Letter to Commissioner Robert Tierney Supporting Landmarks Designation for the West Village Waterfront
December
8, 2004
Hon. Robert Tierney
Chair
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
One Centre Street
New York, NY 10007
Dear Mr. Tierney,
The Greenwich Village Block Associations is a community wide coalition
of neighborhood organizations dedicated to preserving and improving
the quality of life for
residents of our historic neighborhood. Some of our members include blocks
in the proposed West Village Waterfront Historic District. The GVBA strongly
supports the creation of such a district and urge you to move quickly
on its designation before more of our historic treasures are lost
to demolition and/or construction.
New York is internationally envisioned as a realization of man’s dreams
and ambition, of skyscrapers and bustling streets. But the genesis of our economic
engine is, in reality, an offering of nature, not imagined or construed by
man. New York’s miraculous natural harbor determined its limitless possibilities;
this haven presented the city with the chance to “seize its destiny.” The “lady
with the lamp” offers her welcome by way of New York’s great
port, after all. We have a responsibility to cherish and commemorate this
gift.
The West Village was once the site of the most extensive maritime support
system in the world. It connected the city to its harbor and to the rest
of the world.
Today the ambiance of these waterfront streets creates a palpable sense
of New York’s eminence as a sea going power and of its industrial heritage.
Unfortunately, its old frame structures, its old maritime hotels and its warehouses
are being blighted and overshadowed by massive building projects that threaten
to erase the waterfront’s marriage to its past.
For more than 35 years our residents, our local elected officials and respected
preservation groups have called for the West Village Waterfront’s
historic designation. Because of its dramatic development potential, this
designation
has been deferred and denied. Adoration of the dollar has consistently
trumped our obligation to preserve our architectural historic legacy. The
situation
has become critical in the face of an onslaught of high rise building plans.
The GVBA asks that the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission act to protect
the irreplaceable assets of the West Village Waterfront. The area has long
deserved landmarks designation. Thank you.
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