MAS Offers Six Alternative Plans for Admiral's Row Buildings

The Municipal Art Society today presented to the U.S. Army National Guard Bureau six different alternative plans, each demonstrating that it is possible to retain the historic buildings on the Admiral’s Row site while also allowing for the construction of a much-needed supermarket and new retail and industrial space. In addition, the MAS plans showed that reconfiguring the planned new buildings could allow for additional green space, pedestrian accommodation, and community uses instead of a suburban-style sea of parking.

Willets Point Rezoning Should Consider Green Manufacturing Alternatives

Yesterday, MAS testified at the City Planning Commission hearing regarding the Willets Point rezoning plan. First and foremost, MAS stressed that the plan, which includes an urban renewal action that will allow for the use of eminent domain, must reflect the results of an inclusive planning and monitoring process. In regards to the rezoning - from manufacturing into a mixed-used residential and commercial district - MAS suggested the City conduct a thorough examination of the plan's implication for long-term, industrial and manufacturing job growth, including a justified strategy deployment of public resources tied to agreed upon community benefits. Finally, MAS raised concerns over the purported high standards of sustainable neighborhood planning Willets Point aims to achieve.

To read the full MAS testimony on Willets Point click here.

MAS Expresses Concern Over Coney Island Plans

Last November, the City released its new plan to revitalize Coney Island, and the MAS testified at a subsequent public hearing that it strongly supporting the concept of restoring “America’s Playground” to its rightful place as New York’s premier waterfront amusement and entertainment area.

In April, the City announced a new iteration of the plan (that can be viewed here) that reduced the area set aside for open-air amusements from 16 acres to 9 acres, within the context of an overall “Amusement Area” that would include entertainment-oriented retail, enclosed amusements and hotels. Continue reading...

SAVED! - The LPC Budget

For the third year in a row, the Landmark’s Preservation Commission budget will include $300,000 to fund six positions to survey NYC’s neighborhoods for potential landmarks and assist with other critical LPC duties.

In past years, this funding was instrumental in enabling the LPC to give many unprotected historic neighborhoods the attention they deserve. It was because of this funding that the LPC was able to survey and begin the process this week of designating the Prospect Heights neighborhood, a project MAS had urged them to take on. Continue reading...

CITI Youth: Future of NYC

On Wednesday, June 25, in a special awards ceremony featuring music by Dimitri Bartholomew and a rousing inspirational speech by former Planning Center director Micaela Birmingham, MAS honored this year’s crop of CITI Youth Map Technicians. The CITI Youth program trains high school students in the use of Geographic Information Systems and places them in paid internships at their local community boards to provide on-the-spot electronic maps (www.myciti.org) at board and committee meetings. Continue reading...

Urbanist Summer Party for Preservation Celebrates Reuse

The Urbanists held their annual Summer Party at the soon-to-be-opened Galapagos Art Space in DUMBO on Tuesday July 15. The venue was originally built in 1905 and has recently been skillfully converted into a LEED certified building. MAS Urbanists and their friends joined MAS staff to celebrate our current preservation efforts, especially those focused on conversion and reuse of historic buildings, with music and dancing. For photographs of the event, Continue reading...

MAS Maps Make History in Prospect Heights

MAS and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation (PHNDC) recently partnered to advocate for a new historic district in Prospect Heights. This hands-on collaborative experience resulted in LPC’s consideration of 750 contributing buildings, and the decision to move forward with the designation a new historic district in Prospect Heights. The partnership revolved around a community mapping initiative that produced a unique tool that anchored discussion among multiple stakeholders and helped mark the boundaries of the district proposed to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC). Continue reading...

A Hard Look at Hardship

MAS joined hundreds of others today in testifying before the Landmarks Preservation Commission regarding St. Vincent’s hardship application. To be sure, the hardship application is one of the most challenging and complicated issues that have come before the LPC in recent decades. St. Vincent’s must prove that maintaining the 1961 O’Toole building “prevents or seriously interferes with carrying out the [hospital’s] charitable purpose.” MAS believes that more alternatives need to be thoroughly scrutinized before the LPC can make the determination of hardship. Continue reading...

Prospect Heights on Path to Become One of Brooklyn's Biggest Historic Districts

On Tuesday, July 15 the Landmarks Preservation Commission will “calendar” the Prospect Heights Historic District, the first step to protect one of Brooklyn’s finest – and most endangered – historic neighborhoods.

see Prospect Heights Flickr page here

"MAS applauds the Landmarks Preservation Commission for moving to protect this very special and threatened neighborhood," said Lisa Kersavage. "The process by which the historic district was created is a model of civic partnership coupled with cutting-edge technology." Continue reading...

MAS Announces Winners of 2008 Awards

MAS announced the winners of its Annual Awards honoring individuals and groups that help define what makes New York City great at the MAS annual meeting on Wednesday, July 9. Held at TheTimesCenter, the 2008 MAS Annual Award-winners are: the City’s 311 Customer Service Center; José the Beaver, the first seen in New York since colonial days and a clear symbol of New York city's improving urban environment; the Long Island City Cultural Alliance; American Ballroom Theater’s Dancing Classrooms; and Solar One Environmental Center. Continue reading...

2008 Yolanda Garcia Community Planner Award Winner is Announced

Jeanne DuPont, Executive Director of the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance (RWA) is the 2008 Yolanda Garcia Community Planning Award recipient. This award, which recognizes the often-unsung leaders of grassroots community-based planning, was awarded to Jeanne for her work promoting public waterfront access in the Rockaways.

Municipal Art Society Names New President

In mid-June, Municipal Art Society Chairman Philip K. Howard announced that Vin Cipolla, a nationally recognized leader in the preservation, arts and business communities, has been named President of the organization. Mr. Cipolla will assume his position with MAS in early 2009. He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Park Foundation and was formerly Executive Vice President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the country's largest historic preservation organization. Continue reading...

Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York Wins William H. Whyte Award

Last Monday, June 16, the NY Metro Chapter of the American Planning Association honored the Municipal Art Society with the William H. Whyte Award for its Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York exhibition. The William H. Whyte Award is given annually “to an individual, plan or project that is distinguished by creativity in the field of planning.” This year, MAS is sharing the award with Hilary Ballon, curator of the Robert Moses and the Modern City exhibition.

Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York was the centerpiece of an extensive public education and civic engagement effort developed to highlight the principles and relevance of the celebrated urbanist, explore the contemporary metropolis through Jacobs’s groundbreaking views on cities, and underscore the Rockefeller Foundation’s legacy in advancing the field of urban design while encouraging a new generation of citizen activists to advocate for positive change within their communities.

Given the massive redevelopment occurring throughout New York City, the exhibition came at a critical time and spurred ongoing debate concerning the influence of these iconic figures who shared a profound conviction about the power of cities to influence social well-being. Jean Tatge, Chief Operating Officer of MAS, accepted the Award on behalf of the Municipal Art Society.

MAS Calls for Reform of Atlantic Yards Governance

A coalition of Brooklyn elected officials and civic groups, including MAS, gathered today on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan today to launch the “Campaign to Reform Atlantic Yards,” an initiative to pass new legislation that would reform the governance of the Atlantic Yards project.

The Campaign was launched in response to the continued lack of accountability, transparency and public involvement in the governance of the Atlantic Yards project.

“I’ve been involved in Riverside South, on the Upper West Side on Manhattan. That project was begun 17 years ago and it’s only half-finished. We’ve been through four governors and three mayors, and the only glue of the project of the project has been the involvement of citizens – through a structure. We need this at Atlantic Yards,” said Kent Barwick, President of the Municipal Art Society. Continue reading.

Place Matters Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary

Last night, Place Matters celebrated its Tenth Anniversary at the Municipal Art Society by honoring ten great places selected from the more than 600 places nominated to the Census of Places That Matter. The honorees were Federation of Black Cowboys, Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, JCR Percussion, La Plaza Cultural Armando Perez, Mandolin Brothers, A.J. Muste Building ("Peace Pentagon"), Snug Harbor Cultural Center, THE POINT Community Development Corporation, Weeksville Heritage Center, West 4th St. Courts ("The Cage").

To learn more about the honorees, click here to watch a short movie. Also, you can visit the Place Matters website and check out the Census Explorer to search more a database of places that matter in New York, or click here to scroll through the Place That Matters of the Week on the MAS website. The honorees were also featured in yesterday's MetroNY.

Nearly 100 New Yorkers "Crack the Code"

On May 10th 2008, nearly 100 New Yorkers attended second annual Livable Neighborhoods Program (LNP) training at Hunter College. The LNP trains community members to pro-actively plan for their neighborhood — tackling issues ranging from affordable housing, to 197-a planning, to the city’s land use review process. Continue reading...

St. Vincent's Hospital Pleads Hardship

For the first time in nearly twenty years, an owner of a New York City landmark has invoked the hardship provision of the Landmarks Law. In May, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) rejected the proposal by St. Vincent’s Hospital to demolish the 1961 O’Toole building, located in the heart of the Greenwich Village Historic District, in order to construct a new hospital facility. St. Vincent’s responded by applying for the right to proceed under hardship with the demolition of the building. The MAS is urging the LPC to rigorously review this hardship application to ensure that the process examines all possible alternatives to the building’s demolition. To learn more about the hardship provision and MAS’s stance, click here.

Preserve Your City: Support Funding the Landmarks Commission

To ensure that the success of the past two years in increasing the budget of the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and improving its ability to protect the city's most important historic buildings continues in fiscal year 2009, join MAS, Council Members, and other preservation groups this Wednesday, May 28, at 2:00 p.m., on the steps of City Hall to rally for adequate funding for the LPC. Bring a sign or prop illustrating your favorite undesignated neighborhood or building so that the Council and the public can see all of the various sites across the city that require the LPC's attention. If you can't be there, e-mail your Council Member and ask them to support the the renewal of $300,000 for the LPC's budget for the coming fiscal year, and watch the new movie above explaining why this additional funding is so important.

2008 MASterwork Awards Honor Six

The environmentally innovative New York Times Building and the brilliant design of the IAC Building took MASterwork Awards for Best New Building at last week's award ceremony. The restoration of the magnificent Eldridge Street Synagogue into the Museum at Eldridge Street and the skillful conversion of two late 19th century buildings in the Meatpacking District into Diane Von Furstenburg (DVF) Studio Headquarters took honors for the Best Historic Restoration. The Floating Pool and the New Museum of Contemporary Art received awards for Best Neighborhood Catalyst. Click here to view images of the event and the winning buildings.

For photographs of the event and the winning buildings, Continue reading...

New Video: The Struggle to Build Penn Station

On April 23, historian Jill Jonnes delivered a fascinating presentation on the construction of Penn Station and its tunnels, the subject of her recent book Conquering Gotham: A Gilded Age Epic. The event was part of MAS' spring program series Can New York Build Another Great Station?

With the aid of some amazing photographs rescued from the depths of the Pennsylvania Railroad archives, Jonnes recounted the “titanic battle with nature” that culminated in the construction of the original Penn Station.

2008 Yolanda Garcia Community Planner Award Call for Nominations

The MAS is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Yolanda Garcia Community Planner (YGCP) Award. This $2,500 award was created to commemorate the work of Ms. Yolanda Garcia, a community activist in the South Bronx. Each year the MAS presents the YGCP award to a community planner who has demonstrated his or her ability to overcome the many obstacles to grassroots, community-based planning and has succeeded in bringing neighborhood need and vision into New York City’s planning process. Continue reading...

LPC Gives St. Vincent's Buildings "Own Day In Court"

Last week, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)held another hearing on the St. Vincent’s Hospital redevelopment plans and their proposal to demolish of nine buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District. At the hearing, the LPC took a strong stance to protect the integrity of the city’s historic districts and ultimately the Landmarks Law.

In its testimony, MAS had urged the Commission to determine the appropriateness of demolition for each individual building before considering the planned development, which is exactly what the commission did. MAS had written, “each of these buildings deserves their own day in court,” and last Tuesday, the Commission gave them that day. Continue reading...

Video - Re-Discovering Rail: The Smart, Green Alternative

On April 9, MAS convened an expert panel titled Re-Discovering Rail: The Smart, Green Alternative focusing on the issues of expanding the capacity of rail for travel and freight purposes in the United States, with particular emphasis on the needs of New York City for an improved local rail network for commuters that would be served by the new Penn & Moynihan stations.

Panelists Don Phillips, transportation analyst and former transportation reporter, The Washington Post & International Herald Tribune; and Walter Zullig, Jr., legal and transportation consultant and counsel emeritus, MetroNorth Railroad, discussed what is happening elsewhere and considered the local and regional obstacles to improving passenger service — and how those obstacles can be overcome.

Watch the video now.

Atlantic Yards or Atlantic Lots?

May 5, 2008
Today MAS released a set of renderings depicting the potential impact of interim parking lots and empty land on the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn. You can view the new renderings on a new slideshow at AtlanticLots.com and in the New York Post by clicking here.

Recently, Forest City Ratner (FCR) announced that key elements of the project will be delayed because of market conditions. Currently, FCR intends to begin constructing only the arena and one residential building on the Western end of the project. They plan to demolish the entire Eastern section of the site to create seven acres of "temporary" surface parking lots that could be with us for 15 or 20 years.

MAS is deeply concerned over the impact on the surrounding neighborhoods of vacant lots on the west of the project and giant parking lots on the east. In Sunday's (May 4) Daily News, FCR assured the public that the entire project will be completed by 2018, but other large-scale projects in New York – from Riverside South and Battery Park City to Queens West – have been delayed by a decade or longer.

Our goal in producing the renderings is to dramatize the need for New York State, which officially oversees the project, to move from the backseat role of previous administrations and take responsibility for guiding the largest development project in Brooklyn's history. Continue reading...

Place Matters Celebrates Ten Years

Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of Place Matters, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has adopted the Place Matters theme for its annual Preservation Month this May. Join MAS and City Lore — sponsors of Place Matters — at a party in June to celebrate this anniversary, salute the people that make these places possible, and honor 10 places that matter selected by a panel of place enthusiasts from the more than 650 places nominated by the public. See the back cover of this newsletter for details, and visit www.placematters.net to add the places that matter to you to the census. Continue reading...

MAS Hosts DOT Launch of New Strategic Plan "Sustainable Streets"

Last night, New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan charted a smarter and greener future for City transportation policy with the launch of the agency's ambitious plan "Sustainable Streets" at the Municipal Art Society. The plan seeks to capitalize on the opportunity presented by the City's 6,300 miles of streets and install 200 new bike lanes, including 15 miles of protected bike lanes by 2009, to create new public plazas citywide, to increase the speed of buses, to expand ferry services and HOV lanes, and to establish data-supported benchmarks for measuring these goals. Continue reading...

Planning for All New Yorkers: An Atlas of Community-Based Plans

The Municipal Art Society Planning Center, with assistance from the Community-Based Planning Task Force, has developed an interactive, online tool that compiles community-based plans in New York City. Planning for All New Yorkers: An Atlas of Community-Based Plans in New York City contains 87 individual plans, created since 1989, the year that the City responded to pressure from communities to simplify and strengthen provisions in the City Charter for 197-a planning (197-a plans are officially-recognized, community-initiated local plans). Continue reading...

CitiYouth Maps the Five Boroughs

On Saturday April 5th, 2008, CITI Youth interns Tiffany Williams, Latoya Herndon, Eric Kenny, and Peejay Howard joined over 100 students from across North America at the 2008 PLANet Youth Conference. This inaugural conference, organized by the Young Planners Network, held at the Brooklyn Academy of Urban Planning in Bushwick, marked the start of "... an international movement to empower young people, educate adults, influence planning trends, and exchange best practices." The conference featured sessions led by young people from various cities, covering topics ranging from gentrification to rebuilding New Orleans. Continue reading...

61,000 New Yorkers Tune in to Watch MAS Documentary City of Water

City of Water, the documentary film from the Municipal Art Society and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance was aired on Channel Thirteen/WNET on Saturday, April 19 at 1.30 p.m.

Two years in the making, City of Water explores the aspirations of public officials, environmentalists, academics, community activists, recreational boaters and everyday New Yorkers for a diverse, vibrant waterfront at a time when the shoreline is changing faster than at any other time in New York's history. The documentary features interviews with Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, US Representative Nydia Velazquez, MacArthur Fellow Majora Carter, author Phillip Lopate, Sandy Hook Pilots' Captain Andrew McGovern and others, and includes footage from Jamaica Bay, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and many other places on the waterfront.

Click on the "play" button above to watch a trailer of the movie. The film will be screened on Friday May 9, as part of the Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival. Click here for more details.

Good News for the Prospect Heights Historic District

On Wednesday, April 9, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a community forum on the district and shared their proposed boundaries for a 700-building district. The Commission may move as soon as this year to calendar the district, the first step in the designation process.

MAS applauds the Landmarks Preservation Commission for moving so rapidly to protect this very special neighborhood. Continue reading...

125th Street Rezoning Still Needs Work

On April 1st 2008, the Municipal Art Society testified at the Land-use and Franchise subcommittee hearing regarding the 125th Street rezoning plan. City Planning has been working for almost four years on this plan. It first emerged as the “River to River Study,” a promise to create a vibrant Harlem Main Street, buttressed on either side by access to two of New York’s Waterfronts. The current plan does not, however, extend from “River to River” but covers the area from Second Avenue to Broadway and from 124th Street to 126th Street with 125th Street as the spine.

The rezoning initiative held the promise to revitalize 125th Street as Harlem’s vibrant mixed-use corridor, maintaining a specific emphasis on the arts and entertainment industry to support Harlem’s unique position as a local, national, and international destination. The proposed plan under review, unfortunately, still falls short of its commendable vision. Continue reading...

MAS Urges State to Keep Moynihan Station on Track

Appearing on WNYC's Morning Edition this past Friday, MAS President Kent Barwick expressed his disappointment at the recent decision by the owners of Madison Square Garden not to move the arena to the western end of the Farley Post Office building as currently proposed in the Moynihan Station project plan. This move has the potential to derail the most important project in the city, and Mr. Barwick suggested that the state ought to investigate using all of its powers to ensure the project stays on track.

Click here to listen to the interview, here to read the New York Times coverage of the news, and here to learn more about our Moynihan Station advocacy.

St. Vincent's Demolition Application Could Set Dangerous Precedent

MAS recently wrote to Chairman Tierney of the Landmarks Preservation Commission to express our concern about the application to demolish historic buildings in the Greenwich Village Historic District for the redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital. As far as we know, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, in its 43 years of watching over our city’s heritage, has not permitted the demolition of a building that contributes to the historic district under a Certificate of Appropriateness and we see no reason for the Commission to do so now.

To watch a slideshow of the threatened buildings, click here. Please note that the building descriptions contained in the captions to the slideshow were taken from the designation report. For more detailed information about these buildings from the report, click here. And, for some more images of the threatened buildings, click here.

Join us at the LPC hearing tomorrow!

Saarinen Terminal to Reopen, But Future of "Trumpet" in Doubt

The Port Authority recently announced it plans to reopen the historic TWA, or Saarinen, Terminal at Kennedy Airport this fall allowing passengers to pass through the landmark structure on their way to the new JetBlue Airlines terminal that wraps around it. MAS is delighted that the original building will continue to be used, but remains concerned that the trumpet-shaped departure lounge that was cut apart from the rest of the structure last year will not be rehabilitated. Read more.

MAS Aids in Legal Victory Against Speculative Dorm Developer

On March 25, the New York State Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that an East Village developer could not build a 19 story dormitory without a commitment from an educational institution. The decision dealt a major blow to unscrupulous developers and signaled a major step forward in the protection of a New York City-designated landmark school building. MAS filed an amicus brief in support of the Department of Building’s requirement that a developer show a connection with an educational institution sufficient to persuade it that the building, when built, really would be a dormitory. Continue reading...

The Livable Neighborhood Program Comes to Flatbush

On Saturday, March 29, the MAS Planning Center will be bring the Livable Neighborhoods Program to Flatbush — conducting a day of workshops and trainings. The Livable Neighborhoods Program was created to provide communities with the knowledge, tools, and training needed to transform local vision into effective plans. The program which first launched at Hunter College in 2007, provides participants with in person training, a take home comprehensive community planning toolkit and access to a web-based network for ongoing to discussion. The program is free and it will be taking place in the Student Center. If you are interested in attending please complete and return the registration form. If you have any questions, please contact Sideya Sherman at ssherman@mas.org or 212-935-3960 x 259.

For full details of this event, visit the Livable Neighborhoods Program web page.

Creating the City We All Want: A Roadmap

The MAS Planning Center is holding a series of forums this spring on the future of community-based planning in New York City. The opening program is titled Elected Officials Respond to Communities That Plan for Themselves, and will be held on Monday, March 24. Click here for more details.

OUTRAGE! Nasty Newsracks Movie

Please click on the play icon above to watch OUTRAGE! the nasty newsracks movie.

Cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, and San Francisco have all passed and are enforcing newsrack regulations that are both effective and workable. New York City is like the wild west when it comes to curtailing newsrack blight. Contact the Honorable John Liu, Chair of the Transportation Committee at the New York City Council, the Honorable Jessica Lappin, New York City Council Member, or the Honorable Janette Sadik-Kahn, New York City Transportation Commissioner, and let them know what you think.

MAS Planning Center Launches New Community-Based Planning Blog

The Community-Based Planning Task Force is leading the effort to create a more meaningful role for communities in New York City’s planning and decision-making processes and recently launched a new blog as a locus for community-planners to learn about and discuss the latest in community planning news.

To learn more about the campaign, visit the blog at www.communitybasedplanning.wordpress.com.

Major Step Forward on East Side Waterfront Park

MAS is pleased to announce that New York City Council Land Use Committee voted this morning to approve a proposed plan for the former Con Ed Site on the East River between 38th and 41st streets on the East River. This plan makes the East Side Waterfront Park possible, as the developer of the site, East River Realty Company, has agreed to provide an easement so that the FDR highway can be realigned when it is rebuilt in the next few years that will allow a deck — with a park on top — to be built over the highway, finally connecting the East Side to the waterfront. Additionally, the developer has agreed to provide $10 million towards the construction of this deck and has also guaranteed public access to the park along the routes of 39th and 40th streets.

We congratulate all those involved — particularly local Council Member Dan Garodnick and Speaker Christine Quinn and the developer East River Realty Company — for their hard work in reaching this agreement. We'd also like to thank Manhattan Community Board Six for their many years of tireless work on the project. If you'd like to contact Council Member Garodnick click here or you can e-mail Speaker Quinn here. Continue reading...

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