Tomorrow the Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote on the proposed East 10th Street Historic District. Preservation activists, including Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, say the hearing has gained new urgency. Here’s the email blast Berman sent on Friday:
The scheduled hearing and vote comes after the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and fellow community groups alerted the LPC to an attempt by notorious East Village developer Ben Shaoul to secure buildings permits to build on top of one of the buildings in the heart of the virtually untouched, one-block long proposed historic district along Tompkins Square North. If the LPC takes the unusual step of voting to designate at the hearing on Tuesday, Shaoul will be prevented from getting the permits to build without going through the landmarks public hearing approval process. The proposed East 10th Street Historic District includes 26 buildings, nearly all virtually untouched since they were built in the mid-19th century. If landmarked, the East 10th Street Historic District will be only the second historic district in the East Village, and the first designated since 1969. GVSHP has been advocating for expanded landmarks protections in the East Village.
Today EV Grieve points out that other preservation groups are sounding the alarm about the more expansive East Village/Lower East Side Historic District application, which has not been scheduled for a vote.
If you would like to listen to tomorrow’s testimony or testify yourself, the hearing takes place at 1:30 p.m. at LPC offices, 1 Centre Street, 9th floor.
