A ‘LANDMARK’ BILL
By Dan Rivoli
Posted by Our Town on June 17, 2009 · View Comments
As landmark groups try to expand the Lexington Avenue Historic District, Council Member Jessica Lappin introduced a bill that will ensure proposals are acted upon.
One of the first steps in landmarking buildings is to send the Landmarks Preservation Commission a “Requests for Evaluation” (RFE) form that outlines the proposed district. The legislation would give the committee that acts on those requests 120 days to report to the full commission.
Last year, the State Supreme Court directed the commission to do just that; Lappin’s bill would enforce the ruling.
“Proposals are allowed to languish, possibly leading to the irreplaceable loss of city landmarks,” said Lappin, who chairs the Land Use subcommittee on landmarks.
Missing evaluation proposals are a notorious problem for landmark advocates, according to Seri Worden, executive director of Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts.
“Often times you don’t really hear one way or another,” Worden said. “That could lead to the demolition of a building without knowing if the Landmark Commission is investigating it.”
Given the glut of proposals the commission has to consider, Worden said her group understands that the commission is understaffed and has difficulty processing proposals in a timely fashion.
“We really would support better funding for LPC for them to handle this type of increased work load,” she said.
