#309 What Gets Saved? Landmarks & Historic Districts Explained

They're tearing down your favorite old building and putting up a condo in its place. How can this be?

Before you plunge into fits of despair, you should know more about the tools of preservation that New Yorkers possess in their efforts to preserve the spirit and personality of the city.

In the 1960s, in the wake of the demolition of Pennsylvania Station and other beloved historic structures, the New York City Landmarks Law was enacted, granting the city powers to protect its most precious endangered places.

Walking down the beautiful street and see a brown street sign instead of the usual green? You're in a historic district.

But preservation can be a tricky business; after all, the city is basically imposing rules about how someone else’s private property, in most cases, should look and be maintained. How do you preserve the past amid a rapidly changing metropolis

In this episode, we present a sort of "landmarking 101", mapping the history of the New York City preservation movement and looking at the surprising and sometimes mysterious process of landmarking. It's everything you’ve wanted to know about landmarks (but were afraid to ask)!

FEATURING SPECIAL GUESTS

— Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director, Historic Districts Council
— Peg Breen, President, New York Landmarks Conservancy
— Anthony C. Wood, Board Member, New York Preservation Archive Project and author of Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmark

This show was recorded live at the Bell House in Gowanus, Brooklyn, as part of the Brooklyn Podcast Festival

Visit our website for more information and images from this show.

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