On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, MAS will testify before the Landmarks Preservation Commission in support of the designation of a proposed Grand Concourse Historic District in the Bronx. The proposed district is comprised of 73 buildings running roughly along the Concourse between 153rd and 167th Streets.

In response to the LPC’s hearing, MAS President Vin Cipolla said: “The Grand Concourse is one of the Bronx’s most majestic thoroughfares and one of its great treasures.  The designation of a Grand Concourse Historic District  by the Landmarks Commission is the perfect way to celebrate the 100th year of the boulevard and protect this street and the buildings along it.” Continue Reading>>

This April marks the 45th anniversary of the Landmarks Law. Enacted in 1965, with support from MAS, the law ensured that the historic character of New York City’s built environment would be protected with the creation of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

To celebrate this “landmark” anniversary, we’re inviting you to tell us which building that was saved from demolition thanks to the Landmarks Law is your favorite. Choose from these five historic structures, among the first to be landmarked in their respective boroughs.

Place Matters is joint project of MAS and City Lore.
The Scaglione Brothers Bakery & Deli was nominated to the Census of Places that Matter for being a cherished feature of the Morris Park neighborhood in the Bronx.  Since the 1950s, three generations of the Scaglione family have been making fresh bread and focaccia daily in their Morris Park Avenue location, making it a mainstay of this Italian-American neighborhood.

The Sicilian immigrant father of current owner, Joe Scaglione, Sr., opened the first Scaglione family bakery on East 113th Street and Second Avenue prior to World War II.  In 1944, the Scaglione family moved their bakery from East Harlem to White Plains Road in the Bronx, and they relocated again in 1950 to their current location.  In the post World War II era, the Morris Park neighborhood of the Bronx was growing as an Italian-American neighborhood, making it an ideal location for the bakery.  Many Italian-American families looking for affordable single family homes to buy left their neighborhoods in Manhattan and southern Bronx for Morris Park. The Italian-American presence is still strong in Morris Park, which has one of the highest Italian-American populations in New York City and which is known to rival the Bronx’s Arthur Avenue for being the borough’s quintessential Italian-American neighborhood. Continue Reading>>

Essential preservation funds, historic sites and parks will be impacted by proposed state and federal budget cuts. MAS encourages its members to take action to urge lawmakers to restore funding for these important programs.

“In these difficult economic times, some may argue that preservation and parks are luxuries we can do without. But preservation isn’t just about reminding us of our past. The restoration work funded through Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America has generated sorely needed jobs and helped to build sustainable communities. New York State’s Parks and Historic sites offer inexpensive recreational opportunities to New Yorkers just when they need them most,” said MAS President Vin Cipolla.

The proposed federal budget cuts may eliminate two long-standing historic preservation funds, Save America’s Treasures and Preserve America. The former was established in 1998 by President Clinton and is a public-private partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Since its creation, the program has awarded almost $294 million in federal grants to over 1,100 preservation efforts across the country. In turn, these grants have leveraged more than $377 million in required matching- and non-federal funds, and the funded construction projects alone have created more than 16,000 jobs. Continue Reading>>

Greetings from the Bronx — the birthplace of hip hop, the breathtaking site of the New York Botanical Garden and home base for the 2009 World Series Champions, the Yankees. Now the Bronx has even more to celebrate, as six of the borough’s notable locations will be recognized on December 3rd by Place Matters.

The six honorees are:
52 Park in Longwood is a popular urban oasis run by the NYC Parks Department with the help of 52 People for Progress (52PFP). When the South Bronx experienced its bleakest period in the 1970s, the open space at 52 Park became a danger zone. Since 1980, 52PFP, a volunteer group formed by local residents Al Quiñones, Fred Demera, Eduardo Rivera and Victoria Medina, has committed itself to maintaining a safe and welcoming public park. Continue Reading>>

Today is another large Designation Day at the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The focus of today’s hearing is expanding some of the city’s existing historic districts to include worthy buildings that were excluded from the original designations. See our slide above and continue reading to learn more about the LPC’s activities today. Continue Reading>>

In response to the deterioration of many of New York City’s outdoor statues and the limited resources to preserve them, MAS initiated the Adopt-A-Monument program in 1987. Since then, and with ongoing and generous support of corporate and private donors, many of the city’s most neglected public statues have been conserved and restored to their former glory.

In the short movie above, Director of MAS’ Adopt-a-Monument program, Phyllis Cohen, gives an overview of the program and tells the story of three notable restorations – the Die Lorelie Fountain in the Bronx, the Bellringers in Herald Square, and the Evangeline Blashfield Fountain in Midtown.

MAS recently sat down with four young people from the Bronx and Brooklyn who are confronting neighborhood planning challenges head-on. Armed with information, enthusiasm and a supportive network of adults, these young people are taking the lead in addressing critical neighborhood issues.

In Sunset Park, Brooklyn, Caesar Alcaite and Celeste Del Brey (pictured at left) have been working with UPROSE, a community-based environmental justice organization. When they came to UPROSE, neither had much knowledge of environmental justice issues. However, after spending more time at the organization and working with youth organizers, these teens quickly learned that there is a connection between their local environment and their quality of life. Since coming to UPROSE these teens have developed strong leadership skills — reaching out to neighbors to inform them of local environmental concerns; helping middle school students map neighborhood assets and burdens; and leading neighborhood environmental justice tours for city officials, other youth groups, and most recently, a group of 50 Columbia University graduate planning students. Continue Reading>>

Just in time for the last few weeks of summer, Place Matters has identified 10 Great summertime spots, spanning all five boroughs. These summertime spots might not be the city’s most popular or most well-known summertime destinations, but they have demonstrated cultural significance, hold memories and anchor traditions for individuals and communities. We urge New Yorkers to visit these places, and take in the flavors, the history and the cultural traditions that help make New York such a special and livable city.

1. Jahn’s Ice Cream at 81-04 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens, Continue Reading>>

The Amalgamated Housing Cooperative abutting Van Corlandt Park in the Bronx, is the oldest limited-equity housing cooperative in the United States. While it was not the first co-op in the United States, the Amalgamated was nominated to the Census of Places That Matter as an early and enduring model for cooperative housing in New York City throughout the 20th century.

In the late 1920s, population densities in New York City – especially in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods like the Lower East Side – were among the highest in the world and people were looking for alternative housing, often outside of Manhattan. Continue Reading>>