Preservation Report: Win Some, Want Some, Lose Some

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There is much preservation-related news this morning after yesterday's mega-session at the Landmarks Preservation Commission that one person called "a landmarking Lollapalooza." By the numbers, 1,158 buildings were landmarked in 2006-07, the biggest figure since 1990. The headlines are that the Eberhard Faber District in Greenpoint was landmarked and the Dumbo Historic District appears to be on a fast track. Meanwhile, the Lord & Taylor Building on Fifth Avenue and the Manhattan House on E. 66th Street got protection. Things also appear to have gone well with the Webster Hall preservation hearing.

Some of the Winners:
1) Manhattan: Manhattan House on E. 66th Street, the Lord & Taylor Building, and 511 & 513 Grand Street on the Lower East Side.

2) Brooklyn: The Eberhard Faber Historic District was landmarked and the Dumbo Historic District appears to be on its way.

3) Queens: The Voelker-Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden.

4) Staten Island: The Standard Varnish Works Factory and Gillette Tyler Mansion.

Wannabe:
Activists continue to push a proposal for a South Village Historic District that would include more than 800 buildings between W. Fourth Street and Houston Street from Seventh Avenue to LaGuardia Place. Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation says it needs to happen quickly as "the wolves are moving in."

Loser:
The Long Island City Saving Bank never made it to the Landmarks Commission and today's Daily News reports that it's toast. The building on Queens Plaza is on the site of what is rumored to be a hotel. The president of the local civic association says, "we really never did anything about it."
· Landmarking booms as developers loom [amNY]
· Hall of a Village Landmark [NYP]
· A Whole New Set of Landmarks [CityRoom]

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