New Historic District for Manhattan?

[Building owners and residents along Manhattan Avenue between 104th and 106th Streets are pushing to have the neighborhood deemed a historic district.] Last night, at a community meeting, the first steps toward attaining that goal were taken. The area once might have been home to squatters and drug dealers, but no more. Now, [the Renaissance Revival and Queen Anne-style homes](http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E4DF103CF93BA15752C1A96F958260) coexist with diverse businesses like French bakeries and Caribbean restaurants. The neighborhood has recently seen soaring real estate rates, and in a time when gentrification is drastically changing even the farthest corners of our city, the designation of historic district might give New Yorkers some confidence that at least this corner won’t become recognizable.