The Historic Districts Council was at the last LPC meeting where the new playground at the South Street Seaport was discussed. They weigh in on their blog:Funny, didn't look to us like they took a vote
This is getting interesting...
The Historic Districts Council was at the last LPC meeting where the new playground at the South Street Seaport was discussed. They weigh in on their blog:
12 comments:
I hope that Mr. Bankoff (executive director) of the Historic Districts Council comes out and strongly opposes this "hair-brained" playgound. It would make up for his "open support" of Councilman Dennis Gallager (R) Queens (via a letter-to-the-editor in the local press) as a friend of historic preservation in our borough! A question: Isn't it innapropriate for a not for profit organization to support a politician or a violation of their status?
What? We are losing entire communities in Queens and they feign disinterest.
One playgound in Manhattan and they are johnny on the spot.
This may be true. I often wonder how much time money and resources that HDC allocates to Queens, when compared to Manhattan. You can be sure it's probably less. Maybe HDC shortchanges our borough (in these areas) as much as the LPC does! Do both organizations assume that we're a bunch of country bumpkins!
Well, lets see, Queens is about 37% of NYC. So they should spend about .... 37% of their time, effort and money on Queens.
What does everyone else think about that?
Yeah! Hell! And if any of you folks out there believe this I'll sell you the Queensboro Bridge! You've got to drag HDC out to Queens, furnish them with a subway or road map, then stamp their passports and convince them that they won't fall off the face of New York and fall into an abyss somewhere near Junction Boulevard!
At least they are not as bad as LPC, which addressed their latest rejection letter (in their infamous hand written scrawl) to a certain neighbhorhood they termed "Richmond Hills."
Is it true that when LPC first came out to Queens to look over Richmond Hill for possible Landmarking that they came to the wrong address or surveyed the wrong blocks or something?
Yes its true, but, like the scribbled addresses on form letters they mail back to Queens residents who are looking to landmark a neighborhood momument, I believe that was intentional.
As I always say, Queens virtually doesn't exist in the eyes of the LPC. Besides calling our Victorian mecca, "Richmond Hills," the LPC did survey the wrong blocks for potential historic district inclusion. To add, their stalling implies a total disregard. I'll believe it when I see it, but I'm still remaining optimistic.
Thanks for your sharing with us your optimism (Ms. C.? I think?) I hope to see it happen also, but Councilman Gallagher hasn't delivered much more than a "promise" regarding an LPC historic district for Richmond Hill and his "mugging-for-the-camera while speechifying" ain't much of a help either! Sincerely, all the best of luck. I've been fighting with you on this, side by side, in the trenches! I don't know why Simeon Bankoff (Exec. Dir. of HDC) had insisted upon making Gallagher a "saint" in that "butt-kissing" letter-to-the-editor he wrote to the weekly papers that ran last year! If he, or anyone thinks that Gallagher is the best that we can hope for, then God help us in preserving our history!
It's been circulating around...... that a certain Mr. "S.B" of HDC can't stand the heat of criticism eminating from individuals from Queens! Imagine someone residing in Brooklyn, who is employed by a Manhattan oriented preservation group, indicating to us what our own preservation priorities ought to be here in Queens! Where was your group's advocacy for our borough when we needed it a more than a decade ago? Answer: Too busy with its Manhattan priorities!
Yes, indeed. The ad hominem attacks of anonymous posters cause me great grief - thank you very much.
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