Celebrating #Landmarks60, Part V
The New York City Landmarks Law was signed on April 19, 1965 by Mayor Robert Wagner. Since then, about 38,000 NYC properties have been protected under the law.
To mark that occasion, we created a StoryMap showing a timeline of all landmark designations in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo, from 1965 to 2025. Many of the landmarks that were designated in 2015 and before were highlighted as part of our celebration of Landmarks50, the 50th anniversary of the law in 2015.
But much has changed in the ten years since then — sixteen individual landmarks and one historic district have been designated in our neighborhoods, nearly all of which Village Preservation proposed for landmark designation and fought to protect. Here’s the last two as the final part of our five-part series:
The Salvation Army National and Territorial Headquarters
Designated on October 17, 2017 this building at 120-130 West 14th Street opened in May 1930 to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Salvation Army’s work in the United States, replacing a prior Salvation Army building on the site. The new headquarters was designed by “architect of the century” Ralph Walker in the Art Deco style, and is also featured prominently in our Art Deco Centennial StoryMap. The complex comprises three buildings including the office headquarters, and adjacent auditorium building, and a 17-story dormitory on West 13th Street. The headquarters and auditorium were landmarked together, while the dormitory on 13th Street was landmarked in 1969 as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District.
Read more about the Salvation Army Headquarters building here.
The Jacob Day House
This property at 50 West 13th Street was designated on October 22, 2024 following four years of Village Preservation advocacy. From 1858 to 1884, This 1846–47 rowhouse was the home of Jacob Day, one of New York’s most wealthy and successful 19th-century Black businessmen. He was a crusader for African American civil rights and a prominent supporter of African American institutions. In addition, noted suffragist, educator, and civil rights leader Sarah Smith Tompkins Garnet lived here for at least eight years, from 1866 to 1874, during a critical period of her life. Beginning in 1972, 50 West 13th Street was also home of the 13th Street Repertory Company, one of New York’s oldest Off-Off Broadway theaters. The theater, and several that occupied the space before it, hosted decades of prominent actors, directors, artists, designers, and playwrights, as well as Off-Off Broadway’s longest-running show ever, Line.
Read more about the Jacob Day House here.
Twenty-five new individual landmarks and one historic district might seem like a lot, but landmarking has slowed dramatically in our city in recent years — especially in our neighborhoods. Read our report analyzing all New York City landmark designations from 1965 to the present here, and go here to urge the City to once again vigorously take up landmark designations. You can also and learn about all of our advocacy campaign work here.
Explore our map highlighting the first 60 years of landmarking.