Announcements

May is Lower East Side History Month — join us for one or more free LESPI events to celebrate all things LES!

May 1 – June 30: LESPI’s outdoor photography exhibit: “Brick and Stone: Landmarking our Lower East Side Heritage”

To celebrate our neighborhood’s extraordinary architecture and cultural history, LESPI is showcasing 12 historic buildings and 2 proposed historic districts in an outdoor photography exhibition of large-scale photo banners installed on the fence of The Clemente Center, at the corner of Rivington and Suffolk Streets.

For more information see HERE.

Preservation and Affordable Housing Webinar Monday June 29 at 6:00PM:

LESPI is a proud cosponsor of Historic District Council’s upcoming “Preservation School – Restoration of St. Augustine Church + Affordable Housing” on June 29. Join Meisha Hunter from Li/Saltzman Architects as she describes the St. Augustine project, which includes the exterior restoration of this important individual landmark church and the construction of new affordable housing on the site.

Participants will learn about the Zoning Resolution 74-711 Special Permit and how this mechanism can promote balance between development and restoration for economically challenged historic religious properties. Attendees will also hear more about the scope of exterior restoration at the Church and proposed new construction of the mixed use tower, as well as the importance of establishing a Cyclical Maintenance Plan for future maintenance of this important individual landmark.

This Preservation School is part of HDC’s continued program series, “Preserving Affordability” on the intersection of housing and preservation. The webinar is $5.00, you can register HERE. LESPI members can get free admission – contact us at info@LESPI-nyc.org and we’ll send you the special registration link.

Webinar on NYC’s Federal style architecture on July 1 at 6:00PM.

LESPI is also a proud cosponsor of Village Preservation‘s upcoming webinar, “American Independence in Brick and Stone: Federal Style Architecture in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.”

Our neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo are rich in Federal Style architecture, this earliest architectural expression of an independent America.

Hundreds of these structures connected to our country’s first generation survive here, mostly in local, state, and federal historic districts. Some are well-known and beloved landmarks; many others are easily-overlooked structures that quietly dot our streets. The charming and diminutive scale and handcrafted details of these structures tell us much about life in our city over two centuries ago, how we envisioned ourselves as no longer a colony, and the growth and evolution of our newly-independent nation in its earliest days.

The webinar will take us on a virtual tour of Federal Style architecture in our neighborhoods and Lower Manhattan, offer insights into what these buildings show about life in late 18th and early 19th century New York, and review efforts over three decades to help document and preserve them.

You can register for this free event HERE.