The Battle for Historic Districts
Join the Historic Districts Council and the New York Preservation Archive Project for a celebration of Martin Schneider's new book on the struggle to protect Brooklyn Heights and a panel discussion on the future of historic districts.
Forty-six years after Brooklyn Heights was designated as New York City's first historic district, Schneider's new book Battling for Brooklyn Heights and documentary "Brooklyn Is My Neighborhood/The Story of New York's First Historic District" revisit the epic grassroots struggle with a compelling eye-witness account. Although today we have more than 100 historic districts in the city, preservationists and passionate citizens inevitably face the same hurdles in attempting to protect their neighborhoods: labyrinthine urban politics, growing real estate pressures, and the need for developing low- and middle-income housing.
After a short screening of Schneider's documentary our panel of experts will explore today's challenges to historic districts and discuss a plan for their future. What have we achieved in the past forty-six years? Is New York City truly in danger of being over-designated? What must change to ensure the future of our historic districts in a city that must accommodate its inevitable growth?
Scheduled panelists include:
Otis Pratt Pearsall is former partner with Arnold & Porter, LLP. Mr. Pearsall has received numerous awards in recognition of his contribution to the preservation of New York City, many honoring his - and his wife Nancy's - battle to designate the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. Among these awards are the Environmental Action Coalition's 1989 Green Star Award, the Historic District Council's 1993 Landmark Lion Award, the New York Landmarks Conservancy's 2000 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Achievement Award, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's 2007 Forsythia Award and, with his wife Nancy, the Green-Wood Historic Foundation's 2009 Dewitt Clinton Award. In 1987 and 1988, Otis served on the Historic City Committee which published a report and series of recommendations entitled New York: The Historic City. He is a member of the Municipal Art Society's Preservation Committee, is a trustee of both the Brooklyn Museum and Green-Wood Cemetery, and is on the board of the New York Preservation Archive Project. Otis received his B.A. and LLB from Yale University.
Simeon Bankoff has been the Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council, the citywide advocate for New York's historic neighborhoods, since 2000. Under Mr. Bankoff's leadership, HDC has become one of New York's most prominent voices for historic preservation with a special focus on grassroots community-based preservation efforts. In addition to public advocacy, HDC also has a strong public education program, hosting more than two dozen public programs annually focusing on historic preservation, neighborhood development concerns and NYC history. Mr. Bankoff has more than 15 years of experience with preservation non-profits in New York, having worked in programming, development and property acquisition with the Historic House Trust, the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center and the New York Landmarks Preservation Foundation. He has lectured at Columbia University, New York University, Fashion Institute of Technology and Sarah Lawrence College, has participated in cultural exchange programs concerning urban preservation with groups from France, Eastern Europe and Japan and has been a featured columnist for The New York Times. A life-long resident of Brooklyn, Mr. Bankoff holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College.
Jeffrey A. Kroessler, one of the city's most vehement preservation activists, is a contributor to The Encyclopedia of New York City and the author of New York Year by Year: A Chronology of the Great Metropolis, Lighting the Way: The Centennial History of Queens Borough Public Library: 1896-1996, and Historic Preservation in Queens as well as numerous articles on the history of New York. Kroessler is a founder of the Queensboro Preservation League and was influential in the controversial local designation of Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. He recieved his Ph.D. at the CUNY Graduate School and is currently historian for the Archives and Special Collections in the College of Staten Island library and is on the Board of Advisors for the Historic Districts Council.
Sherida E. Paulsen joined PKSB Architects in 1999 as a Principal. She is a registered architect in the state of New York, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the New York Convention Center Operating Corporation, appointed by Governor David Paterson. Ms. Paulsen served the City of New York as a Commissioner and Chair of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and as a founding Director of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation, appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In addition she serves on the boards of the Landmarks Preservation Foundation, the Riverdale Nature Preservancy and the Van Cortlandt Park Conservancy. She has also served as 2009 President of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, Chair of the Van Alen Institute: Projects in Public Architecture, and President of WX: Women Executives in Real Estate, and on the board of the Skyscraper Museum and the Advisory Council of the Landmarks Conservancy. She is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.
The panel will be moderated by Seri Worden, one of New York's "top young preservationists" with over ten years of experience in historic preservation and not-for-profit organizations, at the executive level and as a lecturer, writer and researcher. Most recently, Ms. Worden served as Executive Director of FRIENDS of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. At FRIENDS she worked with the community to expand the Upper East Side Historic District, achieving its listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places and landmark designation by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Seri holds a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from Columbia University (2002), where she focused on the preservation of Modern Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from Boston University (cum laude, 1999). She is on the Board of Advisors for the Historic Districts Council, is a Board Member of the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation and is a Preservation Colleague of the Preservation League of New York State. She previously served on the Executive Board of Columbia University’s Preservation Alumni. Seri is currently developing her professional activities as a freelance Preservation Consultant.
This event will take place at:
World Monuments Fund
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2412
New York, NY 10118
February 22, 2011
6:30 - 8:30 pm
Admission is $5 (payable by PayPal or at the door) and free for Friends of NYPAP, Friends of HDC and students.
Because of security checkpoints at the Empire State Building, space is limited and reservations are required; only those that RSVP will be able to attend.
To RSVP call 212-988-8379 or email mcoody@nypap.org.