District Lines Autumn 2007

D I S T R I C T LINES

news and views of the historic districts council autumn 2007 vol. XXI no. 2

You Can Ignore the Landmarks Law but Not the Law of Gravity

Chumley’s collapsed in April. The bar turned out that a former employee of the drawings. ... All structural work, includ- and restaurant was a former speakeasy in Department of Buildings had expedited ing excavation, on a landmarked property an 1831 building at 86 Bedford Street in the the permits for an uninsured contractor must meet the Building Code and be ap- Greenwich Village Historic District, and by using the name of a bona fide contrac- proved by DOB.” it was legendary. It had attracted famous tor who was not associated with the work Mechanisms to ensure stability are in literary patrons ever since it opened in in any way. Two years later the former place among DOB regulations, but they 1926; that was part of its cachet. But so DOB employee was arrested and accused are often ignored, it seems, with impunity. was the fact that it didn’t have a sign on of forging documents. Work is done without permits, and unless the door—you had to be in the know to Within historic districts, it would DOB is notified, it cannot follow up. Even find it. seem the Landmarks Preservation Com- legal work is rarely inspected, so there can Last spring the owner undertook al- mission would have some sway, and that be no assurance that it conforms with the terations without a building permit, work when an application for alteration to an permit. that included removing a fireplace and its historic building is made to LPC, it is the In one recent case follow-up was chimney wall. The wall developed a swift. Demolition was underway at major crack. A year earlier the same 215 Plymouth Street in the proposed, owner undertook similar work on calendared DUMBO Historic Dis- the other side of the party wall with trict in Brooklyn. A New York Times the same results. A hearing at the reporter saw it, photographed it and Environmental Control Board was sent an e-mail with the photos to the scheduled for 13 months later, during LPC press office, asking whether which time the whole wall collapsed. LPC was aware of the work. Ms. de There is now a partial stop-work or- Bourbon forwarded the pictures and der on Chumley’s. concerns about the work, which was Many other buildings in the city being done without permits, to the have partly or completely collapsed enforcement unit of LPC, which because owners dug down around contacted DOB, which sent out an them and failed to underpin the foun- inspector who shut down the work. dation or failed to do so adequately or The whole thing happened in a mat- because they removed interior struc- ter of hours. The next morning LPC tural elements such as chimneys on inspectors went to the site to docu- party walls. Such actions are a result LEO j. BLACKMAN ment the changes and investigate of carelessness, vandalism, ignorance three other complaints about de- or all three, and they have been going Excavation without underpinning molition in the proposed district. on a long time. 1—Masonry party wall 5—Soil fails, spills out Without that initial call, however, Four years ago the rear wall of 3—Unexcavated soil 6—Stones shift and fall nothing would have happened. a four-story apartment building on 4—Bottom of excavation 7—Cracks appear DOB’s Web site projects a vigor- Prospect Place in Crown Heights, 8—Floor slab collapses ous response to illegal excavations. Brooklyn, sheered off and collapsed Two separate bulletins flash, “Do you when construction workers dug too optimum time to examine whether the know excavation and trenching is deep preparing for two new houses on work is structurally sound. But LPC does twice as dangerous than [sic] average con- an adjacent lot. Dirt from the apartment not rule on structural matters—that’s struction activities?” and “Building Safety: building’s foundation drained into their DOB’s bailiwick—and LPC does not even reminder to all contractors and engineers of excavation pit, and the wall gave way. The have a structural engineer on staff. the importance of underpinning.” There work permit listed a general contractor According to Elisabeth de Bourbon, are links to DOB “Excavation and Trench who said his signature had been forged. It spokeswoman for LPC, “The commission Safety Guidelines” and a DOB “Earth- determines whether the work is appro- work/Excavation Fact Sheet” regarding Funding for this issue of District Lines was priate to the architecture of the building notification and inspection regulations. provided in part by New York State Senator and the characteristics of the historic There is even a link to a PowerPoint on Liz Krueger, of Manhattan. district through a review of architectural underpinning that was prepared for a Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 2

Structural Engineers Association of New Leibovitz bought their house, lived in the minimizes the threat of collapse when ex- York (SEAoNY) symposium in 2005. So complex of houses a couple of years and cavation is necessary. Small sections of the an effort is clearly being made to alert recently, according to The Villager news- existing foundation are exposed and tem- builders to potential dangers. An effort paper, put all three properties up for sale. porarily supported while a new concrete also needs to be made about the im- wall is installed below the old, down pact on adjacent historic structures. to the level of the new foundation Most of all, some way has to be found adjacent. This process is repeated se- to reach builders who do not look up quentially the length of the common the Web site. wall until the entire existing struc- In 2002 the celebrity photog- ture has been reinforced. Even when rapher Annie Leibovitz proposed done properly, however, it is danger- buying her neighbors’ house at ous work. In the case of houses with the corner of West 11th Street and party walls, the work jeopardizes the Greenwich Street in the Greenwich neighbor’s structure as much as the Village Historic District to enlarge one under construction, since the her own property at 755 and 753 same wall is holding up the beams of Greenwich. The neighbors would both buildings. not sell. Ms. Leibovitz began renova- Pre-Civil War structures have tion work and had LPC permits for foundations typically made of rubble— the design but no DOB permit for roughly mortared fieldstone—rather excavation, which included digging than the cast reinforced concrete with LEO j. BLACKMAN out the cellar. That work got un- spread footings common today. The derway without proper shoring and Sequence of underpinning work 19th century buildings are especially without supervision by an architect vulnerable to digging next door. The or structural engineer. The party wall 1—Masonry party wall 9—Dry pack below old wall vibration pulverizes old mortar, collapsed, bringing ceilings with it. 2—Existing cellar floor 10—New concrete foundation leaving loose stones free to shift and The facade wall pushed out toward 3—Unexcavated soil 11—Wood planks shore hole fall. SEAoNY counts one or two the street, and the neighbors’ house 4—Bottom of excavation 12—Next section to underpin underpinning failures each month, dropped down a foot or more. Its gas mostly in Brooklyn on small one- to line ruptured. The neighbors had to move The Leibovitz experience indicates six-story projects. out. After a year, they agreed to sell. Ms. how LPC, without an architect or engineer A lot of these buildings are also in on staff and with very limited inspec- Greenwich Village. Last spring the new tion capabilities, is dependent on DOB owners of an early 19th century row to review drawings and dependent on an house on Greenwich Street in the Green- owner’s consultants to observe and report wich Village Historic District decided to DISTRICT on structural problems in the field. Com- enlarge the building they had bought for munication is critical. Usually this process renovation and resale. They proposed LINES works, but not always. adding a floor, removing the rear wall and news and views of the New York City Code requires that part of the parlor-floor structure, digging historic districts council underpinning plans be prepared by an ar- out the cellar to raise its ceiling height chitect or engineer and that inspections and removing fireplaces and flue walls in editor ~ Penelope Bareau during the work be performed by a second the upper stories to modernize the house. art and production ~ Moom Luu engineer. All sides of an excavation more Before they started work they stopped in editorial consultant ~ Jack Taylor than five feet deep must be protected to see the owners next door, Linda Yow- contributors ~ Penelope Bareau, by shoring, bracing or sheeting—wood ell and her husband. Ms. Yowell is an Lauren Belfer, Leo J. Blackman, Paul Graziano, Eve M. Kahn, Frampton Tolbert, Nadezhda Williams planks or corrugated metal to hold the architect, preservationist and vice presi- staff ~ Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director dirt back so it does not spill into the dent of the Greenwich Village Society Frampton Tolbert, Assistant Director excavation and leave the party wall unsup- for Historic Preservation, and she was Lauren Belfer, Nadezhda Williams, Preservation Associates ported. According to a brochure prepared alarmed. None of the work indicated any by SEAoNY, “Lack of proper underpin- underpinning; and the fireplaces, appar- no part of this periodical may be ning is the leading cause of construction ently unknown to the new owners, were reproduced without the consent of the historic districts council. problems in New York City. Most often structural elements in houses of this age. the effects of improper underpinning and The owners were warned of what might the historic districts council is the citywide advocate for new york’s designated excavation are sustained by the adjoining happen if they went ahead with the historic districts and for neighborhoods buildings that settle excessively, crack and work, but they applied to LPC for a Cer- meriting preservation. the council is in extreme cases, it causes partial or total tificate of Appropriateness anyway. They dedicated to preserving the integrity of new york city’s landmarks law and to collapse....Many of these incidents are included no structural drawings in their furthering the preservation ethic. preventable.” application. Eventually they withdrew Implemented correctly, underpinning the application before it was heard.

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 3

Ms. Yowell talked with GVSHP’s • contractors be trained to work with to defend our architectural and cultural preservation committee about trying to older buildings heritage, many neighborhoods, individual forestall other near-calamities like this • contractors ensure their subcontractors buildings and sites deserving protection one. A meeting was held to which the follow the drawings remain endangered—and, indeed, some committee invited Joseph F. Tortorella, As Ms. de Bourbon at LPC stated, have been lost—due to the most intensive a structural engineer, vice president with “Our experience has shown that structural period of development in the city’s his- Robert Silman Associates and chair of a work, including excavation, can be done, tory since the 1960’s. task force to improve underpinning in and is routinely done, in a safe manner.” Part of our role in identifying areas of New York City. Can be done safely is not enough. the city that need protection is to attract Lack of proper underpinning is the Agencies responsible to the public need to HDC board members from neighborhoods main problem, he said. DOB should re- make sure the work is done safely, always. in all five boroughs, as well as individuals quire drawings for underpinning to be Enforcement is key, and these guidelines representing the crafts, architectural ser- filed by the contractor, but even then could help. vices and preservation professionalism. To there can be sloughing off down the line. this end, we have intensified our search Contractors, not engineers, are ultimately for committed volunteers to serve responsible for the construction work PRESIDENT ’ S C O L UM N from geographically disparate locations and they are supposed to hire the engi- throughout the metropolis and to ensure neers to design the underpinning. But, also that they have the diverse skills to Mr. Tortorella said, “The engineer of rec- As the Historic Districts Council’s meet the needs and challenges ahead. ord for the building shows the minimum newly elected president, I would like That said, a brief introduction to our on drawings because it’s not his responsi- first to greet our staff, our directors, our new directors and advisers follows. Please bility and he doesn’t want to be sued. So advisers and our Friends. I look forward welcome them. –Paul Graziano contractors think it’s enough to use these to working with all of you in 2007 and Directors minimal drawings without hiring their beyond. Joan C. Berkowitz is the direc- own engineer and submitting proper shop In recent years we have expanded our tor of conservation at Superstructures drawings. What does the engineer do? Engineers + Architects, responsible for Usually let it go.” creating the firm’s new conservation di- In July, GVSHP sent a letter to vision. Formerly, she was president of Manhattan Borough Commissioner Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation. She Christopher Santulli at DOB summariz- teaches building conservation in Co- ing the points developed in that meeting, lumbia University’s historic preservation beginning with the request that Buildings program and serves on the board of the more vigorously enforce existing rules and Association for Preservation Internation- regulations to safeguard historic proper- al. Ms. Berkowitz lives on the Upper West ties. Two of these rules are: Side of Manhattan. • to require vibration monitoring and Françoise Bollack is principal of the observation by an engineer of any land- award-winning firm Françoise Bollack mark-protected building within 90 feet of Architects. She is involved in preserva- any foundation or excavation work tion issues throughout the city as a board • to require a report accounting for member of Landmark West! and as ad- structural stability when beams or bearing junct associate professor of architecture walls of an existing structure are replaced at Columbia University. In 2006 she was Neither of these rules is regularly ob- an HDC Grassroots Preservation Award served, and violators are rarely fined. In winner for her work as part of the Save addition to more aggressive inspection Austin, Nichols & Company Warehouse and enforcement of existing rules, the let- DENISE CERMANSKI coalition. She, too, lives on the Upper ter urges that: West Side of Manhattan. • a pre-design existing-structural-condi- Paul Graziano, shown here presenting a 2006 Nancy Cataldi, a photographer by tions report be prepared by a licensed and Grassroots Preservation Award, is HDC’s sixth trade, is president of the Richmond Hill experienced architect or engineer before president. A resident of Flushing, Queens, he is Historical Society and is a past HDC a permit is issued, a report that would an urban planner who specializes in creating Grassroots Preservation Award winner include photographs and would detail contextual zoning. for her work preserving her Queens com- sequencing of prospective work, structur- munity. She has also written histories of al issues, methods and procedures constituency, our boards, our staff, our Richmond Hill and Maple Grove Cem- • there be a peer review of the re- budget and our mission, the better to an- etery. port and also of structural stability or ticipate the changing definition and scope Katrina Miles is a former executive underpinning drawings of historic preservation in New York director of the Lewis H. Latimer House • contactors be required to carry insur- City. While we have been increasingly Museum in Flushing, Queens. Ms. Miles ance adequate for adjacent buildings successful during those years in our fight continued on page 8 Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 4

Preservation’s “Quiet Force,” Lisa Ackerman, Gets a Chance to Roar as HDC’s 2007 Landmarks Lion

College art-history majors hoping to lic schools, settled with Lisa and her sister European structures and expand Ameri- improve the world after graduation might Stacy in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Ms. Acker- can museums’ collections of European well look to Lisa Ackerman, B.A. Middle- man focused on New England when she paintings, then shifted to funding schol- bury College 1982, for inspiration. While started scouting colleges in the 1970’s: “It ars’ training, research and publications. holding down a day job as executive vice was the only part of the country I hadn’t Today it gives out $4.5 million annually to president of the Samuel H. Kress Founda- art historians, conservators, curators, ar- tion, a major arts funder, Ms. Ackerman chaeologists and preservationists. has carved out time to serve on the boards Ms. Ackerman travels the world meet- of numerous New York nonprofits, -in ing grant recipients and giving lectures cluding the Neighborhood Preservation on everything from preservation career Center (the Historic Districts Council’s tracks to the influence of Renaissance home), the Historic House Trust of New architect Filippo Brunelleschi. She also York City and the New York Preservation visits building-restoration sites abroad Archive Project. For her countless hours that Kress supports in partnership with of expert advice, tireless strategizing and the World Monuments Fund, including networking, and bubbly enthusiasm for a 13th century altarpiece at Westmin- preservation causes in every borough, ster Abbey and a muraled sixth century she will receive HDC’s Landmarks Lion church in Spain. Back home in New York Award on October 24 in the ballroom of she takes in the city’s abundant cultural the former Prince George Hotel in Man- offerings, subscribing to the Brooklyn hattan’s Madison Square North Historic Academy of Music, the Joyce Theater and District. the Manhattan Theatre Club. “I don’t “She’s the quiet force behind so many sleep, apparently,” she says, laughing. “The organizations and initiatives, but she’s office staff here sometimes makes fun of so self-effacing that many people don’t my calendar. I’ve been told I should learn realize the range and depth of her ac- the word ‘no,’ but it seems that’s just not GAIL CIMINO complishments,” says Anthony C. Wood, in the cards.” HDC’s chair emeritus and its 1999 Lion, Lisa Ackerman For the past three years she has packed who has served alongside Ms. Ackerman another undertaking into her schedule— at national and local institutions including seen, in all our travels for my father’s work studying for a master’s degree in historic Partners for Sacred Places and Brooklyn’s and all our driving vacations crisscrossing preservation at Pratt Institute’s Brooklyn St. Ann Center for Restoration and the the country.” and Manhattan campuses. “I’ve loved the Arts. “She’s brilliant, rational and solid,” Shortly after earning that art-history opportunity to talk about preservation Mr. Wood adds. “She’s open to new ideas, degree at Middlebury, she took an entry- theory with teachers and students from then smart about bringing them to real- level job at the Kress Foundation and was all kinds of backgrounds,” she explains. ity. She’s great to have on any team. I’m promoted steadily even while studying “We talk about how preservation plays delighted to welcome her to the ranks of for a master’s of business administration a crucial part in urban change and social Lions.” degree at New York University. Her main issues. It’s not some elite pursuit, and Ms. Ackerman herself says she “still field of study was marketing for nonprofit’s not just about the mechanical pro- can’t quite believe” that she has earned its. Ms. Ackerman has since spent 25 years cesses of saving historic fabric or getting the honor: “I’m trying to picture myself helping to run the Kress Foundation and rid of salt efflorescence.” As part of her up there with all those past Lions that I so almost as much time contributing her Pratt coursework, she has spent months admire, who have had such an impact on skills and time to local civic groups. The analyzing the community of Gowanus in New York.” Her own devotion to the city, Kress board of directors and president, Brooklyn: “I’ve fallen in love with that she explains, stems partly from her trips she explains, encourage her to serve New neighborhood; there’s deep history there here as a starry-eyed child growing up in York causes pro bono, so when she’s in that people don’t recognize. A single half a dozen cities, including Chicago, town a typical weekday might find her jug- block can tell stories about every phase of Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. “I had a gyp- gling Kress meetings and then heading to Brooklyn history, from Dutch settlement sy youth,” she recalls. Her father Bruce, a Staten Island or Queens for consultations through the rise and waning of industrial- physician, trained during the 1960’s with with house-museum administrators. ization to the development pressures of scattered specialists in the then-new prac- Founded with Samuel Kress’s five- contemporary life.” tice of neonatology. When her parents and-dime-store fortune and housed in an Whenever she is at her Kress desk, divorced in the 1970’s, her father moved Upper East Side town house, the foun- the phone is likely to ring with a new lo- to Brooklyn; and her mother Jean, who dation has evolved over its 78 years. It cal preservation group calling out of the taught special-education students in pub- originally concentrated on helping restore blue to seek her advice on fundraising or

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 5 publicity or maneuvering through city red University. Currently Ms. Chapin is the tape. She always offers to pitch in. “I feel executive director of the Queens Library very optimistic about where preservation Foundation, the private, nonprofit fund- is headed here now,” she says. “Look how raising arm of the Queens Borough Public many more historic districts there are, how Library. much press coverage there is when build- Ms. Chapin brings extensive city-gov- ings are saved or threatened, how much ernment experience to the LPC table. She savvier communities are about creating a worked for 16 years at the Department stir. And I love working with groups like of Parks and Recreation as head of com- the Historic House Trust and HDC, all munity relations, as deputy commissioner these amazing people who are rolling up for planning and capital projects and as their sleeves and putting their time, en- Queens Borough Parks Commissioner ergy and money into caring for culturally where, she says, she became very familiar important buildings, who are figuring out with the borough’s neighborhoods. In her how the buildings can better serve com- role at the Parks Department, Ms. Cha- munities. I love being part of the complex pin was a founding board member of the forces that make this city great.” Historic House Trust, the not-for-profit organization that works in tandem with the agency to preserve historic houses New Commissioners located in city parks. She went on from Parks to serve as deputy commissioner WAMBUI BAHATA Join the LPC Table at the Department of Buildings and first Roberta Washington Two new commissioners have joined deputy commissioner of the city’s Depart- New York City’s Landmarks Preservation ment of Environmental Protection. Commission. Diana Chapin and Roberta Many preservationists hope that Ms. porches on the landmarked 1880-1883 As- Washington are taking the places of Rev. Chapin’s appointment will enhance LPC’s tor Row on West 130th Street as well as the Thomas F. Pike and Richard Olcott, re- focus on historic sites outside Manhat- gut rehabilitation of two of the buildings. spectively. tan, especially in her home borough. She The firm also restored the historic Hotel Diana Chapin, a native of Michigan, is aware of this, saying, “I hope that I will Cecil, once the home of the famous jazz is a 38-year resident of Jackson Heights, bring an interest in the [outer] boroughs, club Minton’s Playhouse. Its preservation Queens, and lives in a building within the which obviously as someone coming from work can be found outside New York City historic district there. She holds a bache- Queens, I think people look for me to do.” as well. In Kansas City, Missouri’s, 18th lor’s degree in English from the University Roberta Washington, FAIA, is the and Vine Historic District the abandoned of Michigan and master’s and doctoral de- principal of Roberta Washington Ar- El Capitan Club was restored to become grees in medieval literature from Cornell chitects, P.C. The Greensboro, South part of the Negro Baseball League and the Carolina, native knew as an eighth- American Jazz Museum. grader that she wanted to go into the Ms. Washington is past president of field after interviewing an architect for the National Organization of Minority a school project. She received a bachelor Architects as well as a past chair of the of architecture degree from Howard Uni- New York State Board of Architecture. versity in Washington, D.C., and from She currently sits on the board of the Columbia University a master of science in architecture with a focus on hospital and health-facility design. Prior to found- SAVE THE DATE ing her architecture firm in 1983, Ms. Washington spent 12 years specializing in 19th Annual Landmarks Lion health-care and institutional facilities, including four years in Mozambique as the Award Ceremony & Dinner head of a provincial design office. There honoring she developed the prototype for district Lisa Ackerman, mother-child health centers and designed several secondary schools and teachers’ executive vice president, colleges. Samuel H. Kress Foundation. Ms. Washington’s Harlem-based Wednesday, October 24, 2007 firm specializes in health and educational

DOMINICK TOTINO facilities as well as the restoration and rehabilitation of historic buildings for low- Visit our Web site for details: Diana Chapin and middle-income housing. Projects have www.hdc.org included the restoration of the 28 wooden

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 6

AIA’s NYC Architecture Foundation. For tatives from each borough are included, as to Marjorie Ferrigno, a past president of five years she also served as the housing are at least three architects, an historian, a the Queens organization, who helped committee chair and the co-chair of the realtor and a planner or landscape archi- found it more than 40 years ago. land-use committee on Central Harlem’s tect. In addition to the new appointments • Crown Heights North Association Community Board 10. of Ms. Chapin and Ms. Washington, Chair was formed to promote the historic dis- The Landmarks Preservation Com- Robert B. Tierney and four current com- trict designation of its community in mission is made up of 11 commissioners, missioners—Pablo Vengoechea, Stephen Brooklyn. The neighborhood contains an all of whom are appointed by the Mayor F. Byrns, Joan Gerner and Christopher impressive array of row houses, free- for staggered three-year terms. Represen- Moore—were recently reappointed. standing mansions, churches, tenement buildings and more, many by renowned architects. As Ron Melichar, HDC board member and award presenter, said at the HDC Honors Local Grassroots ceremony, “My first trip there many years ago left me speechless. Its intact integri- Advocates at 17th Annual Event ty—its block after block of unblemished streetscapes—is truly amazing.” The On May 10 more than 200 friends of Association, in Queens, was honored Crown Heights North Association had preservation joined the Historic Dis- for successfully getting more than 1,300 been a steady advocate in pushing for tricts Council to salute seven groups and buildings in its suburbanlike community designation. Just weeks before receiving individuals with awards for preservation listed on the State and National Registers the Grassroots citation, the group was activities on the local level. The Grass- of Historic Places. HDC board member rewarded for its work by the Landmarks roots Preservation Award winners follow: Paul Graziano (now president), who pre- Preservation Commission, which granted • Broadway-Flushing Homeowners sented the award, gave special recognition the neighborhood historic district status,

ALL PHOTOS THIS PAGE, AYUMI TAMAKI With HDC Executive Director Simeon Bankoff are Valerie Bowers, left, Broadway-Flushing Homeowners Association members with, front center, and Annette Kavanaugh, both of the Crown Heights North Association. Marjorie Ferrigno, who helped found the organization in the 1960’s.

Partygoers included Lo van der Valk, left, president of Carnegie Hill Members of the East Village Community Coalition and Chino Garcia, Neighbors, three members of the Sunnyside Gardens Preservation Alliance, with beard, director of CHARAS/El Bohio, the nonprofit once run out of right, and one of their guests. the landmarked P.S. 64 building on East Ninth Street in Manhattan.

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 7 the first new district in Brooklyn in more Mickey Murphy Award than ten years. This award is given to an individual whose • East Village Community Coalition community efforts have been singularly was created to save one of the East Village’s outstanding. It is named for a passionate most beloved treasures, former Public preservationist and HDC director who School 64, which later housed the noted died in 2002 after a long career of civic community center CHARAS/El Bohio. advocacy. This year the citation was given P.S. 64’s owner wanted to convert it to a to Chan Graham, executive director of university dormitory and began remov- the Preservation League of Staten Island. ing architectural details from the facade Mr. Graham has also served as a founding as a first step toward that end. Unfazed, board member of the National Lighthouse the coalition waged a grassroots campaign Museum and the Sea View Historic Foun- and in 2006 secured landmark designa- dation, both on Staten Island. Although tion for the building despite the owner’s Mr. Graham was not able to be at the cer- continued opposition and ongoing mutila- emony—he was taking a long-planned and tion of the property. The group perseveres well-deserved vacation in Spain—James MELISSA BALDOCK as a watchdog for the building and is also G. Ferreri, HDC board member and presi- focusing its energy on other community dent of the Preservation League, accepted Kitty Carlisle Hart in 2003 at a reception before initiatives, including a rezoning of more the award on his behalf, saying, “Chan, an her HDC Landmarks Lion Award ceremony. than 100 blocks of Manhattan’s East Vil- architect and then a professor of architec- With her is Scott Heyl, then president of the lage and Lower East Side. ture, retired to Staten Island and, wanting Preservation League of New York State. • Sunnyside Gardens Preservation to contribute to his new city, sought out Alliance received its award even as the PLSI. His dedication during his years as 1920’s to pursue the young woman’s dreams neighborhood was being considered for president and since have made quite a dif- in the performing arts. In the mid-1930’s, historic district status by the Landmarks ference in a borough where landmarking featured performances in stage shows Preservation Commission. The commu- anything is difficult, to say the least. He is and major motion pictures opposite such nity’s dedication proved successful when still my role model.” greats as Bing Crosby and Groucho Marx it was designated in June as the seventh helped catapult her into the lavish life of historic district in Queens. See the cov- the city’s theatrical elite. In 1946 she mar- er story in District Lines, Spring 2007, Kitty Carlisle ried playwright-director Moss Hart, and for more information on this significant the couple socialized with such luminar- planned community. Hart and Giorgio ies of the entertainment world as Cole Porter and Noel Coward. Though in her Friend in High Places Award Cavaglieri Die, theatrical career her roles as leading lady Deborah Glick represents the 66th were few, Mrs. Hart’s experiences in that District in Manhattan, HDC’s home dis- Both in Their 90’s world set the foundation for her future as trict, in the New York State Assembly. one of the most influential and effective She has been a longtime friend to pres- This past spring New York City lost two advocates for cultural and arts organiza- ervation, working with preservationists icons of its cultural and civic life, two of tions in New York. on the extension of the Greenwich Vil- its most dedicated preservationists: Kitty In fact, it was her decades-long dedi- lage Historic District, the designation Carlisle Hart, 96, a talented performer cation to the New York State Council on of the Gansevoort Market and Wee- and lifelong advocate of the arts—as the Arts that earned Mrs. Hart HDC’s hawken Street Historic Districts, and well as the Historic Districts Council’s Landmarks Lion Award. Throughout her the current push for the SoHo district 2003 Landmarks Lion—died April 17; tenure as chair of the agency, from 1976 to extension. She was also a strong sup- and architect Giorgio Cavaglieri, 95, a 1996, Mrs. Hart pushed to keep historic porter of the Historic Homeowner Tax founding leader of the urban preserva- preservation at the forefront of NYSCA’s Credit, which passed the State Legisla- tion movement, died less than one month agenda and allocated more than $20 mil- ture in 2006. later, on May 15. Though neither was a lion to preservation projects across the native New Yorker, they committed the state, from the Niagara Frontier to Staten Friend from the Media Award better part of their lives to improving the Island. “Preservation groups blossomed Curbed, a neighborhood and real estate town they chose as their home. Both died while Mrs. Hart was chair of NYSCA,” blog, was launched in 2004 and quickly in Manhattan. notes former HDC President David captured a large following of people in- A star of stage and screen as Kitty Goldfarb. “Her advocacy for preservation terested in the built environment. Curbed Carlisle, and later of television and op- organizations has enabled them to sur- has shown a great interest in covering era, Mrs. Hart was born in New Orleans. vive and flourish across New York State. preservation stories across New York Her father died when she was young, and Everyone in the preservation movement City, introducing a huge new audience to she grew up mostly in Europe, traveling owes her a debt of gratitude.” the work of HDC and other preservation with her mother and studying music and After retiring from NYSCA, Mrs. groups. drama. They came to New York in the Hart continued to devote herself to sup-

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 8 porting the cultural life of New York of bridges and converting German camps member of Bayside Historical Society and City by actively serving on the boards for use by Allied forces. After completing a member of the Queens Civic Congress. of several arts and educational institu- his wartime service, Mr. Cavaglieri moved He has worked diligently to rezone the tions. Small crystal and silver awards and to New York and worked alongside Rosa- Bayside area and has advocated for nu- ornaments, tokens of gratitude from the rio Candela, a leading designer of the era’s merous neighborhoods seeking landmark many charities she supported across the most lavish apartment buildings in Man- designation. country, adorned the walls and shelves of hattan. Dan Donovan is the head of the her Upper East Side apartment until the Mr. Cavaglieri’s preservation projects Bronx Landmarks Taskforce and in 2001 very end. “It’s a cliché now that people included the redesign of the Fisk Build- received an HDC Grassroots Preserva- say they want to make a difference,” she ing’s lobby and the conversion of the Astor tion Award for his efforts. He currently once remarked in reference to her work Library into what is now the Joseph Papp works for the Bronx Borough President’s with NYSCA. “But I’d like to think that I Public Theater; but his most celebrated office and resides in Riverdale. somehow made a difference.” project was his restoration of the Jefferson Kimberley Francis is president of Market Courthouse in Greenwich Village, the Concerned Citizens of Laurelton, in completed in 1967. Prior to commencing southeast Queens. She is a Civic Board work on its conversion to a public library, member through the Public Advocate’s Mr. Cavaglieri spent four years research- office, a trustee of Merrick Academy ing the High Victorian Gothic structure, in Queens and serves as the director of which had been spared from demolition projects and planning for The New York thanks to a successful campaign led by Times. such local activists as Margot Gayle. He Alfred Gallicchio serves as principal worked meticulously on the building’s his- for West New York Restoration of CT, a toric details, from stained-glass windows contracting and restoration firm founded to doors carved from black walnut, at the in 1984. The company has won numerous same time managing to incorporate the preservation awards and handled more modern technology a library requires. than 600 projects. His firm is located in In addition to his own professional the East Tremont section of The Bronx. accomplishments, Mr. Cavaglieri dedi- Christabel Gough is a preserva- cated much time and effort to defending tion advocate serving as secretary of the many of New York City’s other historic Society for the Architecture of the City, structures and landmarks. As president a citywide preservation group. She was of the Municipal Art Society 1963-65, he the winner of the 1990 Landmarks Lion STEVEN TUCKER, COURTESY NYPAP campaigned against proposed alterations Award, HDC’s highest honor. Ms. Gough Giorgio Cavaglieri, shown here with his to the interior of Grand Central Terminal; lives in Greenwich Village. preservation colleague, Margot Gayle, at a 2003 he also served as president of the New Jeffrey Greene is principal of Ever- event sponsored by the New York Preservation York chapter of the American Institute of Greene Painting Studios, one of the most Archive Project to honor them. Architects and chairman of the National prominent decorative-art restoration Institute of Architectural Education. workshops in the United States. Ever- Greene’s work involves restoring murals Throughout his long and respected and fine wall finishes in state capitols, career as both architect and engineer, President’s Column museums, religious institutions and more Giorgio Cavaglieri sought to preserve New continued from page 3 than 100 historic theaters nationwide. Its York City’s built environment, whether was selected by the National Trust for offices are in Midtown Manhattan. in buildings designed by renowned ar- Historic Preservation as a 2003 Emerg- Barry Lewis, noted historian and chitects or by “the Joe Blokes,” as he was ing Preservation Leader and as a National 2005 HDC Landmarks Lion Award win- known to say. For him, historic preserva- Trust Diversity Scholar in 2007. She lives ner, lives in Kew Gardens, Queens. Mr. tion was integral to maintaining the city’s in Harlem. Lewis is known to many as the face of “A unique character. Advisers Walk Through,” the TV series on WNET/ After graduating in 1932 from the Po- Shijia Chen, founder and owner of Thirteen, in which, with David Hartman, litecnico di Milano, Mr. Cavaglieri served B & H art-in-architecture, is a well known he acts as a tour guide through historic the Italian goverment under Mussolini as masonry restorer. His firm has worked on neighborhoods around the city. a military-airfield designer. After realizing numerous major New York City landmark Felicia Mayro works as director of that his quality of life as a Jew would be restorations such as Tweed Courthouse, the St. Mark’s Historic Landmark Fund compromised by the rise of Fascism, in Bethesda Terrace, Metropolitan Museum and its Neighborhood Preservation Center 1939 he moved his family to the United of Art and Grace Church. His offices are project, both of which are located in the States and initially found work at a design located in Brooklyn. St. Mark’s Historic District in Manhattan’s firm in Baltimore. Later he served in Eu- Paul DiBenedetto resides in Bay- East Village. She also serves on the board rope with the U.S. Army and won a Bronze side, Queens, where he is a member of of the James Marston Fitch Foundation. Star for his work there testing the safety Queens Community Board 11, a board Christina Wilkinson lives in Mas-

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 9 peth, Queens. She is editor of the Forum worker who had immigrated to the New and later established a rope-making in- West newspaper, board member of the World in 1624. Rapalje and his wife bought dustry, owned merchant ships, served in Juniper Park Civic Association and corre- land to farm in Brooklyn, including Vin- the United States House of Representa- spondent for the Web site Forgotten New egar Hill. Wallabout Bay, on the shore of tives and was president of the Merchant’s York. Ms. Wilkinson is completing a book which the Navy Yard sits, was named for Bank. A street two blocks south of the on the history of the western Queens the Walloons, a Flemish sect, who occu- historic district was named for the broth- neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Vil- pied the area when the Rapaljes owned ers—Sands Street. lage, Ridgewood and Glendale for the it. Indeed, “Wallabout” is a corruption Much of the early development, how- Newtown Historical Society. of “Waal Boght,” which means Walloons’ ever, was undertaken by John Jackson, a Bay. shipbuilder. His shipyard lay at the foot of The 1997 designation report of the present-day Hudson Avenue, and he con- Landmarks Preservation Commission for structed housing nearby for his workers. DISTRICT PROFILES Vinegar Hill says that Rapalje descendants Some of those residences are extant in the continued to farm the land for well over a historic district—for example, 49 Hudson century until after the Revolution, when Avenue at the corner of Plymouth Street. it was confiscated from John Rapalje, who Around 1801 he sold 40 acres of his origi- Vinegar Hill declined to back independence and be- nal 100-acre parcel to the United States came a Loyalist instead—even though he government for the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Historic District, served as a New York State Assemblymem- and he built housing for those workers, ber. Perhaps because of his apparently too. Brooklyn split loyalties, he was suspected of spying, At the same time, Jackson named the They don’t make vinegar in Vinegar had his land and possessions seized and community Vinegar Hill to commemorate Hill. It is hardly even a hill. It is an old fled to Britain. The real estate was split the 1798 Battle of Vinegar Hill in Ireland, neighborhood of modest buildings lying up and sold in 1784 by the Commission- in which the British suppressed an Irish on the western edge of Brooklyn between ers of Forfeiture to John Jackson and to insurrection. That battle led to the cre- the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn two brothers, Comfort and Joshua Sands, ation of the United Kingdom, the union Navy Yard. both of whom became prominent citi- of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Until 1637 the Canarsee Indians lived zens. Comfort instigated protests against It also led to the exodus of thousands of there, hunting and fishing in the marshes the Crown before the war—at least his Irish to New York, so many of whom end- where the industrial park still called the loyalty was never in doubt. Afterward he ed up in this part of Brooklyn that it was Navy Yard is now. That year they sold a became auditor general of New York and at one time known as Irishtown. tract of land including Vinegar Hill to Jo- eventually a founder and director of the No doubt at least partly because of its ris Jansen Rapalje, said by Russell Shorto Bank of New York along with Alexander proximity to the East River, the neighbor- in his 2004 book “The Island at the Cen- Hamilton. His younger brother Joshua hood became a link in the Underground ter of the World” to be a Flemish textile became an Army captain during the war Railroad that provided safe transport to

P. Bareau

Three distinct areas of the Vinegar Hill Historic District (map at left) comprise an unusual district configuration — much demolition in the area had created discontinuous historical sections. Above, 75-79 Hudson Avenue. adapted from Landmarks Preservation Commission map

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 10 escaping slaves. There could have been an- built, according the designation report, In fact, that was part of the reason other reason, too. The designation report largely from the 1830’s to the 1850’s. Its LPC did not designate the area when it cites 1820 United States Census records earliest date to 1801. surveyed it in 1977—there was not enough documenting 657 free Africans in Brook- By the 1880’s, Vinegar Hill was an community support. In the early 1990’s lyn, about nine percent of the population active, thriving neighborhood of mixed the much-loved St. Ann’s Roman Catholic at the time, which could have made the industrial and residential use and also a de- Church was torn down. An 1860 Gothic neighborhood a link not only to the river sirable place to live, judging from the fact church at the corner of Gold and Front but to destinations in Brooklyn. One near- that a large number of politicians lived Streets, it had a steeple visible throughout by church became a station on the escape there, including James Howell, mayor of the neighborhood, and it was an anchor route, and a house on Hudson Avenue Brooklyn from 1878 to 1882. The Brooklyn not only for the families who had lived in within the historic district still has a door Bridge was completed in 1883, and in 1898 Vinegar Hill for decades but also for the in its subcellar leading to a tunnel to the Brooklyn and Manhattan were consoli- new arrivals of the 1970’s and ’80’s. waterfront, another link in the train. dated into the City of New York, the two Galvanized by these demolitions, Several years after Jackson sold some events inaugurating a decade or more of residents banded together as the Vinegar of his land to the Navy, a grisly discovery industrial expansion. Small houses began Hill Neighborhood Association under was made: the remains of thousands of to be replaced by large industrial build- the leadership of Monique Dononcin, American soldiers casually buried along ings housing foundries, paint companies president, and her husband, Per-Olof the bay inside the Yard who had once been (Benjamin Moore started life in this area), Odman. They worked with their then- prisoners of war incarcerated on British engine works and sugar refineries. Even Councilmember Ken Fisher (HDC’s 2002 prison ships anchored in Wallabout Bay. more extensive demolition accompanied Landmarks Lion) to petition LPC for des- The remains were dug up and reinterred the construction and opening of the Man- ignation. It was granted in 1997. in a vault on land Jackson donated just hattan Bridge in 1903 and continued as The next year, 1998, the area was re- outside the historic district. A monument the area became increasingly industrial in zoned for contextual mid-rise residential was erected to them known as the Mar- the 1920’s and ’30’s. After World War II, a use. Since 2001 construction has been so tyrs’ Tomb, and the remains stayed there great swath of land was condemned for the active that the neighborhood is virtually until 1873, when they were moved to Fort development of the Farragut Houses, con- transformed—the rate of residential new Greene Park, where they still repose. structed for returning veterans and their building and conversion here is greater The district is unusual for reasons families, and for the Brooklyn-Queens than at any time since 1845, according to other than its name. It is made up of three Expressway. Warehouses, parking lots, one observer. separate, non-contiguous areas—only one waste transfer stations, and Con Edison The area is thriving and, because of of two districts in the city so configured power plants all replaced housing, driven the dedication of a group of residents and (the other is Murray Hill in Manhattan). partly by the 1961 rezoning of the district the LPC, the essential character of one of It is also made up of very modest build- for manufacturing. The area began to look Brooklyn’s oldest extant settlements re- ings, mostly houses of three or four stories like a woebegone no-man’s-land. mains intact.

Recent Gifts and Grants

All contributions by Organizations: Alice Austen Architecture, Friends of Terra New York Landmarks government, foundations, House Museum, Bay Ridge Cotta, Friends of the Upper East Conservancy, Poppenhusen organizations, companies and Conservancy, Bayside-Auburndale Side Historic Districts, The Fund Institute, Preservation League Friends of the Historic Districts Improvement Association, for Park Avenue, Gramercy Park of Staten Island, Preserve & Council are very much appreciated. Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Block Association, The Green- Protect, Queens Civic Congress, Many thanks to those who gave Association, Broadway Flushing Wood Cemetery, Hamilton Richmond Hill Historical in the period from March 2007 Homeowners Association, Heights-West Harlem Community Society, Society for Clinton Hill, through June 2007: Brooklyn Heights Association, Preservation Organization, Society for the Preservation Central Park Conservancy, Crown Historic House Trust of New of Weeksville & Bedford- Government: State Senator Heights North Association, York City, Historic Landmarks Stuyvesant, SoHo Alliance, Thomas K. Duane, 27th District. Defenders of the Historic Preservation Center, The State Street Block Association, Upper East Side, Ditmas Park Jackson Heights Garden City Stuyvesant Park Neighborhood Foundations: Deutsche Bank Association, Douglaston/Little Society, King Manor Museum, Association, Sunnyside Gardens Americas Foundation, Ketcham Neck Historical Society, The Landmark West!, Lower East Preservation Alliance, Tribeca Inn Foundation, The Manheim Drive to Protect the Ladies’ Mile Side Tenement Museum, Community Association, Tudor Foundation, New York Community District, DUMBO Neighborhood Midwood Park Homeowners City Association, Vinegar Hill Trust, New York Community Association, East 83rd/84th Street Association, Mud Lane Society Neighborhood Association, Trust/Windie Knowe Fund, Robert Block Association, East Side for the Renaissance of Stapleton, Westerleigh Improvement W. Wilson Charitable Trust, The Rezoning Alliance, Fort Greene Municipal Art Society, Murray Society, Women’s City Club of Staten Island Foundation. Association, Friends of Cast Iron Hill Neighborhood Association, New York.

Historic Districts Council District Lines ~ Autumn 2007 ~ page 11

Companies: AKRF, AM&G Brannan, Richard Burlage & Fritz Mitchell Grubler, Polly Guerin, Moskowitz, David Mulkins, Waterproofing, A. Ottavino Duteau, Roger Byrom, George Mary Habstritt & Jerry Weinstein, Francine & Francis Murphy, Corporation, Architectural Calderaro, Diana Carulli-Dunlap & Estelle Haferling, Julia & James Sharon Murphy, David Myrick, Fiberglass Corporation, BFJ Bryan R. Dunlap, March & Philip Hall, Jo Hamilton, Tema Harnik, Christina Naughton, Frank P. Planning, Cutsogeorge Tooman Cavanaugh, Heide-Rose Cleary, Gale Harris, Natasha Harsh, Jeb Nervo, Bridget O’Brian & Bud & Allen, The Durst Organization, Elizabeth A. Coleman, Janette Hart, Laura Heim & Jeffrey A. Brimberg, Catherine O’Callaghan, Essex Works, Fradkin & McAlpin Cooke & Walter Bembenista, Kroessler, Richard J. Hershner Gerard O’Connell, Mary O’Hara, Associates, Swanke Hayden Paul Covington, Robert Dadras, II, Roger Herz, Isabel Thigpen Robert W. Ohlerking, Gary Connell Architects, HOK, Lee Diana Daimwood, Peter Dans, Hill & David Sweeney, Victoria Papush, Virginia L. Parkhouse, Harris Pomeroy Associates, Carmel Dato, Kevin W. Davis, Hofmo, Sylvia R. Hoisington, Otis Pratt Pearsall, Arthur W. Linda Yowell Architects, Li Diane De Fazio, Yves Deflandre, Susan S. Hopper, Keenan Hughes, Pearson, Marilyn Pettit, William Saltzman Architects, Montalbano Brian Deierlein, Georgia Delano, William Huxley, Judie Janney, E. Pfeiffer, Susan Phillip, Mary Initiatives, Philip Toscano Barbara & Alan Delsman, Paulette Shirley Johns, Steven Jonas, Salstrom Porter & Brent M. Architects, Platt Byard Dovell Demers, Marie DePalma, Harry Zsuzsanna Karasz & John Lipsky, Porter, Warrie Lynn Price, Susan White, Robert A. M. Stern dePolo, Mary Dierickx, Louis Doris Keeley, Jayne T. Keith, Irma Pulaski, Kathryn E. Ralph, John Architects, Robert Silman A. DiGeronimo, Andrew Scott & William Kennedy, Jacquelan Randall, Liz & Herbert Reynolds, Associates, Samuel J. DeSanto Dolkart, Daniel J. Donovan, Killian, Edward S. Kirkland, Myron Genie & Donald Rice, Alice & Associates, Superstructures, Beverly C. Duer, Marguerite Koltuv, Mrs. & Mrs. Robert J. Rich, Joy Rich, Judy Richheimer, Tobin & Parnes Design, Walter B. Durret, Florence D’Urso, Franny Kornfeld Sr., Martin Krongold, Albert & Adele Robbins, Emily Melvin Architects. Eberhart, Constance Eiseman, Brita Kube & Paul DiBenedetto, Robin, Irma Rodriguez, William Linda Eskenas, Aline & Henry P. Sarah Bradford Landau, Roger P. Rooney, Michael Rosen, Joseph Friends: June & Arthur Abrams, Euler, Rebecca & Yehuda Even- Lang, Ralph B. Lawrence, Ynes S. Rosenberg, Carl Rutberg, Anna Morris Adjmi, Thomas Agnew, Zohar, Charlotte Fahn, Mary Ann Leon, Joseph LePique, Lynne & John Ryan, Jeffrey A. Saunders, Annice M. Alt, Mrs. Martin E. Fastook, Paula K. Feder, Thomas Christine Lerner, Brenda Levin, Judd Schechtman, Katherine Anderson, Mary Ann & Frank Fenniman AIA, Loretta Lang Margo Levine, Robert A. Levine, Schoonover & Alan Straus, Marilyn Arisman, Ann Arlen, Elizabeth Finck, James Fitzgerald, Anne Ken Lustbader, Robert M. Makla, Schulman, Barbara Seelig, Michael Ashby, Gretchen Auer, John Elizabeth Fontaine & Robert Herbert Maletz, Linda Mandell, Seltzer, Tim Shaw, Patricia B. M. Bacon, Susan Bader, Melissa Buckholz, Stephen Friedman, Elizabeth & Peter Manos, Gerald & Greg Sherwood, Bill Sievers, Baldock, Warren Bender, Albert Alice & Thomas Fucigna, Bob Markel, Felicia Mayro, Elizabeth Sharon Silverman, Eileen M. S. Bennett, Ann L. Bennewitz, Furman, Ann Walker Gaffney, E. McCabe, Jeannie McCloskey, Skehan, William C. Smith, Alan Gisela & Daniel B. Berkson, Sarah Gamble & Chris Neville, Elizabeth McCracken, Zenobia Solomon, Patricia & Walter South, Isabel & William Berley, Miriam Steve Garza, Margot Gayle, Nora McNally, Ronald L. Melichar, Beverly Moss Spatt, Barbaralee Berman, Thomas J. Bess, Minor Gibson, Jill Gill, Linda Gillies, Joyce A. Mendelsohn, Susan Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Monica L. Bishop, Leo J. Blackman & Mark Goldberg, Elizabeth & David & George Meyer, Katrina Stabin, Frank Steindler, Kendra Kenneth T. Monteiro, Ellen Goldfarb, dorris gaines golomb, Miles, Dorothy Marie Miner, Stensven, Martha Roby Stephens, Blair, Lucienne & Claude Bloch, Selvin Gootar, Vera Julia Gordon, Barbara Smith Mishara, Dorothy Dykeman Stokely, Nelson M. Carole N. Bourne, Nancy B. Christabel Gough, Crista Grauer, Morehead, Florent Morellet, Stoute, Pamela Sweeney & Peter & Anthony C. Bowe, William Janet Grommet, David Gruber, Benika Morokuma, George J. Levenson, Maryanne Taddeo, Lacey Tauber, Jack Taylor, Donald & Barbara Tober, Michael A. Become a Friend of the Historic Districts Council! Tomlan, Catrin Treadwell, Robert S. Trentlyon, Sophia LaVerdiere Name Join the Friends of HDC! Become Truslow, Arthur Ullrich, Lo our partner and help preserve New Address van der Valk, Sandi & Arthur York City’s significant neighborhoods, City/State/Zip Viviani, Cathy Wassylenko, Ela buildings and public spaces. Weber, Geoffrey Wiener, Meryl E-mail Consider me a Friend of HDC! Here is my & Alexander Weingarten, Steven gift of: Weinstein, John Conrad Weiser, Margot Wellington & Albert $50 ___ $100 ___ $250 ___ Other $____ Credit card payments may be mailed to our office or faxed to 212-614-9127. If your billing Saunders, Ross Wheeler, Gerald address is different from the one above, please Karl White, Christina Wilkinson, Make your check payable to Historic Districts add it below. Council and mail to us at 232 East 11th Street, Marguerite Williams, Fred New York, NY 10003. For information, call 212- American Express ___ MasterCard ___ Visa ___ Wistow, Alexandra Parsons Wolfe, 614-9107. Susanne & Joel Wolfe, Anthony HDC is a 501(c)(3) organization. Contributions Card Number C. Wood, Kate Wood & David to it are tax-deductible to the full extent of the Sprouls, Jeremy Woodoff, Silvio law. A financial report may be obtained from the Expiration Date New York State Department of State, 41 State Youla, Melvyn B. Zerman, Lionel Street, Albany, NY 12231. Signature Ziprin, Howard Alan Zipser, Natalia Zunino.

Historic Districts Council D I S T R I C T LINES

In this issue:

p. 1 You Can Ignore the Landmarks Law but Not the Law of Gravity

p. 3 President’s Column

p. 4 Preservation’s “Quiet Force,” Lisa Ackerman, Is HDC’s 2007 Landmarks Lion

p. 5 New Commissioners Join the LPC Table

p. 6 HDC Honors Local Grassroots Advocates at 17th Annual Event

p. 7 Kitty Carlisle Hart and Giorgio Cavaglieri Die, Both in Their 90’s GAIL CIMINO

p. 9 District Profile—Vinegar Hill Historic District, Brooklyn Lisa Ackerman, singled out for her energy and dedication to preservation issues citywide, p. 10 Recent Gifts and Grants is HDC’s 2007 Landmarks Lion. Article, page 4.

NONPROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID DISTRICT NEW YORK, NY LINES Permit No. 3732 news and views of the

HIST ORIC DISTRICTS COUNCIL

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