History, Natural History & the Arts
The First Houses were built in 1935-36 under the direction of architect and housing reformer Frederick L. Ackerman for the newly established New York City Housing Authority.
This was the first public low-income housing project in the nation, endeavoring to address housing problems on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. [Read more…] about First Houses: Celebrating 90 Years of Public Housing
Built to supply American forces in World War I, the enormous Cass Gilbert-designed Brooklyn Army Terminal served as a supply base for the American military for nearly 50 years, employing more than 20,000 people during World War II.
Not far away Brooklyn Navy Yard, founded in 1801, was once the nation’s premier naval shipyard, building, repairing, and outfitting vessels from the War of 1812 through the Cold War. [Read more…] about Brooklyn Navy Yard & Army Terminal Highlight NYC Military History
Historic District Council of New York City will host a virtual walking tour via Zoom of the Fort Washington area of Washington Heights of Manhattan led by preservationist and founding member of the Fort Washington Historic District Task Force Emily Kahn.
This tour, based on Kahn’s 2021 graduate research in Columbia University’s Historic Preservation program, will explore how Holocaust refugees who fled 1930s Nazi Germany and other immigrants adapted to and shaped the architecture of the neighborhood. [Read more…] about Virtual Tour of Fort Washington Area of Washington Heights
The Church of the Transfiguration by Lithuanian architect Jonas Mulokas, at 64-25 Perry Avenue, in Maspeth, Queens, is unlike any other building in the New York City area. It combines modern design and construction with Lithuanian folk elements along the lines of a country church.
The church was so unusual and bold when it opened in 1962, that it was featured on the front page of The New York Times, alongside the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport, as one of the five best new buildings in New York City. The Queens Chamber of Commerce Building Awards program also recognized it with honorable mention. [Read more…] about Historic Lithuanian Church of the Transfiguration Faces Closure and Demolition
The Historic Districts Council (HDC) has announced its Six to Celebrate annual listing of historic New York City neighborhoods that merit historic preservation attention.
Throughout 2025, HDC plans to work with neighborhood partners to set and reach preservation goals through strategic planning, advocacy, outreach, programs, and building public awareness. [Read more…] about 2025 Six to Celebrate Historic Preservation Awardees Named
The Historic Districts Council of New York City (HDC) has named Michael S. Hiller, a zoning, land-use, and historic preservation attorney who has made an almost three-decade-long career of defending the City’s landmarks, their 2024 “Landmarks Lion.”
Hiller handles the lion’s share of preservation law on behalf of historic preservationists in the City. [Read more…] about Michael Hiller and the Fight to Save the New York Public Library
The Historic Districts Council of New York City will host a walking tour that explores and celebrates the achievements and future of community-led, government-funded projects that are reshaping the urban environment of The Bronx and the Bronx River. [Read more…] about 50 Years of Bronx River Restoration: A Walking Tour
Since its opening in 1857, Central Park has been an urban oasis that makes up the heart of New York City. Since those early days, many alterations have been made to the park that make it what it is today. [Read more…] about Changing Design in Central Park: A Walking Tour
Neon lighting consists of brightly glowing, electrified glass tubes or bulbs that contain rarefied neon or other gases. Neon lights are a type of cold cathode gas-discharge light. A neon tube is a sealed glass tube with a metal electrode at each end, filled with one of a number of gases at low pressure. Neon signs were popular from the 1920s to the 1960s and again in the 1980s. [Read more…] about Neon Lighting, Then and Now: A Preservation Webinar
The New York City Historic Districts Council will host it’s “2024 Preservation Conference: Government’s Impact on Historic Neighborhoods, The Good, the Bad, the Ugly” on Saturday March, 9th at The City College of New York, 160 Convent Avenue, in West Harlem, New York City. [Read more…] about 2024 NYC Preservation Conference: Government’s Impact on Historic Neighborhoods
Dating to 1831, the Bayley Seton campus was one of Staten Island’s first public health facilities. Originally known as Seaman’s Retreat, it was designated a New York City landmark in 1985, but is now threatened with demolition by neglect. [Read more…] about Bayley Seton: Early Public Health Hospital
Several history related conferences are scheduled for this spring in New York State. Here is a rundown: [Read more…] about 2024 Upcoming History Conferences in New York State
The application period for the Historic District Council (HDC) of New York City‘s 2024 Six to Celebrate program is now open. [Read more…] about 2024 Six to Celebrate NYC Historic Preservation Effort Nominations
In early December, the Historic District Council of New York City and the Victorian Society New York presented a Policy Report to the City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission outlining what they see as shortcomings and gaps in the agency’s current Scenic Landmark Review process, and offering a host of policy proposals they believe would improve the process. [Read more…] about New York City’s Scenic Landmarks Review Process
Director of Restoration and Preservation at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, Neela Wickremesinghe, will discuss their Bridge to Crafts Careers program and how the almost 200-year-old National Historic Landmark maintains its monuments in a virtual program sponsored by the Historic Districts Council of New York City on Tuesday, January 9, 2024, from 6 until 7 pm via Zoom. [Read more…] about Virtual Masonry Preservation Crafts Careers Program
The Historic Districts Council of New York City’s Executive Director Frampton Tolbert penned a rebuttal letter in response to Ginia Bellafante’s New York Times article, “Why Has This 258-Year-Old Mansion Been Left to Fall Apart?” concerning decay at the Morris-Jumel mansion in Upper Manhattan. [Read more…] about The Decaying Morris-Jumel Mansion, Landmarking & Affordable Housing
The Historic Districts Council of New York City will host a guided walking tour of Mosholu Parkland in The Bronx on December 9th. The tour will explore the Parkway’s landscape and delve into its history, tracing back to the original inhabitants. [Read more…] about The Bronx’s Mosholu Parkland: A Walking Tour
Steinway Village in Astoria, Queens was developed by William Steinway in ca. 1870. The community was intended to be a kind of Socialist utopia where his employees could simultaneously live in a rural, bucolic neighborhood and next to the Steinway & Sons factory. [Read more…] about Steinway Village: A Socialist Utopia in NYC
An 1829 farmhouse at 1213 Clove Road, Sunnyside, one of the few surviving structures on Staten Island associated with early Vanderbilt family history, could be surrounded by a new housing development.
Constructed at a time when Staten Island was rapidly evolving from an isolated rural area to a community populated by new development the John King Vanderbilt House is a survivor of this transitional period. [Read more…] about 1829 Vanderbilt House on Staten Island Faces Development Pressure
The Historic Districts Council of New York City is a consulting party to the Section 106 Historic Review Process for proposed Link5G Towers.
This summer, CityBridge, the private contractor installing 32-foot tall 5G towers, sought to begin the review process. [Read more…] about Preservationists Reviewing Siting for Thousands of 5G Towers
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