Bushwick residents rally to protect buildings deserving of landmark status
Three different sets of properties - homes called the Ulmer townhouses, The Mansion, and Mayor's Row - all sit just blocks from each other, but the city's Landmark Preservation Commission said no after neighbors and neighborhood coalitions put them up for consideration.
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Residents in Bushwick stood together on Wednesday to protect several buildings by giving them landmark status, despite the city agency in charge denying it.
Three different sets of properties - homes called the Ulmer townhouses, The Mansion, and Mayor's Row - all sit just blocks from each other, but the city's Landmark Preservation Commission said no after neighbors and neighborhood coalitions put them up for consideration.
"These buildings make an important contribution not only to our physical landscape but our cultural landscape,” said Bushwick Historic Preservation Association’s Eddie Claudio.
Claudio, along with fellow BHPA member Dina Alfano, told News 12 they got these emails from the Landmark Preservation Commission stating why their petitions were denied.
The agency said that for The Mansion, it doesn't "rise to the level of significance or integrity needed for consideration." For Mayor's Row, the buildings don't have "their own architectural significance," and with Ulmer, modifications were made that "impact their integrity.”
"We reject, out of hand, their logically flawed and categorically unjust position,” added Alfano.
Neighbors say that the Lipsius-Cook mansion, which is already on the city's historic registry, also isn't being maintained.
They are pushing for the LPC to require the landlords to upkeep the home. Those residents are hoping to have a sit-down meeting with the LPC on how to move forward.
The City's Preservation Landmark Committee in a statement said, "LPC is aware of the condition of the mansion and continues to take enforcement actions and has been in contact with the owner to discuss next steps to address the situation. LPC will continue to study the neighborhood for preservation opportunities.”
