DOCSLIB.ORG

The Radio Urbanism of Robert C. Weinberg, 1966–71 by Christopher Neville for the New York Preservation Archive Project

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Radio Urbanism of Robert C. Weinberg, 1966–71 by Christopher Neville for the New York Preservation Archive Project “Building and Rebuilding New York:” The Radio Urbanism of Robert C. Weinberg, 1966–71 by Christopher Neville for the New York Preservation Archive Project “...This is Robert C. Weinberg, critic-at-large in architecture and planning for WNYC.” Introduction: Robert Weinberg, Department of Parks (under Robert Moses), New York City, and WNYC and at the Department of City Planning. Robert C. Weinberg was an architect and urban planner active in New York from the He taught courses in planning and related early 1930s until his death in 1974. Over four fields at New York University, the Pratt Insti- decades of vigorous engagement with preser- tute, the New School for Social Research, and vation and planning issues, he was both an ac- Yale, and published roughly 150 articles and tive participant in or astute observer of almost reviews. He was also the co-editor, with every major development in New York urban- Henry Fagin, of the important 1958 report, ism. Between 1966 and 1971, near the end of Planning and Community Appearance, jointly his career, he served as radio station WNYC’s sponsored by the New York chapters of the “critic-at-large in architecture and planning,” American Institute of Architects and the and his broadcasts are a window onto his re- American Institute of Planners. markable career and the transformations he But over his long career, Weinberg devoted witnessed in the city he loved. Weinberg’s the bulk of his considerable energies to a long personal history in the trenches and be- broad range of public-spirited efforts covering hind the scenes gave him unique perspective almost every aspect of urban development and on these changes—an insider’s overview, with city life, including historic preservation, zon- a veteran’s hindsight. ing, transportation, housing, and planning pol- Robert C. Weinberg was born in 1921, and icy. He channeled these pro-bono activities died in 1974. He grew up on Manhattan’s through over two dozen professional, civic, Upper West Side, attending Ethical Culture and community organizations in various offi- schools, and received his training in architec- cial capacities and on numerous committees. ture and urban planning at Harvard, complet- Among these, he was most closely affiliated ing his studies in 1931. He spent most of his with the American Institute of Architects, the adult life living and working in New York City, American Institute of Planners, the Regional although he traveled widely abroad and owned Plan Association, the Citizens Union, the a second home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Washington Square Association, and Green- wich Village’s Community Planning Board He maintained a private architectural practice #2, to all which he devoted many years of from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s, after committed service. His tireless efforts for early employment that included work at the city civic improvement may in part reflect his 1 ©2007 New York Preservation Archive Project upbringing within the Ethical Culture move- This research project is the second phase of ment, with its commitment to human better- the New York Preservation Archive Project’s ment and social reform. on-going investigation of Robert Weinberg and his role in the development of historic Weinberg kept comprehensive files on all of preservation in New York. Phase one was car- his professional activities throughout his ca- ried out by Rudie Hurwitz, who preceded me reer, and they include box after box of publi- on Weinberg’s trail. She presented some of her cations, research materials, reports, clippings, work in a lecture on Weinberg at an Archive notes, images, architectural plans, and Project panel in January, 2005, and I’ve bene- ephemera, not to mention a complete record of fited greatly from her research and analysis. his voluminous correspondence. Following his death these papers were transferred to Long The present work is essentially a close-reading Island University, where they are available to of Weinberg’s preservation-related radio researchers. broadcasts for WNYC. The decision to pursue this limited scope was inspired by the poten- Among its many holdings, the Weinberg col- tial to use sound recordings of Weinberg’s lection includes the scripts of roughly 480 broadcasts and other related material from the radio commentaries on architecture and urban WNYC archives to complement the informa- planning that he wrote and broadcast on tion gleaned from his written broadcast files. WNYC, the City of New York’s municipal In the end, it may raise more questions than it radio station. These wide-ranging reports were answers. But while we have yet to get to the aired twice a week from 1966 to 1971, just bottom of Weinberg’s complex role in the evo- three years prior to his death at the age of sev- lution of historic preservation in New York, at enty-two. Produced so close to the end of his least we can become more acquainted with his career, these scripts make up an archive- voice. within-an-archive, and they create a kind of composite self-portrait of Weinberg, covering Acknowledgments the full range of his professional interests and My thanks go to Anthony Wood, Randall expressing his deep personal commitment to Mason, Vanessa Norton, and Vicki Weiner of the city and its quality of life. They are a par- the New York Preservation Archive Project, ticularly rich resource for researchers, given and to Lisa Ackerman of the Samuel H. Kress the depth of his long professional experience Foundation for this opportunity to help them as a participant in or observer of (sometimes pursue their investigation of Robert Wein- both) almost every major preservation and berg’s work. This phase of the project has planning issue for forty years in the greater been funded by a grant from the New York New York area. State Council for the Arts. Taken together, these broadcasts are also a My thanks also go to Janet Marks, University snapshot of a city at an important juncture in Archivist at the library of Long Island Univer- its history: During the late 1960s, the momen- sity in Brooklyn, custodian of the Weinberg tum of the city’s post-war transformation in- papers, and to Andy Lanset, archivist at tersected with the community movements and WNYC. Both have been more than generous decentralizing policy reforms that gave birth with their time and with the resources in their to the Landmarks Preservation Commission collections. and the Community Planning Boards, and re- shaped the city’s approach to both historic preservation and urban planning. 2 ©2007 New York Preservation Archive Project Broadcast Overview subject matter warranted, Weinberg makes Robert Weinberg made roughly 480 broad- passing reference to a another possible model: casts for WNYC, starting on August 25, 1966, some kind of similar broadcast on the BBC by and ending on August 10, 1971. Once they architecture critic Reyner Banham, with the settled into a regular format, they were gener- text later published in the BBC’s magazine, ally 3-5 minutes each, two per week, and aired The Listener. [Weinberg to Siegel, 5/1/67.]) as part of the station’s “Around New York” program. (“Around New York” was a daily From the very start, Weinberg was interested morning segment that gathered short cultural in discussing more than just new building pro- pieces—interviews, drama and music criti- posals; while his initial short list of possible cism, etc—and announcements of public and topics included the recently-approved World cultural events.) Intended for a general audi- Trade Center Project, he also mentioned the ence, they formed a part of the station’s basic demolitions of the Ziegfield Theatre, the old public service infrastructure. Metropolitan Opera House, and plans for the Ruppert Brewery site. Over the next five It isn’t clear exactly when the broadcast idea years, he addressed all these topics, and more. first came up, or who suggested it. Weinberg’s [Weinberg to Siegel, 8/4/66.] earliest written reference to the idea seems to be in a letter to Municipal Broadcasting Sys- Throughout his time working with WNYC, tem director Seymour Siegel in early August Weinberg maintained a regular correspon- 1966. Dated three weeks before the first broad- dence with the station director and staff, cov- cast aired, the letter refers back to an earlier ering a range of logistical issues such as conversation the two had had on the subject. taping arrangements, broadcast schedules, and Weinberg was already on a first-name basis the like, especially early on. He was particu- with Siegel, and had been corresponding with larly concerned with ensuring that recordings him for a number of years. This included a of talks on time-sensitive subjects be aired 1963 letter about WNYC coverage of the promptly. As Weinberg put it in characteristic emerging system of community planning tone: boards, a subject to which Weinberg himself To wait until official announcement that would return in his own broadcasts. [Weinberg construction is going ahead would be to Siegel, 8/4/66. Weinberg to Siegel, 1/16/63.] much too late to do any good...In other In the 1966 letter, Weinberg lays out his ideas words, the public, which has the highest for “an occasional broadcast on buildings and stake in these matters, needs to be in- building operations going on in New York.” He formed of what is about to happen, not compares these “architectural critiques” to only about what has happened. I regard it then-airing drama reviews by Tony Schwarz as part of my job to do so. [Weinberg to and talks by “the Hayden Planetarium Man,” Siegel, 7/10/67.] both already parts of “Around New York,” and We are fortunate that Weinberg also devoted to Ada Lousie Huxtable’s regular architecture two entire broadcasts to discussing the intent column in the New York Times.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Omer Fast: Nostalgia
    Press Release Whitney Museum of American Art Contact: 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street Stephen Soba New York, NY 10021 Molly Gross whitney.org/press Tel. (212) 570-3633 Fax (212) 570-4169 [email protected] NOSTALGIA, BY BUCKSBAUM AWARD-WINNER OMER FAST, RECEIVES NEW YORK DEBUT AT THE WHITNEY Nostalgia III (production still), 2009 Super 16mm film transferred to high-definition video, color, sound; 32:48 minutes Photograph by Thierry Bal; courtesy gb agency, Paris; Postmasters, New York; and Arratia, Beer, Berlin. NEW YORK, November 18, 2009 – Omer Fast: Nostalgia is a new three-part film and video installation that continues Fast's fascination with exploring configurations of fact and fiction through narrative and filmic constructions, intertwining modes of documentary and dramatization. In this exhibition, organized by Tina Kukielski, senior curatorial assistant, the work receives its New York debut at the Whitney Museum of American Art, where it will be seen from December 10, 2009, through February 14, 2010. It is presented as part of the 2008 Bucksbaum Award, conferred on Fast for significant contributions to the visual arts in the United States. Endowed by Whitney Trustee Melva Bucksbaum and her family, the Bucksbaum Award is given every two years to an artist chosen from the Museum’s Biennial exhibition. (The next recipient will be selected from among the artists in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, which opens to the public on February 25.) Nostalgia (2009) begins with a fragment from an interview between the artist and an African refugee seeking asylum in London, during which the artist/interviewer is told how the refugee built a trap for catching a partridge back home in his native Nigeria.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Preservation Law: the Metes & Bounds of a New Field
    Pace University DigitalCommons@Pace Pace Law Faculty Publications School of Law 1-1-1981 Historic Preservation Law: The Metes & Bounds of a New Field Nicholas A. Robinson Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty Part of the Environmental Law Commons Recommended Citation Nicholas A. Robinson, Historic Preservation Law: The Metes & Bounds of a New Field, 1 Pace L. Rev. 511 (1981), http://digitalcommons.pace.edu/lawfaculty/387/. This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the School of Law at DigitalCommons@Pace. It has been accepted for inclusion in Pace Law Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Pace. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Historic Preservation Law: The Metes & Bounds of a New Field NICHOLAS A. ROBINSON* Historic Preservation Law has come to mean that combina- tion of regulations, common-law property principles, tax incen- tives, and adjective law in administrative proceedings, governing historic sites and property within the United States. Although Congress first recognized a need to conserve the nation's wealth of historic amenities in 1906 when it adopted The Antiquities Act,' it was only with the nation's bicentennial that the volume and diversity of laws designed to maintain, protect and preserve historic America grew to the point where it could be said that a new field of law had emerged. The symposium which follows this essay represents the first attempt to comprehensively delineate the elements of this new field.8 The conference entitled "Historic Preservation and the * J.D., 1970, Columbia University; A.B., 1967, Brown University; Associate Profes- sor of Law, Pace University School of Law.
    [Show full text]
  • Revising the Yellowstone Injunction to Fit New York's Commercial
    Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law Volume 14 Issue 1 Article 7 12-27-2019 “Fair Enough”? Revising the Yellowstone Injunction to Fit New York’s Commercial Leasing Landscape and Promote Judicial Economy Gabriel W. Block Follow this and additional works at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjcfcl Part of the Bankruptcy Law Commons, Business Organizations Law Commons, Litigation Commons, Property Law and Real Estate Commons, and the State and Local Government Law Commons Recommended Citation Gabriel W. Block, “Fair Enough”? Revising the Yellowstone Injunction to Fit New York’s Commercial Leasing Landscape and Promote Judicial Economy, 14 Brook. J. Corp. Fin. & Com. L. (). Available at: https://brooklynworks.brooklaw.edu/bjcfcl/vol14/iss1/7 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at BrooklynWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Brooklyn Journal of Corporate, Financial & Commercial Law by an authorized editor of BrooklynWorks. FAIR ENOU REIIN TE YELLOWSTONE INJUNCTION TO FIT NEW YORK COMMERCIAL LEAIN LANCAPE AN PROMOTE JUICIAL ECONOMY ABTRACT The Yellowstone injunction is an equitable remedy that tolls any applicable cure period and gives tenants a better opportunity to maintain their leasehold when they have defaulted under their lease. The remedy is available to commercial tenants in New York City and to commercial and residential tenants throughout the State. This Note examines the Yellowstone injunction in the context of New York City’s commercial tenants, who employ it most frequently and benefit most from its protections. This Note examines the development and application of the Yellowstone injunction and proposes changing the doctrine to exclude cases of monetary defaults and expired or nonexistent cure periods from the realm of Yellowstone relief.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 5: Community Facilities and Services
    Chapter 5: Community Facilities and Services A. INTRODUCTION This chapter assesses the potential impacts of the proposed actions on community facilities and services. As described in Chapter 1, “Project Description,” the applicants, the New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) and SJC 33 Owner 2015 LLC, are proposing a series of discretionary actions (the proposed actions) that would facilitate the redevelopment of St. John’s Terminal Building at 550 Washington Street (Block 596, Lot 1) (the development site) with a mix of residential and commercial uses, and public open space (the proposed project) in Manhattan Community District 2. Community facilities and services are defined in the 2014 City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) Technical Manual as public or publicly funded schools, child care centers, libraries, health care facilities, and fire and police protection services. CEQR methodology focuses on direct effects on community facilities, such as when a facility is physically displaced or altered, and on indirect effects, which could result from increased demand for community facilities and services generated by new users such as the new population that would result from the proposed project. Since the certification of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), the New York City Department of Education’s (DOE) enrollment projections were updated. Therefore, the public school analysis has been updated for consistency with DOE’s enrollment projections for years 2015 through 2024, the most recent data currently available. In addition, based on guidance from SCA (see Appendix C, “Agency Correspondence”), existing capacity for the Sixth Avenue Elementary School has been updated to reflect 50 percent of the total capacity of this school to be counted towards sub-district 2.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Lower Manhattan
    Historic Lower Manhattan To many people Lower Manhattan means financial district, where the large buildings are designed to facilitate the exchange of money. The buildings, streets and open spaces, however, recall events that gave birth to a nation and have helped shape the destiny of western civilization. Places such as St. Paul's Chapel and Federal Hall National Memorial exemplify a number of sites which have been awarded special status by the Federal Government. The sites appearing in this guide are included in the following programs which have given them public recognition and helped to assure their survival. National Park Service Since its inauguration in 1916, the National Park Service has been dedicated to the preservation and management of our country's unique national, historical and recreational areas. The first national park in the world—Yellowstone—has been followed by the addition of over 300 sites in the 50 states, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. National Park areas near and in Manhattan are: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site, Fire Island National Seashore, Gateway National Recreation Area, Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Hamilton Grange National Memorial, and General Grant National Memorial. National Historic Landmarks National Park Service historians study and evaluate historic properties throughout the country. Acting upon their findings the Secretary of the Interior may declare the properties eligible for designation as National National Parks are staffed by Park Rangers who can provide information As the Nation's principal conservation agency, the Department of the Historic Landmarks. The owner of such a property is offered a certif­ to facilitate your visit to Lower Manhattan.
    [Show full text]
  • Your Concise New York Art Guide for Spring 2018
    Your Concise New York Art Guide for Spring 2018 February 28, 2018 Events Your list of 45 must-see, fun, insightful, and very New York art events this season. Leonard Fink, “Self-Portrait on Pier 46 (“This is Serious Too”)” (1979), silver gelatin print, 8 x 10 in (collection and © of the LGBT Community Center National History Archive) We’re back with our yearly spring guide of must-see, fun, insightful, and very New York art events. From museum shows to air fairs to film festivals, you’ll have plenty to keep you busy with this season. Please note that some of the exhibitions listed here opened in January and February, but lucky for us they continue through the spring. January The Beautiful Brain: The Drawings of Santiago Ramon y Cajal and Baya: Woman of Algiers When: January 9–March 31 Where: Grey Art Gallery (100 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, Manhattan) The Grey Art Gallery is putting on two fascinating and very distinct exhibitions this season. One displays neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal’s drawings of the brain, which are not only beautiful but remarkably clear and accurate. Eighty of his drawings, which date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, will be shown alongside contemporary visualizations of the brain. The gallery’s second exhibition is devoted to Baya Mahieddine (known as Baya), an Algerian artist who has yet to gain international recognition. Her vibrant, patterned gouaches Baya, “Femme et enfant en bleu (Woman and child in blue)” (1947) and ceramics drew the attention gouache on board, 22 3/4 x 17 7/8 in (Collection Isabelle Maeght, Paris © of André Breton, Henri Matisse, Photo Galerie Maeght, Paris) and Pablo Picasso.
    [Show full text]
  • General Info.Indd
    General Information • Landmarks Beyond the obvious crowd-pleasers, New York City landmarks Guggenheim (Map 17) is one of New York’s most unique are super-subjective. One person’s favorite cobblestoned and distinctive buildings (apparently there’s some art alley is some developer’s idea of prime real estate. Bits of old inside, too). The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Map New York disappear to differing amounts of fanfare and 18) has a very medieval vibe and is the world’s largest make room for whatever it is we’ll be romanticizing in the unfinished cathedral—a much cooler destination than the future. Ain’t that the circle of life? The landmarks discussed eternally crowded St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Map 12). are highly idiosyncratic choices, and this list is by no means complete or even logical, but we’ve included an array of places, from world famous to little known, all worth visiting. Great Public Buildings Once upon a time, the city felt that public buildings should inspire civic pride through great architecture. Coolest Skyscrapers Head downtown to view City Hall (Map 3) (1812), Most visitors to New York go to the top of the Empire State Tweed Courthouse (Map 3) (1881), Jefferson Market Building (Map 9), but it’s far more familiar to New Yorkers Courthouse (Map 5) (1877—now a library), the Municipal from afar—as a directional guide, or as a tip-off to obscure Building (Map 3) (1914), and a host of other court- holidays (orange & white means it’s time to celebrate houses built in the early 20th century.
    [Show full text]
  • LEGEND Location of Facilities on NOAA/NYSDOT Mapping
    (! Case 10-T-0139 Hearing Exhibit 2 Page 45 of 50 St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Rectory Downtown Ossining Historic District Highland Cottage (Squire House) Rockland Lake (!304 Old Croton Aqueduct Stevens, H.R., House inholding All Saints Episcopal Church Complex (Church) Jug Tavern All Saints Episcopal Church (Rectory/Old Parish Hall) (!305 Hook Mountain Rockland Lake Scarborough Historic District (!306 LEGEND Nyack Beach Underwater Route Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve CP Railroad ROW Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve CSX Railroad ROW Rockefeller Park Preserve (!307 Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve NYS Canal System, Underground (! Rockefeller Park Preserve Milepost Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve )" Sherman Creek Substation Rockefeller Park Preserve Rockefeller Park Preserve Methodist Episcopal Church at Nyack *# Yonkers Converter Station Rockefeller Park Preserve Upper Nyack Firehouse ^ Mine Rockefeller Park Preserve Van Houten's Landing Historic District (!308 Park Rockefeller Park Preserve Union Church of Pocantico Hills State Park Hopper, Edward, Birthplace and Boyhood Home Philipse Manor Railroad Station Untouched Wilderness Dutch Reformed Church Rockefeller, John D., Estate Historic Site Tappan Zee Playhouse Philipsburg Manor St. Paul's United Methodist Church US Post Office--Nyack Scenic Area Ross-Hand Mansion McCullers, Carson, House Tarrytown Lighthouse (!309 Harden, Edward, Mansion Patriot's Park Foster Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church Irving, Washington, High School Music Hall North Grove Street Historic District DATA SOURCES: NYS DOT, ESRI, NOAA, TDI, TRC, NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF Christ Episcopal Church Blauvelt Wayside Chapel (Former) First Baptist Church and Rectory ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION (NYDEC), NEW YORK STATE OFFICE OF PARKS RECREATION AND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION (OPRHP) Old Croton Aqueduct Old Croton Aqueduct NOTES: (!310 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Landmarks Preservation Commission November 22, 2016, Designation List 490 LP-2579
    Landmarks Preservation Commission November 22, 2016, Designation List 490 LP-2579 YALE CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY 50 Vanderbilt Avenue (aka 49-55 East 44th Street), Manhattan Built 1913-15; architect, James Gamble Rogers Landmark site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1279, Lot 28 On September 13, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Yale Club of New York City and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site. The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with provisions of law. Six people spoke in support of designation, including representatives of the Yale Club of New York City, Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, Historic Districts Council, New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Municipal Art Society of New York. The Real Estate Board of New York submitted written testimony in opposition to designation. State Senator Brad Hoylman submitted written testimony in support of designation. Summary The Yale Club of New York City is a Renaissance Revival-style skyscraper at the northwest corner of Vanderbilt Avenue and East 44th Street. For more than a century it has played an important role in East Midtown, serving the Yale community and providing a handsome and complementary backdrop to Grand Central Terminal. Constructed on property that was once owned by the New York Central Railroad, it stands directly above two levels of train tracks and platforms. This was the ideal location to build the Yale Club, opposite the new terminal, which serves New Haven, where Yale University is located, and at the east end of “clubhouse row.” The architect was James Gamble Rogers, who graduated from Yale College in 1889 and attended the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris during the 1890s.
    [Show full text]
  • Too Cool—Families Catch the Cool!
    2010 SPRING Cool Culture® provides 50,000 underserved families with free, unlimited sponsored by JAQUELINE KENNEDY access to ONASSIS 90 cultural institutionsRESEVOIR - so that parents can provide their children withCENTRAL PARK 80 Hanson Place, Suite 604, Brooklyn, NY 11217 www.coolculture.org educational experiences that will help them succeed in school and life. CENTRAL PARK HARLEM MEER Malky, Simcha, Stanley and Avi Mayerfeld. Fi e tzpa t trick t . Vaness e a Griffi v th and Ys Y abe l Fitzpat FIFTH AVENUE d rick. n a o FIFTH AVENUE i g r e S , a n i t n e g r A Isabella, Sophia and Ethel Zaldaña 108TH ST 107TH ST 106TH ST 103RD ST 105TH ST 102ND ST 104TH ST 101ST ST 100TH ST 99TH ST 98TH ST 97TH ST 96TH ST 95TH ST 94TH ST 93RD ST 92ND ST 91ST ST 90TH ST 89TH ST 88TH ST 87TH ST 86TH ST 85TH ST 84TH ST 83RD ST 82ND ST 81ST ST Felicia and Omaria Williams F e l ic ia a nd he t C C O o o m o a h ri W o To ol— illiams atc l! Families C The Cool Culture community couldn't choose just one. “I really liked came together to Catch the Cool on making stuff and meeting my friend and June 8th at the Museum Mile getting a poster by (artist) Michael Albert,” she said. The siblings – along with Festival! Thousands painted, drew, their sister Ysabel (one), mom Yvette and aunt danced and partied on Fifth Avenue from Vanessa Griffith– participated in art activities 105th Street to 82nd Street, dropping in that included crafting monkey ears at The museums along the way.
    [Show full text]
  • Dyckman House Stands As the Last Typical Dutch Colonial Farmhouse Left on Manhattan Island
    Landmarks Preservation Commission July 12, 1967, Number 3 LP-0309 DYC~~ HOUSE, Broadway between West 204th Street and West 207th Street, Borough of Manhattan. Built about 1783. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 2241, Lvt 35. On June 14, 1966, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Dyclonan House and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site. (Item No. 41). The hearing had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. Two witnesses spoke in favor of designation. There were no speakers in opposition to designation. DESCRIPTION JJ[D ANALYSIS Today the Dyckman House stands as the last typical Dutch Colonial farmhouse left on Manhattan Island. Built of fieldstone, brick and wood, this Eighteenth Century house replaced one of 1748 which was destroyed by the British in the Revolutionary War. Descendants of the Dyclonan family purchased and restored the house with period furnishings, presenting it to the City in 1915 which now manages it as a museum and park. It is a modest dwelling with an unpretentious charm and warmth. Architecturally, it is a country farmhouse of the period, at its best. Perched on a small landscaped hillock, with a sturdy fieldstone wall enclosing the property, it is a valued treasure of our architectural legacy. Built in 1783, tho structure has a few features and details su~gesting earlier construction. It is believed that some of the materials salvaged from the 1748 house were used in erecting this farmhouse. The one and one-half story dwelling with high basement, has a sweeping low-pitched gambrel roof, curved out over a full porch.
    [Show full text]
  • Newsletter 2008 02 28 FINAL.Qxd
    BOARD OF DIRECTORS Anthony C. Wood, Founder and Chair Eric Allison, Vice-Chair Vicki Weiner, Vice-Chair the Treasurer ork Stephen Facey, newy Lisa Ackerman, Secretary reservation Margaret Ferguson p Amy Freitag rchive Randall Mason a Dorothy Miner project newsletter Otis Pratt Pearsall Duane A. Watson SPRING 2008 Welcome to the eighth edition of the newsletter of the New York Preservation Archive Project. The mission of the New York Preservation Archive Project is to document, preserve and celebrate the history of preservation in New York. Through public programs, outreach, and the creation of public access to information, the Archive Project hopes to bring these stories to light. Preserving New York–Then and Now Symposium The second panel featured Suzanne Stephens, Deputy Editor held at the Museum of the City of New York of Architectural Record representing traditional media, Jonathan The media, the civic sector, development, and advocacy were Butler, Founder and Editor of Brownstoner.com, representing some of the topics that the distinguished roll of speakers and the blogosphere, and Alan G. Brake, Associate Editor of panelists addressed at the Preserving New York–Then and Now The Architect’s Newspaper, a five-year old periodical that has symposium held on February 23, 2008 at the Museum of the a strong commitment to the web, representing the middle City of New York. The sold-out event, with over 250 in ground. Moderator Francis Morrone, architectural critic and attendance, began with a welcome by MCNY Director Susan journalist, facilitated the conversation on the historic and con- Henshaw Jones, and introductions by author Anthony M.
    [Show full text]