Garden City: It's not Queens

From CBS 2:

The Victorian gem in Garden City is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, but that designation does not protect it from the wrecking ball.

“To lose this type of history to Garden City would be a shame,” said Michael Raab of the Nassau County Office of Housing and Community Development. “It is one of the Stewart homes.”

For months, there were no takers for the 133-year-old home. The Garden City Historical Society was devastated at the thought of losing it, and caught the attention of Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano.

Mangano asked Raab to begin pulling together volunteers, and dozens came aboard to offer to donate their time and services.

“It is a heartwarming project to be able to help a potential veteran in need of housing,” said Michael Pfeiffer of the Nassau County Habitat for Humanity.

If the plan works, expert volunteers will actually lift the house, put it on hydraulic flatbeds, and slowly roll it to Mitchell Field.

Still no official cause determined for Elmhurst's most historic house

From DNA Info:

Fire officials are still investigating a blaze that tore through a historic home in September.

A two-alarm fire gutted the former 1700s farmhouse at 90-11 56th Ave. at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, destroying the top floor's white mansard roof and dormer windows.

A spokesman for the FDNY said Monday it's is still under investigation — although "the cause of the fire is considered to be incendiary."

According to the Bureau of Fire Investigations, "incendiary" could mean fire caused by combustible material, ignitable liquid, fireworks, a torch, reckless use of an open flame, combustible gas, attempted arson, explosives, suicide, attempted suicide or self immolation.

There are still people who want to save it. Including Danny Dromm! Who would have thought?

Most historic house in Elmhurst destroyed by fire after purchase

Katie Honan/DNA Info

From DNA Info:

An historic old house was gutted Tuesday morning by a two-alarm fire that is still under investigation, according to the fire department.

The fire was called in at 8:30 a.m., according to the FDNY. It tore through the second floor of the large green house at 90-11 56th Ave., ripping up the top floor's white mansard roof and dormer windows.

The property was sold Aug. 20 for $2 million to a company formed last October called 90-56 L&Z Realty LLC, city records show.

A filing for the LLC shows it was formed October 2014 by Kui Lin, of Sunset Park.

This is/was the Col. Bernardus Bloom farmhouse. The land was previously owned in 1700 by John Brinckerhoff. In 1742, Col. Bloom purchased it. The Suydam family owned it in 1852. Many applications for landmarking were submitted over the years, but the owners and LPC resisted and this is the end result. - QC



History and photo from NYPL.org

A recent photo before the fire can be seen on COMET's website.

Have fun in the voting booth tomorrow!

This was the Vetter house in Richmond Hill. Its last use was as the Simonson Funeral Home.
The Richmond Hill Historical Society stored its collections there prior to 2007.
Despite preservationist efforts, the house was torn down in 2007.
In its place, a Gerald Caliendo special. Mr. Caliendo sits on Community Board 1 thanks to Peter Vallone, who received $12,275 in campaign contributions from him. And this building, as well as the rest of Victorian Richmond Hill, was denied landmark status during the tenure of Melinda Katz as Chair of Land Use of the City Council.

Remember, the 2 main functions of the borough president are community board appointments and land use.

Brooklyn neighborhood wants landmark protection

From the Daily News:

A whopping 1,150 Victorian-style homes around Ditmas Park would be landmarked to maintain their historic character under a proposal being pushed by local pols and community leaders.

City Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush) and other elected officials are urging the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission to bestow that status on the homes, built 100 years ago by a small group of architects who converted the neighborhood from farmland into a tree-lined community.

“We are big believers in preserving and celebrating the history of what we have in this community,” said Williams’ spokesman Stefan Ringel.

The Bloomberg administration is reviewing the 437-page application, submitted in March by a group of neighborhood associations and the Flatbush Development Corp.

Swaths of homes in the Ditmas Park area have already been landmarked, but that process has been done piecemeal since 1978.

So there's a City Council member out there who hasn't been bought by developers? How nice that must be.

I hate what you've done with the place!

Scouting NY brings us the sad story of the crappification of the former home of late preservationist, Nancy Cataldi. As you look at these photos, remember that this comes courtesy of Mary Beth Betts, director of research at the LPC, who never met an unattached house in Queens that she gave a shit about. Specificly, she told Nancy and others in Richmond Hill to go jump in a lake when they requested historic district designation for Victorian homes there.


Nancy's family likely sold the home to a buyer that planned to live in it to ensure that it would not become a teardown. But is this really any better?


Nancy, wherever you are, I hope you can't see this.