BOARD OF DIRECTORS Anthony C. Wood, Chair Elizabeth R. Jeffe, Vice-Chair William J. Cook, Vice-Chair Stephen Facey, Treasurer Lisa Ackerman, Secretary Daniel J. Allen Michele H. Bogart Matthew Coody Susan De Vries Amy Freitag Shirley Ferguson Jenks Paul Onyx Lozito Richard J. Moylan Otis Pratt Pearsall Gina Pollara John T. Reddick Anthony W. Robins

NEWSLETTER SPRING/SUMMER 2018 Welcome to the 28th edition of the newsletter of the New York Preservation Archive Project. The mission of the New York Preservation Archive Project is to protect and raise awareness of the narratives of historic preservation in New York. Through public programs, outreach, celebration, and the creation of public access to information, the Archive Project hopes to bring these stories to light.

Archive Project Founder and Chair Anthony C. Wood speaks at the annual Bard Birthday Breakfast Benefit | Courtesy of the Archive Project

NYPAPThe New YorkCelebrates Preservation Archive Project Reaches 20 a Major Years! Milestone

By Anthony C. Wood, Chair

In January 1998 the New York Preservation members, and our budget has grown from a key preservation history dates, Archive Project was officially incorporated few thousand dollars to over $200,000. Thanks and designed an award-winning in New York State. Truth be told, our to your support, we’ve come a long way, baby. website. We produce a semi-annual origins go back another five years to when newsletter, bestow a preservation the J.M. Kaplan Fund provided seed funding Along that way, through a range of activities award, and offer programs ranging to launch the Archive Project under the and programs, many of which are highlighted from the “unofficial” opening of the Historic Districts Council’s fiscal umbrella. here, we have steadily advanced our mission holiday season—the Bard Birthday The Archive Project was largely volunteer of documenting, preserving, and celebrating Breakfast Benefit—to lectures, panel driven until 2001 when a paid Kress Fellow the compelling story of preservation in New discussions, conferences, a film began to assist. In 2006, we graduated to a York City. We have saved preservation papers festival, and archival workshops across part-time administrator and finally, in 2014, from dumpsters, conducted oral histories, the boroughs. In short, we’ve been we secured our first full-time executive commissioned original research, given grants busy. Though we are proud of our director. We’ve built our board from to help preservation organizations preserve accomplishments, we also believe the the original “fearsome foursome” to 17 their archives, celebrated anniversaries of best is yet to come!

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NYPAPA Photographic Through Journey of the Organization’s the HistoryYears

The Archive Project has found numerous ways to protect and raise awareness of the narratives of New York City historic preservation for more than 20 years. Join us as we review a sampling of memorable events from along the way!

Honoring veterans of the fight to save Penn Station event, 2003 Courtesy of the Archive Project

Celebrating the Landmarks Law’s Golden Jubilee with “Sages and Stages” Panel Discussion Series features Joan K. Davidson, Otis Pratt Pearsall, Deborah Schwartz, and Ken Lustbader, Fred Papert, and Vicki Weiner, 2003 Nancy Pearsall, 2006| Courtesy of the Archive Project Courtesy of the Archive Project

Saving the papers of the late Margot Gayle, Columns Club tours Donald Judd’s 101 Spring Street in SoHo, 2016 2008 | Courtesy of the Archive Project Courtesy of the Archive Project

Page 2 New York City’s Landmark Tree Magnolia Grandiflora in Bedford-Stuyvesant By Michelle Young, co-founder of Untapped Cities (untappedcities.com) and co-author of Secret : An Unusual Guide

We provide this piece as a Preservation Background feature. The aim is to provide insight into the scope and nature of the landmarking power under New York City’s Landmarks Law. – ed.

When you think of landmarks, you probably think of some of New York City’s oldest buildings or its stunning skyscrapers. But the breadth of landmarking has increased since the New York City law was passed just over 50 years ago and amidst the over 1600 landmarks in New York City are a fair share of lesser-known examples, including trees, amusement rides, a ruin, a fence, historic clocks, and more. The Magnolia Grandiflora, New York City’s only living individually-designated landmark tree. Hattie Carthan, A magnolia tree on Lafayette Avenue, “The Tree Lady”, is visible on the mural | Courtesy of Jim Henderson via Wikimedia Commons between Marcy and Tompkins Avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant, is one of only two “It is all the more remarkable, therefore, care for the ground around the tree. “The trees that have been designated as New that the seedling which Mr. William Lemken Commission, no more than any of the ardent York City landmarks—and this doesn’t sent up from North Carolina some 85 years proponents of this designation, wishes to include what is believed to be the oldest ago…should have survived so long. It is see a dead tree as a Landmark,” they wrote. and tallest tree in New York City, located in thus for its inherent beauty as well as for its The magnolia tree is still standing tall. Alley Pond Park, Queens. This tree, of the rare hardiness that this particular magnolia * * * species magnolia grandiflora, was planted in grandiflora has become a neighborhood 1885 by a William Lemken from a seedling symbol and a focus of community pride.” “We’ve already lost too many trees, houses and brought back from North Carolina. Placed people…your community—you owe something to it. in front of his townhouse, the evergreen In fact, a local resident, Hattie Carthan, was I didn’t care to run.” tree releases white lemon-scented flowers. responsible for preserving the tree in the – Hattie Carthan The magnolia grandiflora hails from North 1950s and raising funds for it in the face of Carolina, and was one of the first exotic oncoming development—a parking lot and trees to be exported to Europe. It can grow housing projects were planned next to it. The only other tree designated as an individual up to 70 feet, but rarely survives north of landmark in New York City? The Weeping . Unlike other landmark designation reports, Beech, designated in 1966. The tree, in Flushing, the magnolia grandiflora report contained Queens, died in the late 1990s. It was designated a New York City landmark very specific instructions due to the unique Peter Stuyvesant’s Pear Tree is long gone, but on February 3, 1970 by a unanimous vote. In a nature of the landmark. These specifications is still recalled by a plaque in the East Village. public hearing however, opinions were more included how buildings on the block were to mixed—9 spoke in favor, 8 were opposed. be demolished to make way for the housing The famed Camperdown Elm, saved by a Regardless, the Landmarks Preservation project (in order to protect the tree), what Marianne Moore poem in the 1960s, is not Commission clearly felt passionate about thermostat settings needed to be on new individually landmarked but is part of a scenic the tree, writing in the designation report, basement rooms to be built, and how to landmark.

Page 19 complex of model tenements on the Upper East Side. Matz also sought a long-term preservation solution for Our Lady Queen In Memoriam of Angels Church on East 113th Street. Inspired initially to swim in preservation waters by a National Geographic piece on a sinking Venice, Matz was chairwoman of the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 5, and, by her own admission, “loved a good fight.” One of her fights in the early 1990s involved efforts to thwart proposed developments by Donald Trump.

The Archive Project was happy to assist in arranging for Matz’s papers to be donated in 2017 to the New-York Historical Society. * * * Christiane Collins, an historian of urban planning who defied a bulldozer in 1968 to keep two acres of Morningside Park from turning into a Columbia University gymnasium. Collins led a coalition of black community groups and Columbia students in this effort. * * * The Archive Project notes the passing of well-known writer and preservationist Tom Wolfe as this newsletter goes to press. Wolfe was a critic of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and an ardent opponent of unsympathetic alterations to Poster touting Pomeroy’s plan to save the Helen Hayes and Edward Durell Stone’s 2 Columbus Circle. the Morosco | Courtesy of the Pomeroy Archive Wolfe donned his trademark white suit and Lee Harris Pomeroy, architect, designer, the city’s early-20th-century subway stations. took up his pen in various efforts in the and preservationist, was instrumental in His firm continues to take on projects in 2000s that sought to preserve what many saving historic Broadway theaters during the New York City area. knew as “The Lollipop Building.” the early 1980s. As preservationist Roberta * * * Brandes Gratz recalled, Pomeroy was “the Joyce Matz, publicist and only architect with the guts to stand with activist whom those of us trying to save the incomparable, called a “fervid preservationist” historic Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters.” in its obituary in fall 2017, When the demolition of historic Broadway represented civic groups theaters was advanced to make room for a seeking to preserve iconic New new Marriott Hotel in Times Square, Lee York City landmarks such as collaborated with preservation groups, St. Bartholomew’s Church and going on to help draft the plan to establish the modernist Lever House, the Historic Broadway Theatre District. enlisting the help of Jacqueline Onassis. Pomeroy was born in Brooklyn in 1932, and studied architecture at Rensselaer But Matz also took on more local Polytechnic Institute, later earning a master’s concerns, such as campaigns to degree in architecture from Yale University grant landmark status to the as well. He was recognized for the restoration interior of the Town Hall (a of New York landmarks such as the Plaza Theater District auditorium), Hotel, St. James and Trinity Churches, and and to grant landmark status Preservationist Joyce Matz with Anthony C. Wood Grand Central Terminal, as well as many of to City & Suburban Homes, a and Jeffrey Kroessler | Courtesy of Steven Tucker

Page 18 Film Festival Screening at Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, 2017 | Courtesy of the Archive Project

2 Columbus Circle Documentation Project, 2000s Courtesy of Landmark West! Oral Histories with former NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairs | Courtesy of the Archive Project

Oral Histories in Sandy Ground, Staten Island, 2017 Courtesy of Jeffe Fellow Dina Posner

Touring the Seventh Regiment Armory archives with the Stewardship Society, 2012 | Courtesy of the Archive Project

We have enjoyed two decades of remarkable achievements! Celebrating at the Bard Birthday Breakfast Benefit with Joel L. Fleishman, Darren Walker, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, We hope you will join us for several more! Anthony C. Wood, 2015 | Courtesy of the Archive Project

Page 3 Street co-naming ceremony for Dr. Joan Maynard, the founding executive director of the Weeksville Heritage Center, 2017 | Courtesy of the Office of State Senator Jesse Hamilton Chairman’s Column Celebrating Our Own Finding Ways to Honor the Work of Historic Preservationists By Anthony C. Wood, Founder & Chair

Monuments matter. Clearly that is one lesson she did to earn a traffic island in her name. and focuses on projects advancing the to be gleaned from the ongoing public Yes, for years there was a Ralph Menapace principles of historic preservation and debate about the appropriateness of certain Fellowship at the Municipal Art Society. It urbanism in New York City and its environs. statues and memorials. Commemorations kept alive both the memory of that former Other stellar examples are the Historic of a physical nature, such as plaques and MAS president and his legacy of providing District Council’s Mickey Murphy Award monuments, or intangible types, such as exceptional pro-bono legal expertise to that for Lifetime Achievement saluting that named positions or prizes, are very effective organization, but it was abandoned years feisty Brooklyn grassroots preservationist, ways for keeping alive the memory of a ago. Happily we hear that MAS plans to the naming in 2017 of a street in Brooklyn person, and by extension, keeping in the reinstate it. after Joan Maynard, the force behind the public consciousness the actions that earned preservation of Weeksville, and the cultural such distinction. Other commemorations have been more medallion honoring Albert Bard, the successful in keeping alive the memories of grandfather of New York City’s landmarks Knowing this, why have preservationists preservationists. The Margot Gayle Fund law, at 25 Broad Street, the site of his legal failed to more robustly employ such devices at the Victorian Society, created in honor office for over half a century. to keep alive the memory and the inspirational of Margot’s 95th birthday, is appropriately accomplishments of our forebearers and to focused on preservation or conservation Wonderful as these examples are, why lift up the cause of preservation? Yes, there projects of Victorian material culture in are there so few of them when there are is a Ruth Wittenberg Plaza in Greenwich New York City. The Willensky Fund honors so many powerful preservation legacies Village, named after that great Village the memory of Elliot Willensky, the co- going unsung and falling out of the shared preservationist and civic leader. Sadly, a visit author of the A.I.A. Guide to New York City memory of the preservation movement? to the plaza does not increase a passerby’s and member and vice-chair of the New York The other day I had to answer the question, knowledge of who Wittenberg was and what City Landmarks Preservation Commission, “Who was Halina Rosenthal?” I imagine

Page 4 Preservation History NYPAP in Quotes News By Anthony C. Wood, Congratulations to Archive Chairman and Founder Project Board Member Anthony W. Robins for winning an award “The whole thing is being railroaded for his new book New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz through in an outrageous manner. Age Architecture. The book was Information is withheld and inquiries one of a handful of books to are obstructed. Even hearings have win a 2017-2018 New York City not been fairly conducted…Can Book Award. feeble little folk like me save the Researchers continue to use our city from a serious blunder? I don’t online resources and contact know. It is certainly uphill work.” us with inquiries. From Harper’s Magazine to research requests relating to the Edgar Allan It is June of 1939. Albert Bard (civic Poe House, Carnegie Hall and activist), George McAneny (president of the Regional Plan Association), Stanley collections in the Bronx, the Isaacs (Manhattan Borough President) and Archive Project remains an C.C. Burlingham (nicknamed “New York’s invaluable source of information First Citizen” because of his lifetime of and archival material. civic involvements) are deep in the trenches Castle Clinton in the 1940s | Courtesy of Frank W Kroha fending off a blitzkrieg. Interest in our work continues The all-powerful Moses is ramrodding know. It is certainly uphill work.” to expand. The Archive Project through the permit approvals needed for his Brooklyn-Battery Bridge. Fortunately for New York City, Bard and his recently made a presentation compatriots enlisted in their cause the one as part of a discussion entitled Convinced that the bridge and its various person in the country arguably more powerful “Filling the Gaps: Issues & access ramps would wreak havoc on the than Robert Moses, President Franklin D. Opportunities in Capturing historic built fabric and iconic scenic view Roosevelt. FDR’s War Department denied Underrepresented Voices” at the of historic lower Manhattan, this civic the essential final permit needed for the foursome is leading the resistance. construction of the bridge after considering 2018 National Council on Public matters of defense in times of war. History’s Annual Meeting held in In a June 1, 1939 letter to Felix Frankfurter, Las Vegas, Nevada. Bard’s friend and newly minted Supreme In this case, as in many others, the “feeble Court Justice, Bard expresses the feelings little folk” did save a part of their city. The Archive Project worked that many preservationists have felt over Their reward would be spending the next the decades as they engaged in seemingly decade battling Moses’ revenge: his efforts with the State Archives earlier uphill battles to save some treasured piece to unnecessarily destroy Castle Clinton. this spring to connect potential of New York City. Does it sound familiar? And again, the “little folk” claimed victory. grantee organizations with Despite the odds, we can triumph. grant funds available from the “The whole thing is being railroaded through in an State Archives’ Documentary outrageous manner. Information is withheld and Heritage & Preservation Services inquiries are obstructed. Even hearings have not What specific historic preservation quotes (DHPSNY) program. been fairly conducted…Can feeble little folk like are most inspiring to you? Contact us and me save the city from a serious blunder? I don’t let us know!

Page 17 Touring with NYPAP’s Donor Societies Brooklyn Museum. forward to hosting its third installment in a Stay tuned! series of special events for its Chairman’s Circle. Held at the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the The Columns Club consists evening will feature a member of the Archive of supporters ages Project’s board of directors in conversation 21 - 40 who donate $75 or with a prominent figure in the historic more annually. preservation realm. The most recent figure * * * to join us was urbanist and author Roberta In April, members of Brandes Gratz. the Archive Project’s Stewardship Society Watch for more details this summer as details were treated to a of the upcoming program are announced. delightful behind- the-scenes look at the The Chairman’s Circle consists of benefactors who donate $1,000 or more annually. Skyscraper Museum, courtesy of founder, director and curator Carol Willis, founder, director, and curator of the Skyscaper Museum, walks members of the Archive Project’s Stewardship Society through a model of Carol Willis. Archive A New Way to Support Our Work! Battery Park City | Courtesy of the Archive Project Project board members Tony Robins and The Archive Project is now on Venmo. If As historian William Roka of the South Amy Freitag provided background on the you have a smartphone and are looking Street Seaport Museum raised his hands Museum’s efforts, in connection with the J.M. for a quick way to send financial support and voice in the shadowy space, it felt almost Kaplan Fund, to digitize the Heritage Trails for our efforts, feel free to Venmo the as if the writer Joseph Mitchell were present, New York signs that once lined the streets of Archive Project at “Albert Bard,” as a preparing to go...Up in the Old Hotel. The lower Manhattan. number of supporters already have, and Columns Club certainly enjoyed Roka’s the Archive Project team will work with after-hours tour of the upper stories of Located in Battery Park City, the Museum you to arrange for a letter confirming the historic Schermerhorn Row, home to the settled in its current location after occupying donation. Museum, in November of 2017. The Row, a number of locations in the Financial dating to 1811-12, connects New York City District. Its collections examine the historical The Archive Project also accepts electronic to its origins as a city centered on maritime forces and individuals donations via PayPal at [email protected]. commerce. Following the tour, the group that have shaped retired to the historic Paris Cafe nearby for the city’s successive refreshments. skylines. Following the tour, the group This spring the Columns Club climbed to the enjoyed a visit to top of the clocktower of the landmark 1870s Blacktail, the cocktail Jefferson Market Library, the elaborate bar that now resides Victorian Gothic triumph that only narrowly in the second story escaped demolition in the 1950s and 1960s of historic, renovated due to the efforts of preservationists like Pier A along the Margot Gayle. Originally a courthouse, Battery. the building was converted into a public library, which it remains to this day. The The Stewardship Society building was landmarked in 1969 as part of consists of benefactors the designation of the Greenwich Village who donate $500 or more Historic District. Frank Collerius, librarian, annually. led our tour to the top! * * * The Columns Club prepares to climb the clocktower of the Jefferson Market This coming Fall, the Library with librarian Frank Collerius. Margot Gayle used the image in the The Columns Club is currently discussing its photo at public meetings | Courtesy of the Archive Project next outing, a June 28th summer visit to The Archive Project looks

Page 16 5) Website tributes. Does your website have a comprehensive history of your own organization? Shouldn’t it also feature an “in memoriam” section with mini-biographies of your departed preservation greats?

There are of course other more ambitious ways to lift up our preservation heroes and their legacies. If the founder of the New York Marathon can have a statue in Central Park, why not a statue of a preservation leader in his or her historic district? Why not commission a monograph on the founder of your preservation organization? Then perhaps as the ultimate honor, follow the lead of The New York Times where a October 22, 2017 editorial suggested a tickertape parade honoring Kent Barwick (his name appeared on a list of parade-worthy New Yorkers, immediately after First Responders and ahead of Lin-Manuel Miranda). If not a parade, the recent off-Broadway musical, A bronze plaque embedded in a traffic island near the Jefferson Market Courthouse Bulldozer: The Ballad of Robert Moses suggests Library honors Village preservationist Ruth Wittenberg | Courtesy of Anthony C. Wood another way to reach the broader public. Any investors reading this who want to back a good number of you reading this are by Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Albert Bard: The Musical, you know where to asking the same question. Whether it be invites nominations for medallions. The find me! the legacy of the pre-Landmarks Law medallions mark sites “which reflect George McAneny (who saved Castle significant individuals, or events, where The good news is there are actions we Clinton), or the accomplishments of Halina people lived, or the events occurred, in still can start taking today, without having to Rosenthal (the champion of preservation on existing buildings…” Why not suggest that a line up patrons for statues or backers for Manhattan’s Upper East Side), or Dorothy medallion honoring the preservationist who musicals, to honor preservationists and lift Miner (the legal eagle who shepherded led the campaign for your historic district be up their stories. With the passage of time and protected the Landmarks Law for 19 placed on the building where he or she lived? it is inevitable that we will continue to lose years as the New York City Landmark preservation greats. But it is not inevitable Preservation Commission’s legal counsel), 2) Name a Street. Why not get a street that we also have to lose the memory of who too many of our preservation heroes remain named after your favorite preservationist? they were and what they did for preservation uncelebrated. As a movement, preservation Start the process with a call to your and New York City! has yet to take full advantage of the power Community Board. of memorials: they educate the general public to the work of preservation, and they 3) Name a position. Why not elevate that engage aspiring preservationists with David intern position you already have by naming and Goliath success stories, and the heartfelt it in honor of your organization’s founder? losses of those who have fought the good Why not name your executive director’s fight before them. Remember, if someone’s position after a preservation champion? name is on something, invariably others will Perhaps you can even raise some money in ask who that person was and then his or her the process. What better way to add some story gets retold. luster and gravitas to an existing position while at the same time keeping alive the name How can we further such initiatives? Here of a beloved leader of your organization? Still from Gordon Hyatt’s film “Our Vanishing are five low-cost and/or no-cost ideas on Legacy” showing a Village resident climbing the how to honor your favorite preservationist 4) Rebrand an existing program. Instead Jefferson Market Courthouse to wind the clock and keep his or her legacy alive: of just presenting a “preservation award,” before the building was saved by preservationists name it after one of your preservation such as Margot Gayle and Ruth Wittenberg and 1) Use a Cultural Medallion. The favorites. Why not name your annual converted into a public library in 1967 Cultural Medallion Program of the Historic tour program after a distinguished Courtesy of Gordon Hyatt Landmarks Preservation Center, created preservationist?

Page 5 2017 Bard Birthday

A LookBreakfast Back At Our Annual Event Honoring Benefit Preservation Supporters

Janet S. Parks and the Durst Family received A large crowd gathered well-earned applause in the ballroom of on the morning of New York City’s landmarked Yale Club December 19, 2017 as they accepted Preservation Awards for the gala breakfast. presented by the Archive Project at the 2017 The festivities opened Bard Birthday Breakfast Benefit. with an introduction by Anthony C. Wood, Parks, former Curator of Drawings and Archive Project Chair, Archives at Columbia University’s Avery as well as a poem. Architectural & Fine Arts Library, spent 36 years supporting preservation by assisting As the awards were architects and preservationists. During her presented, a number tenure, the Library made more than 650 of familiar figures took acquisitions. to the stage including architect Robert Guests mingle following the Bard Breakfast | Courtesy of the Archive Project The Durst Family was honored for its A.M. Stern. A previous support of the Seymour B. Durst Old York recipient of the Preservation Award, Stern by Adrian Benepe. Library Collection at the Avery Architectural introduced Janet Parks. Amy Freitag, a & Fine Arts Library and its support of the member of the Archive Project’s board of Lisa Ackerman, secretary of the Archive NYC Archaeological Repository. directors, introduced the Durst family. Project, closed the morning’s program by thanking outgoing executive director The presentation of the awards served as the Helena Durst spoke for the Durst family Matthew Coody for his years of fine service. highlight of the annual celebration designed in accepting the award, and Parks spoke on Coody served with the Archive Project in a to commmorate the birth of Albert Sprague her own behalf. The day’s featured speaker, part-time capacity initially, later transitioning Bard, the chief force behind state authorizing Kate Ascher, author of The Works: Anatomy to a full-time executive director role. He has legislation that permitted enactment of New of a City, highlighted the use of archives and since joined the Historic House Trust as its York City’s Landmarks Law. archival research following an introduction director of development. Coody continues to advise the Archive Project, and he has agreed to join the board of the Archive Project, likely during the course of the summer of 2018.

The Archive Project would like to thank its generous Benefit Co-Chairs:

Lisa Ackerman, Dan Allen of CT Architects P.C., Anthony Badalamenti, Kent Diebolt of Vertical Access LLC, The Durst Organization, Andrea Henderson Fahnestock, Amy Freitag, The Green-Wood Cemetery, Elizabeth R. & Robert A. Jeffe, Anne Kriken Mann, Gina Pollara, Jack Taylor, Arete Warren, Duane A. Watson, Janet S. Parks receives the Archive Project’s Preservation Award from Chair Anthony C. Wood after being introduced by Robert A.M. Stern. Janet Parks and the Durst Family received the Anthony C. Wood 2017 Preservation Awards | Courtesy of the Archive Project

Page 6 new ways to disseminate his classic 1960s CBS documentaries focused on planning and preservation, including two of his films shown during the People Preserving Place Film Festival. The Archive Project previously made Mr. Hyatt’s documentary Our Vanishing Legacy available online via YouTube. Each film serves as a type of time capsule. Even where a given film’s direct focus is not preservation per se, the film captures aspects of the built environment in the City in the 1960s and, accordingly, provides for valuable preservation insights.

Future Projects

As you know, the Archive Project has conducted a variety of oral hisories with key preservation figures to capture the story of historic preservation in New York City. To A visit to one of our Archival Assistance Fund grant recipients­, Weeksville Heritage Center, home to the 1830s Hunterfly Road Houses | Courtesy of the Archive Project grow the existing collection (available on our website), the Archive Project is currently trivia tidbit might be the key to a future the Empire State Building. Students from formulating two new prospective series of preservation conundrum. Ackerman’s historic preservation course oral histories. at Pratt Institute listened to advice and * * * strategic insights from a variety of New One of the themes being explored is York City preservationists and raised capturing the story of efforts at historic vessel As spring finally arrived, the preservation in the City. Prompted Archive Project had an opportunity by a supporter, the Archive Project to visit one of its 2017 Archival is currently assessing feasibility and Assistance Grant recipients, funding options, given the long Weeksville Heritage Center. and extensive role of maritime The team at Weeksville was preservationists in the overall awarded a grant to hire a records preservation landscape. management consultant to assist with management and organization The other potential oral history of its digital records. The Center, theme is the realm of LGBT formed around a nucleus of 1830s historic sites preservation. While houses of free blacks along the this is a relatively new emphasis former Hunterfly Road, celebrates within the broader preservation 50 years since its “rediscovery” field, the Archive Project continues this year. New executive director to see the increasing importance Rob Fields welcomed a number of this overlooked aspect of of supporting organizations. The historic preservation as one worth sentiment shared by Weeksville Preservation Trivia Night image | Courtesy of Urban Archive exploring. staff, and a number of other Archival Assistance Grants: we wish NYPAP gave out a round of grants questions of their own for consideration. every year! Overall, it proved an edifying evening of This summer, the Archive Project * * * comaraderie and professional development. looks forward to engaging in a strategic planning session as Invited by Archive Project Secretary Lisa * * * it reviews its efforts and looks Ackerman, the Archive Project participated forward to future growth and in a Young Preservationists Dinner at The Archive Project is currently working undertakings. the World Monuments Fund offices in with filmmaker Gordon Hyatt to find

Page 15 NYPAP’s “Through the Legal Lens” panel: Leonard Koerner, Virginia Waters, Michael Gruen, and Archive Project Vice-Chair William J. Cook Courtesy of the Archive Project

OurNYPAP Public Programs Celebrate, Events Educate, & Inspire The Archive Project has been busy finding oral histories are available online at: www. with the Historical Society of the New new ways to document and celebrate the value nypap.org/oral-history. York Courts. The event, History of Foley of historic preservation in New York City. * * * Square: NY Legal Landmarks and Civic Partnering with a variety of organizations, Reform, featured Professor Charles Stark the Archive Project has mounted a number In Feburary the Archive Project hosted as a panelist. Stark, whose preservation- of events in recent months. the NYC Landmarks 50+ Alliance meeting related research has been supported at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace at times by the Archive Project, spoke In late 2017, the Archive Project presented National Historic Site. An outgrowth about the influence of George McAneny, Through the Legal Lens: Lawyers Who of the 50th anniversary of the NYC a prominent New Yorker who is known, Shaped NYC’s Landmarks Law, a panel Landmarks Law, the Alliance continues among other things, for helping to save discussion exploring the past, present, to meet and serve as a clearinghouse for Castle Clinton from demolition by Robert and future of the Landmarks Law. Held historic preservation-related information. Moses. McAneny was also a key driver in at the General Society of Mechanics and the move to create what is today a civic Tradesmen, the panel consisting of Leonard Attendees were treated to piano music on the center around Foley Square. Koerner, Virginia Waters, and Michael Site’s historic Steinway courtesy of Save Tin Gruen shared their insights with Archive Pan Alley. For more information or to join * * * Project Vice-Chair William J. Cook as to how the Alliance on behalf of an organization The Archive Project also teamed up with the Landmarks Law came to be shaped in in the historic preservation field, please the app Urban Archive, along with the NYC practice by various legal crises. The evening contact: [email protected] LGBT Historic Sites Project, Turnstile provided an excellent opportunity for * * * Tours, 6sqft and Historic Districts Council discussion and served as a helpful followup for Preservation Trivia Night. A fun to the oral histories that the Archive Project For the first time earlier this spring, the evening was had by all on Crosby Street in has recorded with each of the panelists. The Archive Project co-sponsored an event SoHo. One never knows when a random

Page 14 NYPAP Welcomes New Executive Director

NYPAP Nominated for Award In March, the Archive Project was delighted to be nominated for a 2018 GANYC Apple Award!

Executive Director Brad Vogel speaks at his welcome reception as NYPAP Board Member Amy Freitag and NYPAP Chair Anthony C. Wood look on. | Courtesy of Suresh Seneviratne GANYC is the Guides Association of New York City. The group comprises, We hope you have joined in welcoming the The Archive Project and friends welcomed in large part, tour guides from five Archive Project’s new executive director, Vogel with a reception held at the J.M. boroughs and hands out a number Brad Vogel! Vogel joined us as executive Kaplan Fund shortly after he assumed his of awards called “Apple Awards” director as of February 1, 2018 when our new role. “It’s been a pleasant whirlwind each year. The Archive Project first full-time executive director, Matthew these first few months,” Vogel said. “I’m was nominated in the category of Coody, moved on to a new role at the truly enjoying the chance to get up each Outstanding Achievement in Support Historic House Trust. day and engage in work worth doing, of NYC Preservation. work that’s endlessly interesting to me.” Mr. Vogel previously served on the Board The Archive Project is grateful to the J.M. Ultimately, the Greenwich Village of Directors of the Archive Project from Kaplan Fund for hosting the reception. Society for Historic Preservation won 2012 until 2018, concurrent with most of the category and the Apple Award. the seven years that Mr. Coody served the Vogel’s initial connection to the Archive The 2018 Lifetime Achievement organization. Vogel also served as vice-chair Project came about in 2011 when he Award Winner was “Mr. Apollo” of the Archive Project. In 2014, Vogel and moved from New Orleans to New York. himself, Billy Mitchell (who once Coody were both instrumental in forming After urbanist Roberta Brandes Gratz met guided an Archive Project Columns the Archive Project’s Columns Club, Vogel in the Crescent City, she introduced Club tour at the Apollo Theater). which continues as a vital aspect of the him to a number of preservationists upon organization. his arrival in Manhattan. Anthony C. Wood of the Archive Project was present Prior to joining the Archive Project, Vogel at the meeting, and the rest is history. worked with the National Trust for Historic Preservation in post-Katrina New Orleans A published poet, Mr. Vogel also serves as after earning his law degree at Tulane. Captain of the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe His efforts won him the honor of 2011 Club and an International Governor for Louisiana Preservationist of the Year. He the Circumnavigators Club. subsequently worked as an attorney in two New York City firms, and he is personally “I’m excited to expand our ability to active in preservation efforts to landmark capture and share the stories of the Walt Whitman’s house in Brooklyn, ongoing preservation movement in New York The Archive Project team at the GANYC Awards: attempts to landmark key sites in Gowanus, City,” Vogel said. “So many of the good Executive Director Brad Vogel, Chairman Anthony and a push to designate 206 Bowery, an things in this city were consciously saved C. Wood, and former Executive Director Matthew endangered Federal house along that historic by preservationists.” Coody | Courtesy of GANYC thoroughfare.

Page 7 NYC LGBT Historic

Digging SitesInto the Story of NYC’s Project First LGBT Preservation Efforts By Brad Vogel, Executive Director

In 1994, the first U.S. state was still ten But the OLGAD map, being a little less years away from legalizing gay marriage. ethereal, proved to be a quiet, continuing Open homosexuality still led to watershed of sorts. Action followed. discharge from the military under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And yet, in New York “Andrew Dolkart included several LGBT City, a nascent band of intrepid figures sites in the published guide to NYC had already coalesced and begun the Landmarks,” Shockley noted, “and Gale work of uncovering, documenting, and Harris and I began, tentatively at first, to celebrating historic sites important to the incorporate LGBT history into official LGBT community. Landmarks Preservation Commission designation reports, in projects to which To celebrate the 25th anniversary of we were assigned, where appropriate.” the pivotal Stonewall Riots that year, a As far as anyone can tell, this represented group “decided to put together a map the first such effort at a local landmarks and guide of lesbian and gay sites in commission in the United States. New York City, focusing on Greenwich Village, Midtown, and Harlem,” recalls Over the remainder of the 1990s, the Andrew Dolkart, adding, “Amazingly, outgrowth of the OLGAD map kept this had never been done before! We the trio busy. As Dolkart recalls of the believe that this was the first such map group’s desire to continue, “The first in the nation.” project that grew out of this was the Cover of 1994 OLGAD sites guide successful completion of the National These preservationists, operating Courtesy of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project Register nomination and then the as a sub-group of the Organization of the fruits of an ongoing effort that had National Historic Landmark nomination for Lesbian and Gay Architects + Designers started earlier. “The map was a wonderful Stonewall [Inn] itself.” (“OLGAD”), crafted a document called A opportunity for the OLGAD preservation Guide to Lesbian & Gay New York Historical committee to put into practice what we had The trio of Dolkart, Shockley, and Lustbader Landmarks. Featuring an image of the been discussing since 1992,” Ken Lustbader was part of a panel discussion at the National famous Angel of the Waters statue in Bethesda remembers. Lustbader joined the effort Trust 2011 conference in Buffalo and finally, Fountain in Central Park (sculpted by Emma because he was busy at the time with his in April 2014, “we met to discuss a more Stebbins) on its cover, the guide sought to thesis—which explored the intersection of comprehensive project since the concept provide a map and context for historical historic preservation and LGBT sites, using of LGBT cultural heritage had begun to sites of importance to the lesbian and gay Greenwich Village as a case study. “I had take root in other cities,” recalls Lustbader. movements. felt pretty isolated working on my own, not But Shockley noted that it took some knowing that there were a few others in New time; even as the Landmarks Preservation “There were so many LGBT individuals in York City thinking about LGBT place-based Commission continued to amass LGBT the architecture, design, historic preservation, history,” Lustbader said, noting that he was history in landmark designation reports, and cultural heritage professions,” notes inspired by historian George Chauncey’s the Commission didn’t designate an LGBT Jay Shockley. “Many of us were working research on gay New York history. landmark specifically for LGBT reasons to research, celebrate, and preserve other until after five other cities in the U.S. had communities’ cultural heritage, but who was Dolkart recalls that another OLGAD group, done so. looking towards ours? It had to be done by Repo History, made up largely of artists, the LGBT community itself.” designed plaques relating to lesbian and gay “I was the first person to publicly, and history and related sites in Greenwich Village. internally, advocate for Stonewall to be The guide’s map did not materialize suddenly These were installed on lampposts for a few designated,” Shockley recalls, “Stonewall from thin air, however. It represented months at the time of the Stonewall 25th. was not designated a NYC Landmark until

Page 8 A Poem from the

ABard Subtle Yet Powerful Breakfast Call to Arms for Preservationists

As requested by several attendees, shared Too far And I find here is the full text of the poem recited at She wheezed the Bard Birthday Breakfast Benefit: I failed you, I couldn’t find my way Only one thing remains She wept Buzzing in my thoughts like This City Amnesiac I don’t seem to recall A fly in winter: by Brad Vogel She said to meet now along Broad A Bard wrote the verse But even I could not find the plaque Yes, she said She said to meet her on Bowery That once graced a grand portal But after a time But as one final stainless mixer — she never showed They did not recite it Absconded at dusk Many forgot She did not show No circle They did not show No stone No dormers No gate Who I asked? She said later She said when I saw her last Explaining herself A bit later All of you Not a fire escape in sight Endlessly drifting in the ferry lines She whispered Nothing to orient Her eyes downcast All of you No gambrels An alien at island’s end But especially those No Mission Wondering if her castle Who knew Just a shadow of myself Had been but a dream Imprisoned in glass Wondering if the Nightingale Endless walls of glass Had ever sung at all What medium can you use to bring life to your Sleek, inhuman There is nothing left own unique perspective on the value of Nothing to grasp She intoned historic preservation? The canyons of my memories I couldn’t find you Are empty She admitted — I couldn’t find myself - But wait I said As she swirled away She said to meet up near Broadway Was there not a Bard A place they called the Alley Long ago But I didn’t hear pianos plank Who set forth the meter All silicon and no tin pans Who standardized the lines No cornices Who crafted the verse She said later To keep your memories true Apologizing That kept you you? No cast iron No columns to be seen Yes A block without a tune She said. Just a tarnished Muffled blur that was He tried to keep me Ostensibly me From ever forgetting Faintly reflected Who I was Trapped in steel As old as I am Tedious, generic And I’d say I won’t ever forget it Even an epitaph But I have forgotten your name Richard J. Koke in the main gate of Castle Clinton in the 1940s Would be ornament I have forgotten myself Courtesy of National Park Service

Page 13 Saving Papers Six to One of the Archive Project’s Celebrate Most Important Tasks Citywide Cultural Landmarks One of the Archive Project’s primary missions is to save important archives This year, the Historic Districts relating to the history of the preservation Council (HDC) selected “Cultural movement in New York City. In 2018, the Landmarks” as one of its Six to Archive Project has stepped in several Celebrate, seeking to focus attention Ryan Knowles (Street Musician), Molly Pope (Jane Jacobs), and Wayne Wilcox (Nelson Rockefeller) in times to safeguard key papers. on the increasing desire to protect BULLDOZER | Courtesy of Michael Blase and designate cultural landmarks in In February, the Archive Project began New York City. discussions with architect Lee Harris The Archive Project is honored to Review Pomeroy regarding his materials from the partner with HDC on this effort, fight in the early 1980s to save the historic BULLDOZER: Broadway theaters. Sadly, Pomeroy passed working to bring an historical sense away a few weeks later. However, because of the many efforts over the decades The Ballad of Robert Moses the process was underway, Pomeroy’s firm to realize the potential of the Robert Moses the musical? Could it really knew of his intention to find a permanent Landmarks Law to designate sites of have been Jane Jacobs, Robert Moses, and cultural importance. Nelson Rockefeller dancing and singing up Earlier efforts surrounding cultural a storm on the Off-Broadway stage? Yes, for landmarks grew out of several a limited engagement, they certainly were. Presented in an rock musical format controversies: the battles over the (there is a street musician who carries the Audubon Ballroom, the African- narrative forward), BULLDOZER brought American Burial Ground, the Dvorak to the theatre-going public issues usually not House, and Pier 54. In response to put to music: neighborhood preservation, these and other issues, the Municipal transportation planning, government excess, Art Society (MAS) put an advisory and people power. Those who saw the show group together and in 1996 issued and know the Moses/Jacobs story probably the report “History Happened Here.” spent much of their time searching their These efforts led to the Place Matters memories to fact-check the script against Project, a joint project of Citi Lore reality. At least one Jane Jacobs expert did Executive Director Brad Vogel retrieved important and MAS. approve of the show’s portrayal of Jane. As files from the from the offices of the late architect great as it was to see our preservation issues Lee Harris Pomeroy. | Courtesy of Liz H. Strong Working in partnership with the on stage, the image of Jane Jacobs singing archival home. The Archive Project has Archive Project and the NYC LGBT and dancing is still a bit novel; then again if secured a permanent depository for the Historic Sites Project, HDC will Avenue Q brought puppet sex to Broadway, Pomeroy archive: the New-York Historical undertake a campaign across all BULLDOZER can usher in the age of Society. The materials include designs by five boroughs. In recent years, the singing civic antagonists. Landmarks Preservation Commission Pomeroy that would have saved the historic has designated several landmarks Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters; press based largely on their cultural clippings regarding protests to stop the demolitions; and studies supported by the impact and has expressed that such J.M. Kaplan Fund. designations are a priority for the agency. Through the formation of The Archive Project also worked with a diverse coalition of stakeholders, longtime preservationist Jack Taylor to find HDC hopes to broaden the a home for his archive relating to saving conversation about preservation tools Tammany Hall, which stands at the northeast for culturally significant sites and to corner of Union Square (now subject to a create an action plan for their proper glass dome addition on top). The New-York stewardship. Historical Society has agreed to make the Rockefeller and Moses, as portrayed by Wane papers available to researchers as a part of Wilcox and Constantine Maroulis Courtesy of Michael Blase its collection. Page 12 2015, and is the only such LGBT-related Landmark.” The landscape remained a rather harrowing one. Introducing Then, when the National Park Service introduced its grants for the study of under-represented communities, the trio jumped at the chance Jeffe Fellow to apply. “Receiving the first grant set us off on establishing the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, something that we had long hoped to Dina Posner establish,” said Dolkart. Today, Dolkart, Shockley, and Lustbader, the Dina joined the Archive Project as a three co-founders of the Project, all remain very active in the effort. Jeffe Fellow in 2017. She updates us here.

“One of the most important aspects of the Project is to raise public Originally from the awareness of LGBT history through the documentation of these Washington, D.C. historic sites,” said Amanda Davis, Executive Director of the Project. area, I moved to New “It’s virtually impossible to rally the public and elected officials around York in 2017 to start a campaign to protect sites from demolition/extensive alterations if the two-year Master most people are unaware that this history even exists.” of Science in Historic Preservation at Pratt Beyond raising awareness and providing context, the Project has also Institute. Prior to pushed for official, legal recognition of LGBT sites. Those efforts at applying for graduate recognition have taken place at the city, state and federal levels. “To school, I graduated date, we have completed four landmark nominations—three new and in 2015 from the one a revised nomination. The new nominations are Julius’ Bar, Caffe University of Cino, and Earl Hall at Columbia University; the revised nomination Wisconsin-Madison Jeffe Fellow Dina Posner is for the Alice Austen House on Staten Island,” said Dolkart. “In with a degree in Courtesy of Dina Posner addition, we have been highly supportive of the larger effort to have interior design. It the Walt Whitman House in Brooklyn designated as an individual was while working after graduation in an architecture firm in landmark.” Washington, D.C. that I found myself eager to engage more fully with historic architecture. The groundbreaking work of OLGAD in the early 1990s continues to resonate in new ways in a changed societal landscape. The Project’s My time thus far with the New York Preservation Archive work moves forward with a strong sense of mission. “We’re hoping Project has been invaluable as both a connection to my studies to educate the public on what defines LGBT cultural heritage beyond at Pratt and as a networking opportunity. While planning and the obvious Stonewall history and showcase the sites that reflect the attending events like the Bard Birthday Breakfast Benefit and community influence on American culture,” Lustbader emphasized. the “People Preserving Place” Film Festival, I have met people I learned about in my classes at Pratt, especially in and around View the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project’s work at www.nyclgbtsites.org the fight for a New York City Landmarks Law. NYPAP events have also brought me into some beautiful interior spaces, such as the United Palace Theater, the Yale Club ballroom, and The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest.

My time with NYPAP has also been a valuable networking experience as I work towards finding my niche in the preservation field. Because New York City’s preservation field is a small, tight-knit community, I have found that everyone has a connection to everyone. I know this will prove helpful as I move to write my thesis in the spring of 2019.

I would like to thank Elizabeth and Robert Jeffe, Anthony Wood, Matthew Coody, and Brad Vogel for allowing me to be a part of NYPAP and for engaging me with so many interesting tasks, including event planning, preservation database organization, and attending a diverse array of preservation- related events citywide.

The NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project with Dick Leitsch and Randy Wicker, The Jeffe Fellowship is made possible by the participants in the 1966 Sip-In; From left: Jay Shockley, Dick Leitsch, Robert A. and Elizabeth R. Jeffe Foundation. Randy Wicker, Amanda Davis, Andrew Dolkart, and Ken Lustbader Courtesy of the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project

Page 9 2018 Second Annual “PeopleFilm Preserving FestivalPlace” Film Festival a Hit

Over 500 people came out for the grand finale of the Archive Project’s Second Annual Film Festival, People Preserving Place! The last feature, a screening of the classic 1954 film On the Waterfront, along with a variety of accompanying events, was set amidst the opulent splendor of the United Palace of Cultural Arts, a former Lowe’s Wonder Theater dating from 1930.

This year, the festival increased its number of overall screenings and attendance, and it enjoyed the support of a number of new sponsors. It also presented its first event in the Bronx. But that didn’t mean it failed to hold a number of tried and true favorite events like Preservation, She Wrote with host Susan De Vries along the Bowery.

A slew of talented individuals Over 500 people turned out for the grand finale of the Archive Project’s Preservation Film Festival at United Palace of Cultural Arts, a screening of On the Waterfront | Courtesy of Donna Brennan shared their time discussing films and talking about how preservation themes Against Lincoln Center). Archive Project board at BronxArtSpace. Filmmaker Lynn Woods appeared in various films. In Harlem, Jessica member and Harlem resident John Reddick led a discussion focused on urban renewal Green at Maysles Documentary Center led a discussion with George Calderaro following the screening. rolled out the 16 mm film projector for from Save Tin Pan Alley and Yuien Chin a double-header, focused on Hamilton from Harlem One Stop. In the Bronx, Preservation advocacy documentaries ruled Heights’s brownstone revival (A Sense of Archive Project board member and Bronx the night at the J.M. Kaplan Center in Pride) and the obliteration of the former resident Paul Onyx Lozito introduced the Manhattan. Archive Project board member San Juan Hill neighborhood (The Case film Lost Rondout: A Story of Urban Removal and Manhattan resident Gina Pollara introduced films touching on four subjects: the World’s Fair Pavilion in Flushing Meadows, Queens; the Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Little Syria in Lower Manhattan; and tall buildings on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Matthew Silva spoke about his film Modern Ruin, Daniel Phelps and Brian Paul reviewed their efforts in The Domino Effect, and Mary Ann Dinapoli of Friends of the Lower West Side provided an eloquent backdrop to the story of endeavors to landmark the physical remnants reflecting the cultural story of Little Syria, once a flourishing corner of Lower Manhattan. MaryAnn Di Napoli of Friends of the Lower West Side explains Little Syria as she introduces The Sacred. | Courtesy of Jeffe Fellow Dina Posner

Page 10 Board Member Elizabeth “Liz” McEnaney. At the conclusion of the screening, Tommy Hanley, the actor who had long ago played the boy “Tommy” beside Marlon Brando on the pigeon-filled rooftops of Hoboken, engaged in a Q&A with Tom Meyers of the Fort Lee Film Commission onstage.

The Archive Project is already looking forward to next year’s preservation film festival. Please let us know if you have any ideas for preservation-related films, panelists or potential venues.

The Archive Project would like to thank its sponsors of the 2018 People Preserving Place Film Festival:

DzineNY The Science of Color CTA Architects K!ck Condiments City Winery NYC NYC Metropolitan Chapter of the “People Preserving Place” screens On the Corner of Third and Third in the Gowanus Dredgers American Planning Association Canoe Club Boathouse in Brooklyn | Courtesy of Jeffe Fellow Dina Posner Brooklyn’s moment in the spotlight came to encounters with the castiron streetscapes on a Sunday evening as the Archive Project of what is now SoHo, the films left those in screened At the Corner of Third & Third, attendance grateful for Hyatt’s film efforts a documentary by Max Kutner about the decades ago. historic Coignet Stone Building in Gowanus, Sign up for our as well as neighborhood change in the When the festival concluded with the NEWSLETTER areas surrounding the Gowanus Canal. screening of On the Waterfront at United The screening took place in the Gowanus Palace of Cultural Arts, a number of Dredgers Canoe Club boathouse, and events accompanied the final film itself. www.nypap.org attendees were able to sit in canoes for the The Historic Districts Council facilitated show. A short called The Waterfront preceded a pre-show tour of the the main attraction, and a robust discussion ornate movie palace. about landmarking and rezoning followed Mike Fitelson of the the presentation. United Palace of Cultural Arts led the tour and The film festival’s penultimate event unfurled welcomed attendees from amidst the Deco-Gothic stonework of the the steps of the glittering Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest on lobby. As audiences filed the Upper East Side. Local neighborhood in, the Archive Project’s organization Carnegie Hill Neighbors executive director, Brad partnered with the Archive Project to bring Vogel, moderated a panel two 1960s documentary films by filmmaker on preservation and the Gordon Hyatt to the screen in the church’s New York waterfront. undercroft following a tour of the church. Panelists included Captain Jonathan Hyatt was onhand to introduce both films: Boulware of the South La Vie Elegante and A Fantasy of Forgotten Street Seaport Museum, Corners. From glimpses inside the long- independent historian Molly Pickering Grose from The Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest demolished Brokaw Mansions that helped Eric K. Washington, and points out fire damage before the evening’s screenings of Gordon Hyatt films spur passage of the NYC Landmarks Law S.S. Columbia Project presented with Carnegie Hill Neighbors | Courtesy of the Archive Project

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