The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has launched a new, enhanced version of its interactive map Discover NYC Landmarks that for the first time includes easily accessible and detailed information on each of the nearly 34,000 historic buildings within the City’s 141 historic districts.
This release complements the map’s existing information on the more than 1,400 individual landmarks, and provides an unparalleled resource for understanding and exploring the city’s built heritage. The LPC’s web map is based on the largest and most comprehensive historic building data collection created by any municipal preservation agency in the United States.
The map, which is designed to be accessible from computers, smartphones, and tablets, allows the public to easily search, navigate and explore the City’s designated landmarks and historic districts. New features include pop-ups for each building in historic districts with information such as construction date, architect, style, building type and original use.
The map now also contains powerful new tools to search and filter historic district building data. Map users can search and filter by characteristics such as architectural style, architect, building type and era of construction. For example, with the new filtering tool, users can easily identify and visualize every apartment building in the Upper West Side Historic District or every Queen Anne Style rowhouse in the Bedford Historic District. This will allow for a greater understanding and appreciation of New York City’s historic buildings and neighborhoods.
The new building data featured on the map is the result of LPC’s Historic Building Data Project, funded by The New York Community Trust. Through this project, which was managed by LPC’s GIS Administrator and Planning Analyst Daniel Watts, staff and fellows compiled and transferred building-by-building information from 50 years of the Commission’s historic district designation reports into a Geographic Information System (GIS) database. Prior to the LPC’s release, information about the buildings in historic districts was available, but in the form of scanned documents that could not be easily searched, compared or analyzed.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is the mayoral agency responsible for protecting and preserving New York City’s architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings and sites. Since its creation in 1965, LPC has designated over 36,000 buildings and sites, including 1,405 individual landmarks, 120 interior landmarks, 10 scenic landmarks, and 141 historic districts and extensions in all five boroughs. For more information, visit their website.
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