Number 5: Robert Tierney
Fifty years from now, architecturally distinct neighborhoods like Dumbo and Crown Heights North will look largely the same as they do today, regardless of the individual property owners’ consent, thanks to city landmarking laws implemented under Robert Tierney, chairman of the Landmark Commission. Since he took the seat in January 2003, four districts comprising 823…
Fifty years from now, architecturally distinct neighborhoods like Dumbo and Crown Heights North will look largely the same as they do today, regardless of the individual property owners’ consent, thanks to city landmarking laws implemented under Robert Tierney, chairman of the Landmark Commission. Since he took the seat in January 2003, four districts comprising 823 buildings and 20 individual structures have been landmarked in Brooklyn, and according to a spokeswoman the commission plans to move forward with designating two more districts in Bed-Stuy and Prospect Heights that total 870 buildings. Then there are the scores of proposed alterations to existing landmarks that have put developers at the mercy of Tierney, such as 20 Henry Street and the Domino Sugar Refinery. And the Commission has surveyed 2,800 additional buildings in Brooklyn “that merit evaluation for landmark status,” meaning Tierney won’t have to worry about lack of work as long as he’s in office.
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I hear you MM. Even stauch pro-preservation organizations like SaveLPC,CCPP, HDC and countless block associations (including my own) and other civic groups who criticize LPC and Tierney also understand that the agency is severely underfunded. That’s why these groups have lobbied to increase LPC’s budget. But lack of money is not the only issue as to why preservation efforts stagnate at the Commission level. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that the heavy influence of big money on the Commmission IS the issue! IOW, the scenic route approach to historic preservation is not only the result of an inadequate LPC budget but is also due to the influence of bubble-driven, fast track pro-development campaigns which have been favored by the “we needed term limits but now we don’t need term limits” mayor of the City.
Brooklynista, I agree they aren’t perfect, but they are all we’ve got. Although we are happy to have part of CH North designated, we too, were supposed to have a much larger district. Many of the prime blocks of Crown Heights North were not included in the designation, as the district was divided into four phases. we’re back on the long waiting list with a lot of other equally deserving neighborhoods.
I also agree that they have made some dubious decisions, Ward’s Bakery being one of them, that have allowed some important buildings to go under the wrecking ball. They have great room for improvement.
However, budget cuts have really undermined them as well. It’s almost as if someone wants them to disappear under the multitude of work they have, so that we can declare then useless, and therefore unneccessary. Hmmmmm. If I were a conspiracy theorist 247, I might think that would be the plan. Developers would then be able to do whatever they wanted, they may be resting and hoarding their capital now, but they’ll be back.
Perspectives on the influence of the list’s “honorees” can vary greatly. Given the well-deserved landmark designation of the CHN HD this past year, I certainly understand your cause for cheer when you see Commissioner Tierney riding high on this list at #5, MM. However, there are a whole lot of other New Yorkers, in many other neighborhoods throughout the City, who are not so thrilled with Tierney nor with the performance of the LPC under his reign. For those folk, like the Citizens Committee to Preserve Preservation, http://www.savelpc.org/2008_03_01_archive.html, who have been waiting eons on LPC to make a move on designating new landmarks historic districts or on expanding already-existing historic districts, or even just engaging in full-commission, non-development-biased review of legitimate proposals, there’s no doubt that Tierney and LPC are influential — but negatively so.
Check out this recent editorial by the NY Times in order to get my gist:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/18/opinion/18sat4.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Thanks, Brownstoner and staff, for putting Commissioner Tierney and Landmarks so high on the list. They are an important city agency that unfortunately, is pretty low on the budget scale, and will probably suffer even more now.
Landmarking an area is a long, time consuming process which entails a huge amount of research and legwork by underpaid, overworked staff. In addition to preserving our city’s architectural gems and creating historic districts, a landmarked designation can be the only protection from tear down and replacement by out of context, often sub standard crap.
I look forward to the new historic districts, especially those in BS and PH, and also the continuation of the landmarking of Crown Heights North.