings, New York, where his father, Frederick, managed a newspaper and was friendly with African-American scholars including City College sociologist Kenneth Clark and newspaper owner Alger Adams. In the late 1950’s, as an undergraduate at SUNY New Paltz, the future reverend at first studied painting, then switched career tracks as calls for social change swept the United States.

“The fight for civil rights was in full swing and the peace movement was in its early days,” he recalled. Soon after he received his Yale divinity degree in 1963, he was at the frontlines of these causes. “I was arrested five times: that gives you a flavor of my life,” he said. He spent overnights in jail for alleged offenses committed while protesting workplace discrimination, giving antiwar sermons and leading marches demanding emergency housing for black families left homeless by suspicious fires.

In 1971 he was hired as rector for what is now Calvary/St. George’s—the congregation owns two 1840’s churches near Gramercy Park—and until his retirement last year he conducted numerous services there daily. In the 1970’s and ‘80’s, as he patiently dealt with repairs on those structures, fellow clergy kept plaintively telling him about their own buildings’ hefty maintenance bills and how they were occasionally resorting to demolition.

“So I became more and more revved up about preserving religious buildings,” Reverend Pike said. “I began to see the relationship between preservation and social justice.” Old churches and synagogues, he added, “enable a community to tell its story honestly, tangibly, and graphically, in a way that can’t be denied. And the diversity of American religious buildings celebrates the diversity of our whole society. If we erase the buildings, we’re rewriting history.”

Serving in his numerous pro bono posts and grants-giving roles, he has persuaded other religious leaders to adapt structures for outreach projects including food kitchens, alcohol abuse treatment programs and temporary housing for the homeless. He has also advocated for the preservation of secular buildings in struggling neighborhoods, like the humble row of freed slaves’ homes in Bedford-Stuyvesant now called the Weeksville Heritage Center. “Buildings do not have to be beautiful to have powerful storytelling capacity,” the reverend said. “Preservation is not an elitist pursuit, although it’s sometimes thought of as a rich man’s sport.”

Gratitude for his organizations’ support, he added, has come from surprising sources. “I’ve been out to a Congregationalist church in Brooklyn where a young mother living across the street in an apartment building with every window broken came up to me and said, ‘Looking out every day and seeing that steeple repaired now—it gives us a sense of peace and a lot of hope.’ I’m absolutely convinced that architecture can change lives. I like to quote the philosopher Ernst Bloch, who said that architecture is an embodiment of hope. You only fix the roof of a place when you believe your community will be there for a long, long time. Every repair is a gesture of commitment to the future.”

The reverend’s retirement last year has allowed him and his wife Lys, a former director of the city’s Council on the Environment, more time to focus on their own landmark: a clapboarded 1790 farmhouse near Camden, Maine. They spend half the year there when not visiting their three children: Jean, an architect in New York- Nicholas, an assets manager in Boston- and Thomas Jr., an Army lieutenant-colonel about to be deployed on his second stint in Afghanistan.

Receiving a Lion award, Reverend Pike said, “feels comfortable, but I feel a little unworthy, too, since I know and admire so many past Lions. But I like being identified as a lion, a kind of radical preservationist. That brings together many threads of my life.”

NYC Landmarks Commission Designates Underground Railroad Site

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The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has voted to designate the Lamartine Historic District in West Chelsea [pdf]. This short stretch of 12 row houses on West 29th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues possess a rare connection to the history of New York and American civil liberties. More recently, the Gibbons-Hopper House at 339 West 29th Street has been the site of an attempt by the landlord to build (illegally according to the the Historic Districts Council) a penthouse addition. A grassroots advocacy organization, Friends of the Gibbons UGGR Site and Lamartine Place, convinced the City to act to preserve the block and revoke the building permits.

Here is a description of the property provided by the Historic Districts Council:

Originally constructed between 1846 and 1847, no. 337 West 29th street was acquired in 1851 by James S. Gibbons, a banker and writer, and husband of renowned abolitionist Abigail Hopper Gibbons. It was at No. 337 that Isaac T. Hopper, father of Abigail and a staunch abolitionist widely acknowledged as a father of the Underground Railroad, died in May 1852. The Gibbons family occupied the house for two years before acquiring the house next door at 339 West 29th Street in 1853. In his memoirs, the American lawyer and diplomat Joseph Hodges Choate, who was also a friend of the Gibbons family recollects dining with the Gibbons and a fugitive slave at No. 339 in 1855, citing the residence as a stop on the Underground Railroad. This is the best-documented evidence of a still-extant site serving as a “station” in the Underground Railroad in New York City.

Abigail Gibbons later invited black and white guests to stay at the house during the 1856 Anti Slavery Convention, and she also later met with abolitionist John Brown there. The building was attacked by mobs in 1862 during unrest around the Emancipation Proclamation and again in 1863 during the New York City Civil War Draft Riots, when the Gibbons’ daughters were forced to escape the angry mob by climbing over rooftops to their uncle’s home at 335 West 29th Street.

Photo: Historic Lamartine Place, now West 29th Street. Courtesy HDC.

14th Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards

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On Friday afternoon, October 9, 2009, preservation enthusiasts gathered at the The Inn at Erlowest on Lake George to honor and celebrate the 14th Annual Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) Awards. Six awardees shared their stories of challenge and success, passion and purpose amongst a lively and engaged group of supporters and friends. In all of the awards, the stewardship committee seeks representative examples of long-term stewardship and committed preservation practice as well as sensitivity to the original function and period of each resource.

This year’s awardees include:

William Gates, for long-term stewardship of the Gates Homestead, Bolton Landing

Paul and Susan Provost, for long-term stewardship of Hemlock Hall, Blue Mountain Lake

Sekon Association, for long-term stewardship of Fish Rock Camp and Camp Calumet, Upper Saranac Lake

Thomas Finnigan III, for long-term stewardship of T.F. Finnigan Men’s Clothing Store, Saranac Lake

The Atkinson Family, for long-term stewardship of their home, Keene Valley

Bruce and Beki Pushee, for long-term stewardshp of the Old Mill Bed and Breakfast, Elizabethtown

The Adirondack Architectural Heritage Awards program welcomes nominations throughout the year from its membership and the general public. Help us spread the word about the good work going on in our region by nominating a project from your community.

For more information about our awards program and to obtain a nomination form, contact Ellen Ryan, Community Outreach Director, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 1790 Main Street, Suite 37, Keeseville, New York 12944, 518-834-9328 or visit their website at www.aarch.org.

Waterfront Preservation Programs Announced

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New York City’s Historic Districts Council, the citywide advocate for New York’s historic neighborhoods, will be presenting &#8220On the Waterfront in New York,&#8221 a series of films, lectures, and discussions exploring the history and preservation of NYC’s historic waterfront neighborhoods &#8211 much of which is proposed for redevelopment. Topics will include the preservation of South Street, the commercial and industry history of the waterfront, and a waterfront tour of the South Street seaport.

Film Screening and Discussion: Street of Ships
Thursday, October 1, 2009, 6:30pm
Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue at East 2nd Street, Manhattan
Fee: $15/$10 for Friends of HDC, seniors & students.

“Street of Ships” is a 1982 documentary by Charles Richards that chronicles the efforts by Peter Stanford and the early Friends of South Street to save from destruction and preserve some of the city’s oldest and most historically significant buildings. It concludes with the controversy surrounding the goals of 1980s commercial developers versus those wishing to maintain the area’s historical authenticity. The film features archival footage of the Seaport that evokes its past uses as a port and commercial district, along with interviews with area stakeholders and policy experts. The film will be followed by a presentation by Robert LaValva, founder and director of New Amsterdam Market, about the role of waterfront markets. The program will conclude with a discussion—reflecting new opportunities for the future of the Seaport District—with participants from the film including Peter Stanford, a founder and past president of South Street Seaport Museum and Terry Walton, a founder of the Seaport Museum and vice chair of the Working Harbor Committee.

On the Waterfront: A Lecture
Wednesday, October 14, 2009, 6:30pm
The Seamen’s Church Institute, 241 Water Street, Manhattan
Fee: $15/$10 for Friends, seniors & students.

This panel will examine the history and future of the waterfront through different lenses, from the commercial past of its wharves and docks to the adaptive reuse of structures still lining its edges. Richard A. Greenwald, professor of history and dean of graduate studies at Drew University will discuss the commercial aspects of New York City’s waterfront development from the mid-19th century up to 1950 as depicted in the film, “On the Waterfront.” Roland Lewis, president and CEO of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, will examine the reuse of industrial structures along the City’s waterfront. The third speaker, Kevin Bone, an architect and editor of several books on the waterfront, will address the history and development of Manhattan’s historic seawall, a gargantuan structure which encircles the whole island and has literally shaped how the city has grown.

From the Ferries to the Fish Market: A Walking Tour of the South street Seaport
Sunday, October 18, 2009, 11:00am
Location to be announced upon registration.
Fee: October 18: $35/$25 for Friends, seniors & students.

The series will conclude with an in-depth tour of the South Street Seaport, examining such noted landmarks as the South Street Seaport Museum, the WPA-era New Market Building, and historic local businesses. Tour attendees will hear about the South Street Seaport’s diverse past from its beginnings up to the current day as a commercial, retail and residential district. Mr. LaValva will also discuss the role of public markets in shaping the East River waterfront. More recent history and plans for the future, including the massive redevelopment proposal by General Growth Properties will also be addressed by special guest Madeline Rogers. Due in part to this proposed development, in 2009 the Historic Districts Council successfully nominated the Seaport to the Preservation League of New York State’s “Seven to Save” listing of places to preserve in New York State. The tour will end at Acqua, a noted Seaport establishment for a complimentary drink. The exact location for the tour will be announced upon registration.

The complete series of all three events is $60/$40 for Friends, seniors & students. Advance reservations are required. Tickets can be ordered by visiting or contacting www.hdc.org, 212-614-9107 or [email protected].

Workshops And Webinars On NYS Preservation Tax Credit

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The Preservation League of New York State is sponsoring or participating in a series of workshops and webinars this fall to help New Yorkers take advantage of New York’s expanded preservation tax credit which begins in 2010. The tax benefit provides incentives for developers and municipalities seeking to rehabilitate historic buildings, and is hoped to advance redevelopment and economic stimulus goals throughout New York State by spurring over $500 million dollars of economic activity and creating some 2,000 jobs over its initial five-year lifespan.

The act will take effect on January 1, 2010. For more information on New York’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit Programs, call the New York State Historic Preservation Office at (518) 237-8643 or visit http://nysparks.state.ny.us/shpo/investment/index.htm .

Workshops and webinars:

Albany Tax Credit Workshop
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Time: 8:30 to 12:00 noon
Place: 11 North Pearl Street
$5 for Historic Albany Foundation members, $10 for the general public. Email Cara Macri at [email protected] or call 518-465-0876 x12

Rochester Tax Credit Workshop
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 8:00 to 11:00 a.m.
Place: Nixon Peabody LLP, 1100 Clinton Square
Register online, or for more information, email Dan Kolodner at [email protected].

Statewide Tax Credit Webinar
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
The law firm of Cannon Heyman & Weiss will host a webinar on the recently expanded NYS Historic Preservaion Tax Credit. For further details and registration information, visit www.chwattys.com or call 518-465-1500 (Albany) or 716-856-1700 (Buffalo).

Syracuse Tax Credit Workshop
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Time: 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Place: Hotel Syracuse, 500 South Warren Street, Persian Terrace
Sponsored by the Metropolitan Development Association of Syracuse and Central New York. For more information, contact Ben Walsh at [email protected].

Buffalo Tax Credit Workshop
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Times: 1:00 &#8211 3:00 p.m. (Commercial) 5:30 &#8211 7:30 p.m. (Residential)
Place: Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, 25 Nottingham Terrace
Hosted by Assemblymember Sam Hoyt, the workshops will offer guidance for people and businesses interested in using the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits authored by the Assemblyman. To RSVP, call Preservation Buffalo Niagara at 716-852-3300.

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Inside The Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City

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A new book, Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, by Michelle and James Nevius offers 182 short chapters that tell the story of the city from Henry Hudson’s voyage of discovery in 1609 to the present-day rebuilding of the World Trade Center site. At the back, fourteen self-guided tours allow you to use the chapters to create your own explorations of the city.

This fast-paced narrative history unfolds in mini-chapters designed to guide you to obscure and prominent historic places throughout the city. The supplemental maps and step-by-step directions make using the book to explore the city in a new way easy and accessible. The book is broken down into several parts that include New Amsterdam, the Revolutionary Era, and the Birth of New Republic- The Great Port, 1805-1835- The Growth of the Immigrant City, 1836-1865- The City in Transition, 1866-1897- The New Beautiful City, 1898-1919- Boom and Bust, 1920-1945- and the City Since World War Two.

The layout makes reading the book as a traditional history possible and brings to life the city’s fascinating and dramatic past for locals, tourists, and anyone eager to better know the stories and places of New York City history. Also check out the authors’ blog.

Locals Elected to Adirondack Architectural Heritage Board

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For your information comes the following press release issued by the Adirondack Architectural Heritage on the recent election of their Board of Directors:

On June 13, 2009, Adirondack Architectural Heritage (AARCH) held its annual meeting at the Boathouse Theater in Schroon Lake, during which time the following individuals were elected to serve their first three-year term on AARCH’s Board of Directors: Willem Monster (Northampton), and Albert Price (Piseco Lake)- Jane Mackintosh (Queensbury), and Howard Lowe (Plattsburgh), were elected to serve their second three-year term- William Johnston (Westport), Jay Higgins (Lake Placid), and Phebe Thorne (Keene Valley), were elected to the AARCH Advisory Council. And, at the July AARCH Board meeting, Stewart de Camp (Thendara) was elected to serve on the AARCH Board for a first three-year term.

Adirondack Architectural Heritage is the private, non-profit, historic preservation organization for New York State’s Adirondack Park. AARCH was formed in 1990 with a mission to promote better public understanding, appreciation and stewardship of the Adirondack’s unique and diverse architectural heritage. For more information on membership and our complete program schedule contact AARCH at (518) 834-9328 or visit our website at www.aarch.org.