Beverly Moss Spatt (1924-2023) was a leading figure in New York City planning and preservation for over fifty years. She grew up in Brooklyn where she helped form that borough’s first reform Democratic club. She served on the City Planning Commission from 1966-1970 and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission from 1974-1982. She served as […]
Few places have made more significant contributions to civil rights and social justice struggles, artistic creativity, and freedom of expression than the East Village. Now more than ever, it’s important to remember and pay tribute to that history and to the lessons learned from it. That is why it is important to take note of […]
Built in 1936 as the very first public housing development in New York City or the nation, The East Village’s very own First Houses was landmarked on tomorrow’s date in 1974. The start of urban renewal, and I do not use the term ‘slum clearance’, can be traced to the development of First Houses in […]
This October, GVSHP is presenting a course that explores historic preservation by examining changing styles of housing, changing housing laws, and urban renewal in the twentieth century. While the course was developed specifically for practicing real estate brokers, I was reminded while sitting in on a recent lecture how much these issues are relevant (and […]
Now in its fourth home, the St. Mark’s Bookshop has become a kind of movable landmark, so it’s fitting that the two-month-old store on East Third Street is in a landmarked building: First Houses, the first federally-funded public housing complex in America. Whether or not they were aware of this historic significance, the customers browsing […]
As seen in: Don’t Believe REBNY’s Hype; Landmarking Can Help Affordability Read the full article in The Villager or Gotham Gazette BY ANDREW BERMAN | In July, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) went on a media blitz, touting their latest report blasting landmark preservation in New York City. […]
Last month we all cheered when it was announced that the Bowery Historic District was added to the State and National Register of Historic Places – a well-deserved recognition of one of New York’s oldest and most historic streets. We are also thrilled that another historic site in our neighborhood, an East Village icon, was […]
