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Preserving NY: Sites Significant in Preservation History
The New York Preservation Archive Project is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving, and celebrating the history of historic preservation in New York City.
The Archive Project is devoted to celebrating neglected narratives of New York historic preservation using the archives that hold these stories. This collection includes a selection of historic sites that became flashpoints of the city's preservation movement(s).
For more information, visit: www.nypap.org/phd-category/places/
Audubon Theatre and Ballroom
Significant to several underrepresented communities in New York City, the Audubon Ballroom is an interesting example of preservation without official designation as a NYC Landmark.
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Biltmore Hotel
The loss of the Biltmore Hotel became an example of the danger of making deals with developers in the name of preservation.
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Brokaw Mansion
The demolition of the Brokaw Mansion played a significant role in advancing landmarks legislation in New York City.
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Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall, an iconic New York City cultural institution, was saved from demolition in the 1950 and ’60s through concerted preservation efforts.
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Castle Clinton
Built in 1808, Castle Clinton was the focus of one of the first major preservation-related battles in New York City.
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West Drive
Central Park was first established in 1857. Throughout its history New Yorkers have struggled to maintain the park’s original naturalistic landscape design while accommodating modern park amenities.
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Edgar Allan Poe Cottage
Built in 1812, and rented by Edgar Allen Poe from 1846 until his death in 1849, this cottage in the Bronx was successfully preserved despite several threats.
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Museum at Eldridge Street
This synagogue, constructed in 1887, was one of the first of its kind built by Eastern European Jews in the United States and underwent a major restoration in the 2000s.
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Fraunces Tavern
Fraunces Tavern, one of the first buildings to be designated as a New York City Landmark in 1965, was originally built in 1719 but was controversially reconstructed in 1906 in an attempt to restore a colonial appearance.
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Grand Central Terminal
The iconic Grand Central Terminal was the center of a pivotal U.S. Supreme Court case which affirmed that the regulatory control of historic structures was constitutional.
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Helen Hayes Theatre
The Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters were demolished during the redevelopment of the Theater District, sparking a movement to preserve the cultural and architectural legacy of the area.
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61 Washington Square South
Greenwich Village’s House of Genius was the iconic home of many writers and artists. Despite a preservation struggle, it was demolished in 1948.
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Hunterfly Road Houses at Weeksville
The Hunterfly Road Houses, dating from 1840-1880, are important historical remnants of a vibrant African American community in Weeksville during that time period.
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Jefferson Market Library (formerly Courthouse)
Jefferson Market Courthouse was the center of one of New York City’s first grassroots preservation campaigns and an early example of a successful adaptive reuse project.
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172-186 Fifth Avenue
The Ladies’ Mile Historic District, an assortment of grand department store buildings, lofts, and early skyscrapers, is the product of a successful campaign for designation in the 1980s.
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Luchow's Restaurant
Established in 1882, Lüchow’s restaurant was a local cultural hub but was demolished in 1995 after being damaged in a fire.
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Merchant's House Museum
Threats in the 1960s to the architecturally- and culturally-significant Old Merchant’s House were a major factor in the successful passage of the New York City Landmarks Law.
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Metropolitan Opera (1883)
The demolition of the “Old” Metropolitan Opera House was the first loss of a potential landmark since the New York City Landmarks Law was passed in 1965.
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Pennsylvania Station (1910)
The demolition of McKim, Mead & White’s Pennsylvania Station, amid public outcry, is popularly regarded as the birth of the modern preservation movement in New York City and the impetus for the Landmarks Law.
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Percy R. Pyne House
The Pyne-Davison Row, a group of architecturally-noteworthy houses on Park Avenue, narrowly escaped the wrecking ball in the 1960s, underlining the need for landmarks legislation in New York City.
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Radio City Music Hall
The threat to the nationally-significant Radio City Music Hall in the late-1970s caused New Yorkers to rally to achieve landmark designation for the Art Deco masterpiece.
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Rhinelander House
The demolition of the Rhinelander Houses in 1951 evoked opposition from Greenwich Village residents, refocused preservation efforts after World War II, and highlighted the need for landmarks legislation.
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Building C, Sailors' Snug Harbor
One of the first landmarks designated in New York City, preserving Sailors’ Snug Harbor required years of sustained commitment on the part of individuals, cultural organizations, and public servants.
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St. Brigid's Roman Catholic Church
The history of St. Brigid’s is one of perseverance through community efforts and illustrates the effects of neighborhood transformation on the life of a building.
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St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery
Saint Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery, the oldest site of continuous worship in Manhattan, was one of the first landmarks designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission.
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767 Fifth Avenue
Savoy-Plaza Hotel was demolished in 1965 to make way for the General Motors Building.
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Singer Building
The Singer Building, razed in 1967, remains the world’s largest structure to be intentionally demolished.
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E.V. Haughwout Building
Despite threats from an expressway that would have torn through the neighborhood, the impressive cast-iron architecture of SoHo survives today through the concerted efforts of area residents.
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Lyceum Theatre
Although some met the wrecking ball, a majority of the iconic theaters of the Theater District were preserved through concerted efforts in the 1980s.
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Wood's Mercantile Buildings
Containing some of the earliest examples of cast-iron buildings in New York City, Tribeca was protected through a series of historic district designations.
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Washington Square Arch
As an iconic area of Greenwich Village, Washington Square has been the focus and battleground of preservation-related controversy throughout the 20th century.
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The Jewish Museum
The Warburg Mansion (now part of the Jewish Museum) is a case study in architectural adaptation and assimilation in the battle to bring a Gilded Age mansion into modern museum usage.
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