Lower East Side Preservation Initiative

Join LESPI for a special event, “A Neighborhood Transformed: Landmarks of the East Village/Noho Walking Tour” on Saturday October 18, from 3:00-4:30pm. To register for this free tour see HERE.

At the same time you can also stop by to see LESPI volunteers at the Fourth Arts Block Lower East Side Arts & Culture Open House, East 4th Street between the Bowery and Second Avenue, where there’ll be live music and other events, and where we’ll be tabling from 12:00-4:00pm, weather permitting.

Don’t miss our Monday, October 20 Zoom webinar, “Kleindeutschland and the Church of Most Holy Redeemer,” a discussion on the history, architecture, and preservation challenges faced by this beautiful church on East 3rd Street, and its once German-American neighborhood. With the church’s closing earlier this month, parishioners, local residents and preservationists have been mobilizing to try to save this important institution and historic structure, which ultimately could face demolition.

See HERE for more information and to register for this free event. Sponsored by LESPI, Village Preservation, East Village Community Coalition, and Goethe Institut.

What can you do to help?

Sign the petition to reopen the church.

Sign the petition to landmark the church.

Join parishioners for their Friday night 7:00pm vigils.

PRESERVATION ACTION ALERT!

The NY State Senate and Assembly are currently considering a bill that would eliminate landmark protections, including for demolition, for any future landmarked religious property, as long as the owner builds a new building that includes minimal affordable housing. Additionally, the legislation allows new buildings on religious properties, including future landmarks, to be built completely out of scale with the zoning of the surrounding neighborhood.

Titled the “Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act” (S3397A / A3647A), the bill has garnered substantial support in both legislative houses.

New York State Residents: We need your help to defeat this legislation as it’s now written! Send an automated letter to your elected official!

LESPI has proposed several new landmarked religious properties to the NYC Landmarks Commission for designation, such as the Church of St. Mary on Grand Street, the Stanton Street Shul, and others within our proposed historic districts. We’ve also worked with our allied preservation groups to propose religious sites within the East Village. Landmark designation is an uphill struggle, and if the Landmarks Commission finally agrees to designate these buildings, their owners could then turn around and demolish them the next day. This is not acceptable.

Moreover, this bill could potentially be the first step in whittling away New York City’s Landmarks Law. Passed in 1965, it has protected irreplaceable historic sites and districts around the city. The Landmarks Law needs to be upheld and protected, not undermined.

You can send an automated letter — which you can edit as you see fit  — to your State Senator and Assembly Member objecting to the “Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act” HERE. 

Read LESPI’s letter to our elected officials HERE. Thank you for your help with this important issue!