2016 Village Award Winner: Save Gansevoort
Off the Grid is highlighting the 2016 Village Awards winners in the lead up to the June 14th Annual Meeting & Award Ceremony. Click here for more information about the event and to RSVP. Read about other awardees here.
Each year GVSHP presents a special award as part of our Annual Village Awards to recognize significant contributions to the field of preservation — the Regina Kellerman Award. Regina Kellerman was GVSHP’s first Executive Director. She was an architectural historian and passionate preservationist. Her work laid the foundation for the designation of several of New York City’s first historic districts and individual landmarks.
The winner of the 2016 Regina Kellerman Award for Outstanding Work In Preservation is Save Gansevoort, a grassroots organization formed to face a threat to the Gansevoort Market Historic District (you can read the District Designation Report Part 1 here and Part 2 here). Following the long tradition of Greenwich Village activisim, this group formed quickly in response to the threat posed by plans to demolish, replace, and build on top of several historic buildings in the Gansevoort Market Historic District.
Save Gansevoort is led by long-time West Village activists, but mobilized and brought in a broad cross-section of the community including long-time residents to newcomers to fight a developer’s plan to drastically alter the historic block of Gansevoort Street between Washington & Greenwich Streets.
Save Gansevoort continues to play a key role in informing the public about the proposal and helping to formulate a response. They helped inform their members about meetings and hearings and what they could do to affect the process. They worked with GVSHP and other neighborhood organizations to form strategies in response to the development and the developer’s arguments in favor, including extensive research to rebut arguments, reaching out to elected officials, and publicizing the threat posed by this development.
Unfortunately, the plan was not outright dismissed by the LPC at their February 9th meeting. The developers were sent back with instructions to modify the proposal by making adjustment to the height and size to the project, thanks in large part to the efforts of GVSHP, Save Gansevoort, and other community members. Although the developers did make some adjustments, the second proposal is still way too big. This second version will be reviewed by the LPC TOMORROW- Please come to the LPC public meeting on the revised Gansevoort proposal tomorrow, Tuesday, June 7th, 9:30 a.m. at the LPC, One Centre Street, 9th floor. We will have signs so you can let the Commissioners know you oppose the proposal.
Click here for more information about this Gansevoort Street development. Click here to RSVP to the 2016 Annual Meeting & Village Awards.