Preservationists listen in on the hearing. Photo by James Kelleher.

Proposed preservation of the East Village meets a vocal audience

The city’s preservationists came together in City Hall Tuesday when they made their voices heard at a Landmark Preservation Commission public hearing regarding proposed preservation designation for parts of the East Village.

The proposal includes many historical, albeit dated, buildings like the Congregation Meseritz Synagogue and Max D. Raskin Center, both on East 6th, Duo Multicultural Center on East 4th, and the popular ale house on East 7th, McSorley’s.

In all, the proposal covers protects 330 buildings, the NY Times says.

Alongside many of the neighborhood’s foreign residents, who cite the area’s “contextual architecture” and storied past, representatives from the offices of State Senator Tom Duane, State Senator Daniel Squadron, and Councilman Rosie Mendez strongly supported the LPC’s effort.

As expected, local clergy were the opposition’s loudest voices, saying their groups would be put under extreme financial strains if their buildings were landmarked.

One member of the parish went as far as labeling the landmarking a sin.

The meeting was another stop in the LPC’s “extensive correspondence” with local voices, and there is no ETA for the committee’s decision.

The Landmark Preservation Commission spoke with property owners in Morningside Heights about a potential historic district in the area Monday, Sept. 20, at Riverside Church

This is a crucial but informal part of the landmark designation process, similar to a recent meeting of property owners about preserving West End Avenue buildings.

Walter South, who heads the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee, was miffed that the Landmarks Preservation Commission never notified the local community board on which he serves. Still, South was nonetheless pleased the commission was moving forward on a proposal he has pursued since 1996.

“We have a number of institutions in the area that have been expanding and insisting they need more space for so-called academic purposes,” South said, making a thinly veiled swipe at Columbia University.

Columbia already demolished brownstones on West 115th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Morningside Drive.

Another threat to the unique architecture of Morningside Heights buildings are owners that strip off ornamentation rather than make repairs, South argued.

“The area is losing a lot of its architectural distinction,” South said. “Cornices have been removed from buildings.”