Monday, November 26, 2007

Preserving the Lower East Side

Rapid real-estate development in the East Village has prompted preservationists to try to save the last remnants of the neighborhood's immigrant history with a bid to landmark six buildings, including an old biscuit factory and Webster Hall.

WRECKING BRAWL

We got plenty of old theaters and factories here, too. Why any of the buildings mentioned in the article are more important than any of the local landmarks lost in our borough is beyond me.

Oh, that's right, they're in Manhattan, where elected officials and community boards fight to get things landmarked. Here, reading the demo permit list is the most anticipated event of the community board meeting (after liquor license renewals).

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the public sidewalk hogging cafe licenses.

It is a lovely thing to do to, to sit and block the sidewalk and have a quiet evening with all those TLC/SUV horns honking a few feet away. Smell the sickly sweet aromas and the hooka pipes and look around at the people, most who don't even live in the neighborhood anymore.

Thank you community board 1.

Anonymous said...

I don't even know most of the people in our community board, or what they did to get appointed.

I do know that they are doing nothing useful in getting the things in our neighborhood cleaned up and turn a blind eye to our problems.

They do spend a lot of time listening to developer proposals, though.

Anonymous said...

Well, in Manhattan, there is a real effort to learn about preservation, and when they go to the groups that advocate for it, they get real help of time and funding.

Here, in Queens, the same tired deadheads sit around making lists, organizing themselves into little hierarchies, and spend time making certain they don't step on toes.

Anonymous said...

The grassroots efforts in Queens are almost always derailed. When we go to the city-wide groups, they always give us useful info - like to to your local official or go to your community board.

Nothing else.

No info, no money, no nuttin'.

Anonymous said...

The community boards in Queens are about as useful as going into a voting booth and looking at all those names.

Everything is done to make your input as meaningless as possible.

Anonymous said...

I say there should be one standard for the entire city. We have two, Manhattan and the rest of us.

And this will be institutionalized with the Four Burros. Like Queensmarks, so Queens, so bullshit, so stupid.

Anonymous said...

I'll bet that liquor license renewals
is top on C.M. Gallagher's list
of important issues
(along with grandma gawking) !

"Oh Danny boy....the pipes....the pipes are callin'." A-hem....to hell with that.... the glasses are callin'
and they're empty....fill 'em up!

Anonymous said...

I couldn't agree more. The Four Borroughs is exhibit A of what is wrong with preservation.

We either have one standard, or we have no standard, and by extension, no law.

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute, if we have different criteria applied for different neighborhoods, why is this not discussed at Landmarks Conservency, or Historic Districts Council?

What is the Queens Preservation Council doing about this?

Anonymous said...

If we had some decent preservation groups
in Queens....all wouldn't be lost !

In the meantime...welcome to all the
Yuletide festivities and historic house tours.

Is that a Merlot or Cabernet you're pouring?
Love the Brie and Camembert !

Anonymous said...

it's a a fucking joke but a very unfunny one. ya'll in Queens ** do ** have organizational problems, tho' Brooklyn or the Bronx are hardly better... Brooklyn might be improving, slightly but WWIB is ** still ** waiting for even one "real estate" or "neighborhood" (Park Slope or Gownaus, either would be fine) blog to note the destruction of this building--

http://www.whowalkinbrooklyn.com/?p=462

which, what a surprise, PREDATES-- as do many of its neighbors-- all the buildings cited in the article about the "East Village." as with so much that QC writes about, there's nobody stopping others from covering it also, yet somehow (so far) they haven't.

small solace but the situation in the Bronx, btw, is even bleaker, & gets almost NO attention. (if ya'll thought the Bronx all burned down, no, it didn't.) partly, I suppose, this is bc when you're poor, the present is more important than the past. In Queens, where so many people have moved for a future... the thought that this stuff is important is hard to get through, alas.

regards,

wwib

Anonymous said...

Why don't you list some of the specific buildings in Queens that you believe were unfairly denied landmark status? It would be good to see actual examples.

Anonymous said...

Why don't you list some of the specific buildings in Queens that you believe were unfairly denied landmark status?

------------

HEY, HERE IS A GREAT IDEA - WHY DOESN'T SOMEONE CALL LPC AND ASK THEM FOR A LIST OF REJECTS?

Anonymous said...

That "4 Boroughs" group
is quickly becoming the 4 burrittos
(crap filled....of course).

verdi said...

We should publish an obituary
of the MANY worthy Queens buildings
that were denied landmark status.....
and as a result.....are no longer with us.

How about it QHS ?

Sound like a worthy project ?

Anonymous said...

that would be cool. Would the papers print the obits, though? Probably. Local newspapers are so hard up for cash that they'd print just about anything.

ps Would be neat to publish obits of some of our local politicos, too, who seem like they're no longer with us, either, due to how little they do for our communities.

Anonymous said...

How about it QHS ?
---
Sure, start with your Queens Marks.

And please, please, don't intrude in our community. Stay out in Flushing. NY Historical wouldn't dare involve themselves in Landmarks West, nor should you involve yourself in our affairs. If the folks in other parts of Queens buy your bull that you are the umbrella or something that is their problem.

You were around long enough to do something useful. You didn't. Look at this borough. Look at the state of the preservation community. How many years and meetings did you have. What have you accomplished?

Now the best thing you guys can do is just stay away. We can take care of our community.

Don't waste our time forcing us to sit around with frozen smiles as you 'host' some event in our backyard sniffing around our officials for funding that should go to us.

Anonymous said...

Putting together a list of dead buildings does sound like a waste of time to me.

We need a list of endangered buildings.

Walk in Brooklyn is correct - why is vast parts of this city silent? HDC, how about some answers?

Anonymous said...

Actually, having QHS put togehter a useless list would be good.

Like ol Vince giving a lecture, "its alllll gone."

You walk out wanting to stangle someone with the slide projector's power cord.

Anonymous said...

The suggested obituary was a joke folks !

It's far better to do another useless high paid "study"
of endangered structures that can sit on a shelf
to gather dust somewhere.

NOW THAT'S SARCASM !

Anonymous said...

Hey Mr. HDC etc. basher......
ever tried to grow some callouses
or work up a good sweat
doing some heavy pulling ?

I guess it's so much easier reading
your own published "pearls of wisdom".

All talk but no walk....eh.....h-m-m-m ?

Anonymous said...

I'll bet that the Manhattan-centric preservation organizations like HDC,
Landmarks Conservancy, Municipal Arts Society, etc.
are Johnny-on-the-spot
when it comes to these Manhattan issues.....
and Johnny-on-the-bowl when it comes to Queens!