When Charles Knipe moved into his home in Sunnyside Gardens two-and-a-half years ago, he felt that he had finally found a sense of community. He fell in love with the gardens, the courtyards, the charm, and the “neighborly” character of the planned urban community. Recently, that friendliness has melted into anger as debates over the potential landmark status of Sunnyside Gardens have boiled to an all-time high.
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On March 6, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to schedule a public hearing about the proposed Sunnyside Gardens Historic District. Marking the calendar is the first step in designating a landmark, and the pending date—which has not been set yet—is making many Sunnyside Gardens residents nervous.
Developed between 1924 and 1928, Sunnyside Gardens is one of the few planned residential urban communities in New York City. With open courtyards and abundant foliage, Sunnyside Gardens was planned as a type of “garden city” that was meant to offer respite from the noisy urban streets.
Sunnyside Gardens is already a Special Planned Community Preservation District, but the LPC is pushing to designate it as a Historic District, an act which would protect each building, courtyard, and garden within the complex.
“Sunnyside Gardens is an extraordinary place that deserves to be protected for generation of New Yorkers to come,” said LPC Chairman Robert Tierney in a recent statement.
Most historians and urban planners seem to agree with Tierney. Jeffrey Kroessler is a librarian at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the founder of the Queensborough Preservation League. He is also a resident of Sunnyside Gardens, and a champion of the plan to designate his community as a historic district.
“Landmarking will protect the individuals, like myself, who moved to Sunnyside Gardens for a particular experience,” Kroessler said. “Over the past few years, there have been individuals who have done illegal work on their houses and have ‘uglified’ their property. If we left Sunnyside Gardens to those tender mercies of the market, we would lose what makes the community so special.”
The issue of landmarking has become so explosive that some people fear that it may cause an irreparable rift in the community. Neighbors rat out each other out to the LPC and the NYC Department of Buildings for alterations made to their own homes.
Knipe is opposed to landmark designation because he feels that, among other issues, it is splitting the community which he had once felt was so “neighborly.” He is also concerned that landmark status would change the demographic of the neighborhood; increased property values might exclude the working class—the group it was originally designed for.
Homeowner Ira Greenberg is a staunch opponent of landmark designation. Greenberg, who is also an attorney, feels that more efficient zoning laws would be a better alternative to landmark designation.
“Landmarking would be inappropriate for us because it focuses so much on buildings and architecture, but what makes Sunnyside Gardens so great is the walkways and outdoor spaces, not the architecture,” Greenberg said.
Greenberg also said that landmarking would place a large financial burden on homeowners. His home currently has a slate shingle roof, which he knows will soon need replacement. Greenberg estimates that it would cost about $45,000 to use the same slate shingle material, while an alternative roofing material could be much cheaper. "
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Directory of cultural resource and historic preservation firms.
Gray & Pape, Inc. Archaeology**History**Historic Preservation
Serving your cultural resources needs since 1987.
Ohio -
11-03-11
New South Associates, Inc. New South Associates is a women-owned small business providing cultural resource management services, both nationally and internationally. Our specialities include archaeology, history, architectural history, preservation planning, and public interpretati
Georgia -
03-25-11
Kerns CRM Consultants Cultural and Historical Resource Management Services
Maryland -
01-10-11
Paula S. Reed and Associates, Inc. Paula S. Reed and Associates, Inc. is a small, woman-owned corporation organized in the State of Maryland, which provides cultural resource evaluation on a nation-wide basis, specializing in National Historic Landmark nominations. We meet qualifications o
Maryland -
11-23-10
SWCA Environmental Consultants Acquires Northwest Archaeological Associates SWCA Environmental Consultants has acquired Northwest Archaeological Associates, expanding SWCA's Pacific Northwest presence with a new Seattle office offering cultural and natural resource management and environmental permitting and compliance consulting.
04-04-11
ACHP Section 106 Essentials two-day course which explains the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act.
02-02-11
