Sometimes the silver lining is larger than the cloud. For the Proposed East 10th Street Historic District, the threat of a rooftop addition that could have potentially damaged this beautiful building’s and streetscape’s historic character spurred the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to accelerate their schedule and hold a Public Hearing January 17.

HERE'S WHAT HAPPENED:

The NYC Department of Buildings recently received an application to construct a rooftop addition on a pristine neo-Gothic mid 19th century rowhouse in the proposed district. This alteration could have potentially disrupted both the building’s historic character, by changing its scale and design integrity, and the harmonious quality of this very intact blockfront along the north side of Tompkins Square Park, between Avenues A and B.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKED:

When a property owner applies to the DOB for work in a proposed historic district, the LPC typically has 40 days to review the application and decide whether or not to landmark the property before the DOB grants final approval. If the LPC decides to landmark the property, the LPC reviews the design to make sure that it’s appropriate to the building’s historic architecture, and then issues a permit for the work.

LPC’s decision to set a January 17 Public Hearing date for the district’s landmark designation – which applies to landmarking the entire East 10th Street District, not just the building with the proposed rooftop addition – adheres to this 40 day time frame.

THE DISTRICT:

The Proposed East 10th Street Historic District is a remarkable surviving historic streetscape which visually defines the north end of Tompkins Square Park, and provides one of the most striking vistas within the East Village / Lower East Side. The individual buildings are excellent examples of NYC 19th century rowhouse and tenement architecture, and include styles such as Greek Revival, neo-Gothic, Italianate, and neo-Grec.

Without landmark protection these buildings will certainly lose their historic integrity, as the construction of rooftop additions, razing of ornate facades, and removal of cornices and other character defining features whittle away their historic character. Now is the time to save this unique and irreplaceable row!

For more information about the district, see LPC’s sites DISTRICT DESCRIPTION and MAP AND IMAGES.

SO WHAT CAN WE DO?

To help ensure that the process runs smoothly and the district is designated on January 17, the best thing is to come to LPC on that date and testify in support. LPC is located at 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor South (right above the Lexington Avenue Line City Hall subway stop). Check LPC's web site for the estimated hearing time.

If you can’t testify in person, be sure to send a letter. See LESPI’s letter supporting the district HERE - and feel free to use any or all of it for your letter. Send your letter to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by mail to the LPC’s address above, and please copy LESPI at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Additionally, to help expedite the landmark designation of the Proposed East Village / Lower East Side Historic District please sign LESPI’s online PETITION if you haven’t done so already.

And join LESPI – see www.LESPI-nyc.org – to help advocate for the protection of the East Village / Lower East Side’s other intact historic streetscape and buildings.

SIGN ON to LESPI's online petition

If you haven't already signed our online petition to expedite the NYC Landmarks Commission's landmarking of the two proposed East Village Historic Districts - sign on! Specifically, we want the LPC to hurry up and landmark the Proposed East 10th Street Historic District at LPC's January 17 Public Hearing, and to hold a public hearing for the Proposed East Village / Lower East Side Historic District by early 2012 and vote to designate the district shortly thereafter. Go to the PETITION to sign on!

Remember – just because the proposed districts are calendered, they still DO NOT have full protection from demolition or defacement. So come on board and let the LPC know that these districts need full landmark designation now, so they get the full protection they deserve. Sign the online PETITION!

And by the way: our hard-copy petition urging LPC to landmark the historic streetscapes of the East Village / Lower East Side is now is over 1,000 signatures strong and counting. Thanks to all who signed!

Support LESPI!

We're looking for people to help with outreach, people with specialized skills and experience, monetary donations (which are tax deductible as allowed by law), and any other assistance that can help further our mission. We'd very much appreciate your help in our campaign to preserve the East Village / Lower East Side and hope to hear from you in the near future.

Search “Lower East Side Preservation Initiative” on Facebook and check out our site! If you click the “Like” button you’ll receive periodic preservation, history and architectural updates for the LES/EV. You’ll also be showing support for our cause!

About LESPI

LESPI is a grass roots, all-volunteer not-for-profit corporation initially formed in 2007 to urge the LPC to designate as historic districts intact portions of the East Village / Lower East Side. Our strategy includes documenting and mapping the historic streetscapes, starting with the East Village, and rallying community residents, city officials and the LPC to effect landmark designation.

Contact us by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the form, through our web site lespi-nyc.org, or by mail at LESPI, c/o Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.

Artists, architects, preservationists, musicians, activists, and East Villagers of many stripes descended on the Bathhouse Studios October 20 for delicious local food, wine, and good conversation. Sponsored by LESPI and Art Loisaida Foundation, Art and Architecture Slam drew a total of about 75 people to Studio A, a large dramatic space more commonly filled with photography equipment and stagesets than with neighborhood artists and preservationists.

Guests were treated to the video piece videographer Steven Speliotis produced for the event: a brilliant collage of images of East Village / Lower East Side architecture and art that celebrated their mutual synergy and codependency. David Barish provided beautiful guitar music for the piece, and later in the evening treated us to a live performance. The venue itself was a work of art – a 1905 Beaux Arts public bathhouse with an elegant arcaded façade replete with pilasters, balustrades, and cartouches, through which one enters into the ultra-contemporary studio space within.

During the course of the evening, Richard Moses of LESPI briefly discussed the need to preserve the East Village / Lower East Side’s historic architecture, and how our urban environment strongly affects our creativity and sense of well being. Carolyn Ratcliffe of LESPI and Art Loisaida spoke of how rising costs are forcing artists out of the neighborhood, how the community lost one its largest art venues at old PS 64 and how more and improved art venues need to be made available for local artists.

The event was an outreach and fundraising success. But mostly it was about getting together in a wonderful historic landmark and catching up with friends, chatting with neighbors, and enjoying a beautiful East Village autumn evening.

We want to thank the many great local establishments who generously donated to this event, including: De Roberti's Pasticceria, 1st Avenue; El Camion Cantina, Avenue A; Esperanto, Avenue C; The Immigrant, E 9th St; Jane McNichol; Met Foodmarket, 2nd Avenue; Palatofino, E 7th St; Percy’s Tavern, Avenue A; Russo’s Mozzarella and Pasta, E 11th Street; Something Sweet, 1st Avenue; Two Boots Pizza, Avenue A; Veniero’s, E 9th Street; Veselka, 2nd Avenue; Zucker Bakery, E 9th Street; and Art Loisaida. We also want to thank Steven Speliotis and David Barish for their artistic contributions, and Onno de Jong and Bruce Monroe for the event’s graphic design. And finally a large thank you to Bathhouse Studios, and to the many members and friends of LESPI and Art Loisaida who made the evening such a success!

SIGN ON! LESPI's petition is now online

Sign on! LESPI’s new online petition urges the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission to hurry up(!) and landmark the Proposed East Village / Lower East Side and East 10th Street Historic Districts. How? By holding a public hearing by no later than the beginning of 2012 and voting to designate the districts shortly thereafter. Go to the PETITION to sign on!

Remember – just because the proposed districts are calendered, they still DO NOT have full protection from demolition or defacement. So come on board and let the LPC know that these districts need full landmark designation now, so they get the full protection they deserve. Sign the online PETITION!

And by the way: our hard-copy petition urging LPC to landmark the historic streetscapes of the East Village / Lower East Side is now is over 1,000 signatures strong and counting. Thanks to all who signed!

LESPI Announces Incorporation

In early October, the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative was recognized by New York State as an official not-for-profit corporation - a very exciting step for us! Incorporation legally establishes LESPI's ability to perform our mission: to inform the public about the East Village / Lower East Side's rich architectural and cultural history, and to advocate for landmark historic district designation for the area's intact historic streetscapes.

In order to bring our operations in line with state law for corporations, we've replaced our previous governing system - LESPI's Steering Committee - with a Board of Directors that will now take the helm. The board members are:

Richard Moses - President
Carolyn Ratcliffe - Vice President, Secretary
Britton Baine - Treasurer
Marie Beirne
Ricky Leung
Jean Standish
Philip Van Aver

As you may know, Richard, Carolyn, Britton, and Philip served on LESPI’s Steering Committee prior to our incorporation. Now we'd like to give a special welcome and thanks to Marie, Ricky, and Jean for officially joining on.

LESPI is also in the process of creating a Board of Advisors – a group of individuals with specialized knowledge and experience that support our mission. To date, we welcome Linda Jones, Katy McNabb, Bruce Monroe, Robert Slaughter, and Osvaldo Valdes. We want to additionally recognize and thank Katy McNabb for her four years of service and sage advice as a Steering Committee member, and we're glad she will continue to be a part of LESPI from her new home in Vermont.

LESPI's next organizational step is to apply for 501(c)(3) status, in order to gain Federal recognition of our not-for-profit status. Though we currently operate under the umbrella of a separate 501(c)(3) corporation, this recognition will allow LESPI to assume additional financial independence and continue to build organizational strength and support for our cause.

Support LESPI!

We're looking for people to help with outreach, people with specialized skills and experience, monetary donations (which are tax deductible as allowed by law), and any other assistance that can help further our mission. We'd very much appreciate your help in our campaign to preserve the East Village / Lower East Side and hope to hear from you in the near future.

Search “Lower East Side Preservation Initiative” on Facebook and check out our site! If you click the “Like” button you’ll receive periodic preservation, history and architectural updates for the LES/EV. You’ll also be showing support for our cause!

About LESPI

LESPI is a grass roots, all-volunteer not-for-profit corporation initially formed in 2007 to urge the LPC to designate as historic districts intact portions of the East Village / Lower East Side. Our strategy includes documenting and mapping the historic streetscapes, starting with the East Village, and rallying community residents, city officials and the LPC to effect landmark designation.

Contact us by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the form, through our web site lespi-nyc.org, or by mail at LESPI, c/o Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.

The big news this summer? After several weeks of preparation and testimony, it came down to Community Board 3's Full Board vote, tallied in just a few tense minutes on July 26:

- Unanimous vote to support landmarking the Proposed East 10th Street Historic District

- 23-9, with one abstention, to support landmarking the Proposed East Village / Lower East Side Historic District.

Leading up to this vote, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission staff gave thorough slideshow presentations on the districts' history and significance to the CB 3 Parks Committee. LESPI testified at each hearing, along with several neighborhood residents and other preservation groups - such as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, East Village Community Coalition, and Bowery Alliance of Neighbors. We made a very compelling case for landmarking the districts based upon their important history, historic architecture, and value to the community.

To counter some vigorous opposition from three religious institutions who do not want their buildings landmarked, preservationists pointed out that the landmark regulations are not onerous and that hundreds of religious organizations, institutions and businesses survive and thrive in NYC historic districts, rich and poor. We explained that the districts' historic buildings have value beyond their "bricks and mortar" - they tell the story of immigrant workers who built and in many cases handcrafted them, the immigrant families who lived, relaxed, and worshipped in them while getting started in this nation, and the renowned artists, writers, musicians, and political activists who made and continue to make these neighborhoods their homes. We spoke of how the districts' amazing architecture and ornamentation have enriched and enlivened our environment, while enriching us all in the process.

So now that CB 3 has voted to support landmarking, what comes next? The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission must now schedule its own Public Hearing to hear testimony. After the hearing is held, the LPC can then vote on designation. Once designated, the districts must be confirmed by both the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

Preservationists still have a lot of work to do: we must ensure that the LPC holds its hearing and votes to fully designate the districts as landmarks as soon as possible. We must make sure landmarking is not overturned by City Council. Fortunately, City Councilmember Rosie Mendez's strong support for the districts should help the process. Only when the districts are landmarked and the designation process completed will their wonderful architecture and cultural history enjoy the strong protection they deserve!

LESPI Brunch: Distritos Historicos y Comida Deliciosa

LESPI's Brunch Benefit on August 7 was a big success! We all met at El Camion Cantina on Avenue A at East 12th Street and spent the afternoon eating delicious comida latina, drinking margaritas, making new friends, and chatting with old ones.

The event's theme - CELEBRATE and Help Save the Lower East Side - celebrated the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission's recent calendaring for public hearing the proposed East 10th Street and East Village / LES historic districts, and Community Board 3's votes of support for landmarking the districts. It also inaugurated LESPI's campaign, moving forward, to have LPC schedule a public hearing for the proposed districts and complete the landmark designation process as quickly as possible.

LESPI has done a lot this year but there's a lot more to do - see www.LESPI-nyc.org if you'd like to help. Stay tuned for a large and very exciting event we're planning for late October. And thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the CELEBRATE and Help Save the Lower East Side event happen, including El Camion Cantina for their wonderful generosity!

Petition Signatures - Keep Them Coming

LESPI members and volunteers continued their phenomenal work collecting pro-preservation signatures from folks outside Tompkins Square Park this July and August. We've now collected more than 900 signatures to support the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission landmarking of the proposed East 10th Street and East Village / Lower East Side historic districts.

During sessions lasting just two hours - as much time as our small volunteer regiment can generally put in - we typically collect over 100 signatures, and by October we aim to reach 1,200 signed supporters. One of the most rewarding parts of collecting the signatures is discussing the districts and LES preservation with the people who step up to sign their names.

Our stack of signatures demonstrates to the LPC that substantial numbers of Lower East Side residents and visitors value the neighborhood's historic character and support its preservation. It also helps counter a small but vocal opposition who do not want their properties included in the districts. In fact, we've seen strong consensus among residents and other New Yorkers that the proposed districts must be approved and that the Lower East Side's historic architectural and cultural resources must be protected.

For those of you who haven't been by Tompkins Square while we're petitioning, come and see us! We plan to be there for a few days over September and October - we post the date and time on our Facebook page a few days beforehand. And if you can't make it in person, keep your eyes open for our on-line petition, which we plan to initiate shortly.

Support LESPI!

We're looking for people to help with outreach, people with specialized skills and experience, monetary donations (which are tax deductible as allowed by law), and any other assistance that can help further our mission. We'd very much appreciate your help in our campaign to preserve the East Village / Lower East Side and hope to hear from you in the near future.

Search “Lower East Side Preservation Initiative” on Facebook and check out our site! If you click the “Like” button you’ll receive periodic preservation, history and architectural updates for the LES/EV. You’ll also be showing support for our cause!

About LESPI

LESPI is a grass roots, all-volunteer not-for-profit corporation initially formed in 2007 to urge the LPC to designate as historic districts intact portions of the East Village / Lower East Side. Our strategy includes documenting and mapping the historic streetscapes, starting with the East Village, and rallying community residents, city officials and the LPC to effect landmark designation.

Contact us by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the form, through our web site lespi-nyc.org, or by mail at LESPI, c/o Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.

The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission presented the East Village / Lower East Side and East 10th Street historic district study areas at a packed Community Board 3 Landmarks Subcommittee meeting May 12. LPC outlined the history, architecture and overriding historical theme of the districts, whose buildings still show the area's transformation during the 19th and early 20th century from a neighborhood of merchant rowhouses to a bustling immigrant community.

Many audience members signed up to speak. LESPI's Richard Moses emphasized that the historic districts are critical for preserving the area's architecture and history and would be, to LESPI's knowledge, the first districts to specifically celebrate immigration history. Most other community comments supported the LPC's plans, and though some participants also expressed concern about potential costs for owners and impacts on affordable housing, the testimony showed a powerful consensus that the community wants landmark protection for the historic buildings in these districts.

LESPI Works to Expand Historic District Study Area Boundaries

LESPI joined with Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, Historic Districts Council, and East Village Community Coalition to request that the Landmarks Preservation Commission expand its East 10th Street and East Village historic district study area boundaries to include additional contiguous historic buildings that further contribute to the districts. On May 18 we met with NYC Councilmember Rosie Mendez, LPC Chair Robert Tierney and Executive Director Kate Daly, along with GVSHP, HDC, and EVCC to advocate for this proposal.

The good news: after some further review, LPC has agreed to extend the East Village / LES district boundaries to include 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues, and the corner of East 6th Street and Avenue A up to the Pyramid Club building (which LESPI previously supported for Individual Landmark designation).

LPC has also agreed to future consideration of the east side of Avenue B around and to the south of East 10th Street.

Although LPC has stated that it does not want to include the other proposed additions, we believe that these two expansions were the strongest candidates. At this point we fully support LPC's district boundaries, and are mindful that we do not want to significantly slow down LPC's scheduling for the designation process: the timeline includes LPC calendaring the districts in June for a fall public hearing, and Community Board 3 holding its public hearing in July. LESPI now wants to do everything we can to help the districts move ahead "full steam" toward landmarking. And in the meantime, LESPI is not losing sight of the fact that additional historic districts on the Lower East Side will need to be designated to truly protect the historic areas of our invaluable and vital community.

Taking A Close Look At Our Historic Streets

One of our primary goals at LESPI is to understand exactly what historic architecture exists in the East Village / Lower East Side, and to determine where this architecture is still extant in highest concentration. Our Survey and Mapping Committee, headed by preservation architect and LESPI member Britton Baine, has been hard at work identifying the historic buildings of the Lower East Side, particularly where they exist in clusters, and is continuing to analyze data about LESPI's current study area: the blocks surrounding and to the west of Tompkins Square Park. This task is central to LESPI's mission of advocating NYC historic district designation for the Lower East Side's intact historic streetscapes.

Before determining the Tompkins Square study area boundaries, LESPI members and volunteers surveyed every block of the East Village, and recorded each building's apparent age, architectural characteristics and alterations on specially devised survey forms. The committee then gave each building a rating number based on a combination of its age and the intactness of its architectural features. Buildings got high ratings - ones and twos - when they showed clear historic value and retained most or essentially all of their historic features. Original cornices, ornament, window sills and lintels, stoops, doorways and storefronts all helped to boost a building's rating. A group of highly-rated buildings on one or more blocks would be a clear place to investigate a potential historic district.

Buildings got middle-range ratings - threes and fours - when they related to the higher-rated buildings in some respects such as scale or materials but were neither historic or intact enough to carry a historic district on their own. Buildings rated at five, the lowest rating, were not considered contributors, and may even detract from a district.

So, what's next? The committee is currently plotting its findings building-by-building on a map, translating the numbered ratings into color coded lots. As each block on the map is completed, the color coding quickly shows if a block is packed with important, well-preserved historic structures rated one and two, or with more neutral, not-so-historic, threes and fours.

Once mapping is complete - and the Tompkins Square study area nearly is - LESPI can weigh all the areas of the East Village / Lower East Side by historic architectural interest and importance, and we can then prioritize where to focus our advocacy for landmark protection.

Greek Revival Rowhouse Facades to be Spared?

When work began at the two ca. 1840 Greek Revival rowhouses at 326 and 328 East 4th Street over the winter, it looked like the contractors had blasted a hole the size of a tank through one of them. Everything behind the façades was rubble. The community was furious.

Robert Slaughter, a LESPI member who lives nearby and who has been monitoring the project, recently met with Chondary Ahmed, the project engineer, for an update. Mr. Ahmed asserted that the facades' architectural elements have been saved on site and that every effort will be made to restore them. Before construction started, most of the buildings' original features such as brickwork, ornate wood entry surrounds and hand wrought iron railings were intact.

These two buildings were once very close to the East River, before landfill pushed the water's edge blocks away. The original inhabitants worked at the port where tall sailing ships docked and where billowing white sails could have been seen from the rooftops. Years passed and the port and the neighborhood were reincarnated many times. The most recent inhabitants, Richard and Dorothea Tyler, moved in in 1974 and created the Uranian Phalanstery, a meeting ground for artists. Unfortunately, recent economic issues forced the property's sale.

Although LESPI believes that building renovations should preserve more than merely façade veneers, and that any rooftop additions must be scaled and placed so as not to interfere with the building's architecture, we are glad that the developer for these irreplaceable historic buildings has proclaimed his intention to respect the area's history and architecture by maintaining their beautiful facades. We'll keep you posted as the project progresses.

35 Cooper Square: Gone But Not Forgotten

On May 25 LESPI joined a crowd of about 50 to mourn and, more importantly, to protest the demolition the federal style 35 Cooper Square. Originally built by the Stuyvesant family in 1825, this building later housed such cultural figures as poet Diana di Prima and actor Joel Gray. It was one of the most important historic structures anchoring the northern end of a Bowery National Register Historic District.

The rally, organized by Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, and sponsored by LESPI, Two Bridges, HDC, GVSHP. EVCC and several other preservation and community groups, showcased speakers including LESPI who called for landmarking and downzoning to protect the Bowery's and the Lower East Side's historic resources, and for using the demolition - which apparently had been completed that day - as a rallying cry to prevent further demolitions of our irreplaceable historic buildings and landmarks.

FILMMAKERS WANTED!

Filmmakers: are you looking for what may be the Volunteer Opportunity of a Lifetime...a chance to help make New York City history? LESPI is conducting an oral history of East Village cultural figures such as visual artists, musicians, writers, poets, photographers to illustrate how the East Village / Lower East Side - the people, streets, parks and buildings - encouraged the creation of their art.

We expect to work with several filmmakers on separate portions of the documentary. The film's primary purpose is to document the area's rich cultural history and to raise awareness of this creativity to help in the landmarking of historic districts in the area. The documentary's audience will be the New York preservation community, those interested in EV/LES cultural figures, and anyone who loves NYC history, culture and architecture. It should also be great exposure for the filmmaker. If you are interested please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Support LESPI!

We're looking for people to help with outreach, people with specialized skills and experience, monetary donations (which are tax deductible as allowed by law), and any other assistance that can help further our mission. We'd very much appreciate your help in our campaign to preserve the East Village / Lower East Side and hope to hear from you in the near future.

Search “Lower East Side Preservation Initiative” on Facebook and check out our site! If you click the “Like” button you’ll receive periodic preservation, history and architectural updates for the LES/EV. You’ll also be showing support for our cause!

About LESPI

LESPI was formed in 2007 to urge the LPC to designate as historic districts intact portions of the East Village / Lower East Side. Our strategy includes documenting and mapping the historic streetscapes, starting with the East Village, and rallying community residents, city officials and the LPC to effect landmark designation.

Contact us by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or use the form, through our web site lespi-nyc.org, or by mail at LESPI, c/o Neighborhood Preservation Center, 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY 10003.