New Support Rolls in For South of Union Square Landmarking Efforts –ACLU, HDC, and More!

Securing landmark protections for the largely unprotected area of Greenwich Village and the East Village south of Union Square remains one our top priorities. This summer we reached out to and gathered letters of support for the effort from an impressive array of officials, organizations, and people, especially those connected to the rich history of this area we are seeking to honor and preserve. Recent supporters include City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, the American Civil Liberties Union (founded here), the Historic Districts Council, the great grand-daughter of Secretary of State Henry Morgenthau, Sr. (who spearheaded the relief effort against the Armenian Genocide from here), a direct descendant of the Osborn and Sturges families (who lived here and helped found the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hospital for Special Surgery, the New York Historical Society, the National Academy of Design, and many more critical New York institutions), as well as a broad array of academics and scholars connected to the extraordinary artistic, labor, political, civil rights, and musical history of this neighborhood.  This is in addition to the vast array of civil rights groups, writers, and leaders who had already endorsed the proposal, including the nation’s oldest African American and LGBTQ civil rights groups, the NAACP and the National LGBTQ Task Force, both of which were initially headquartered here.
 
We are continuing to build on our campaign for protections for the area; be on the lookout for a wonderful ‘October surprise’ supporting that effort.
 
Notably absent from the list of supporters of the landmarking proposal?: Mayor de Blasio and Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll, whose support is needed for such landmark protections to be enacted, and Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, whose support is crucial to success, and who promised to condition her support for the nearby 14th Street Tech Hub upzoning (which increases development pressure on the area) on such comprehensive neighborhood protections being provided, but approved the Tech Hub without them.

September 16, 2020