St. Saviour's is being stripped down in preparation for preservation. That's right - I said preservation, not demolition. More on this soon. What can be said and seen right now is that Richard Upjohn's 1847 classic board- and-batten structure, that preservationists have long argued was under the shingles, has been revealed. You writing this down, Mary Beth Betts?
16 comments:
You'd better start readjusting
your mysterious "criteria" Mary Beth Betts.
The LPC has long left Queens mired
in the ineptitude and prejudice of the commission
who have consistently snubbed
many of our landmark worthy sites.
"Altered beyond recognition"
is the patent phrase that Bob Tierney and his gang have applied to summarily dismiss
the request for evaluation
that was submitted for St. Saviour's church
as well as many other of our borough's
well deserving sites.
Well, here it is.....St. Saviour's stripped bare
along with the LIES of a lazy bigoted
Landmarks Preservation Commission !
LPC's closed door, back room dealings
must be opened up to public scrutiny
so that the sun can shine into their dark corners.
Hopefully,
the Citizens Emergency Committee
To Preserve Preservation's (CECPP) lawsuit
which was filed on March 5th, will
go a long way to "persuade" the LPC
(long co-opted by the Bloomberg
administration), to put its cards on the table.
No more dealing off the bottom of the deck!
We want an honest game for ALL 5 boroughs!
No aces up the sleeve for the LPC's long prefered favorite.....Manhattan!
Queens has long been
"a developers' paradise and landmarks stepchild",
to quote former president of QHS Dr. Cogan.
What a beautiful building! With the siding stripped off, it probably looks much like it did when it was built.
The LPC's stance on this building is is stain on the reputation of every individual involved. Do Bob and Mary Beth realize they are endangering the very law itself with their transparently biased decisions?
Well I don't see the preservation community twisting their shorts over this like they did for 2 Columbus Circle. Their response has been lukewarm at best (remember the shameful efforts by the 4 borros telling us to 'compromise')
The fact of the matter is institutional discriminaton against the outer b's, and places of people of color or working classes, remain a significant part of the preservation landscape.
That, not the antics of the LPC, is the reason this church is in this condition. This building is standing only by the heroic efforts of JVCA.
Even if you move the chruch, it will lose a significant portion of its historic context. And by the time you spend money to move it, restore it, the millions spent could have been used to keep it in situ, where it belongs. It will lose so much of its historic value. Moving it to Lutheran Cemetery? Think about it.
Running programs in full view of funerals will be awkward, at best.
Also, by moving, it could perhaps 'save' the building, but we would lose the trigger to overturn the law, and start from scratch.
Scores more buildings will now be lost.
We might save the tree, but at the cost of losing a forest.
The building will be in an area near the street, and not near graves. It will also be in an area that is more accessible to public transportation than its current location. Most of the programs would probably be at night, when there are no funerals. And why would we care if there were funerals going on? The church held them inside its walls for 157 years. Furthermore, I would prefer to save the building than have to dig pieces of it out of a landfill.
Also, by moving, it could perhaps 'save' the building, but we would lose the trigger to overturn the law, and start from scratch.
Scores more buildings will now be lost.
We might save the tree, but at the cost of losing a forest.
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Like Penn Station, if the law was overturned because of this building, scores of historic structure that now likely will be destroyed could have been saved.
One building vs the fabric of a city.
This is why the machine is so successful. They are aces at finding just the right way to cut a deal with the pebble in the shoe to ensure that nothing ever gets changed.
And tomorrow we fight the same battles again.
So go ahead, cut your deal. I will think of it many times when I see my community destroyed piece by piece.
Any moment, we can expect Parvizi the caterer and her invisible lackey, Manley the reporter to announce that it is due to their behind-the-scenes negotiations that brought about this preservation effort.
We can then expect Dizzy Lizzie to claim full credit when she goes door-to-door campaigning for city council.
To set the record straight girls, it was the noose that did the job.
There is no deal; we are moving it using our own money, hands and sweat.
Good for you!
The people at JVCA remain an inspiration for everyone.
And to the complainer: you are right in everthing you say, but in life nothing is perfect.
Not to worry. The way the perservation community stumbles around you will get your chance soon enough!
Be happy for these guys - they deserve it!
A community of farmers built it; it's fitting that the community will move and rebuild it.
Enough is enough! Earth to Tierney-Betts & Co!
Once the Jupiter Park Civic moves the church and retores it, I'd like to donate a plaque with the following inscription to affix on the front door.
"This church was saved by a small group of people who care about the community with no thanks whatsoever to the following indiviauls and organizations who either ignored or fought against the preservation efforts. These indiviauls are therefore not welcome in this building:
Former Councilman Dennis Gallagher
Borough President Helen Marshall
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
LPC Chair Robert Tierney
The Parkside Group
Senator Serf Maltese
Nazli Parvisi and Jennifer Manley
and the list will go on....
ineteresting idea, perhaps a statue of Gallagher sexually abusing a woman could be put in the gardens. Made out of pink snadstone, of course.
Even if the church is moved, the site may still be developed into Fedders crap, and the neighborhood will still lack a much-needed park.
If the church is moved, the potential parkland should be fought for. Never abandon hope.
Let some of those mealy mouthed,
out of touch civic associations
in eastern Queens take a good lesson
from their western brothers and sisters
of the JPCA when it comes to
putting up a good fight.
Bravo and kudos to you all for
never giving up your hopes and dreams!
This is truly a miracle !
P.S.
and we would like to thank
the good ghosts of St. Saviour's for their
invaluable aid.
We will see to it
that your bones in the churchyard
are not desecrated and will continue
to pray for your souls.
Rest in peace.
Tomer Dafna, you did the right thing.
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