Remarks by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Executive Director Kate Daly

New York  | Kate Daly, Executive Director, The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission  | Posted: June 2, 2008

Remarks for the 2008 11 Most Endangered Historic Places Announcement

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Executive Director Kate Daly

May 20, 2008

 

Good morning. Thanks very much for inviting the Landmarks Preservation Commission to be a part of this important announcement.

I'm here on behalf of Chair Tierney, who regrets he could not be here. But he is presiding over the Commission's public hearing today.  The Commission welcomes the support of the Trust as well as that of the Tenement Museum and the Lower East Side Preservation Coalition in our common goal of preserving this remarkable neighborhood. The Commission has received more than two dozen letters from elected officials and civic leaders urging us to protect the buildings that serve as physical reminders of our City's immigrant history.  Community consensus is the foundation for Commission's designation of 92 historic districts and more than 1,000 individual landmarks since 1965, including 25 landmarks in this neighborhood.

To obtain that consensus, the Commission must build a strong case as to why a neighborhood or building deserves to receive landmark status. We begin with a survey, and the Commission is now reviewing the results of our recent survey of more than 2,300 buildings on the Lower East Side, part of our effort to survey more than 22,000 buildings in all five boroughs.

We are now in the process of evaluating the results of our Lower East Side survey, and are reviewing boundaries of numerous potential historic districts and conducting further research on potential individual landmarks.  We are hopeful that your support and advocacy and community consensus building will culminate in the designation of one or more districts and many individual landmarks.

So we thank you for raising awareness of the need to preserve the historic fabric of the immigrant experience in this country and reminding us all of its importance to New York City, New York State and our nation. And we look forward to working in partnership with the Trust, the Lower East Side Preservation Coalition, and everyone here in support of this important effort. Thank you.