In an article that was posted today on Huffington Post, MAS President Vin Cipolla took aim at critics who believe that New York City is taking landmark preservation too far. He argued that preservation is a key ingredient in maintaining sustainable cities. “There is no reason why we have to choose between protecting our historic resources and developing New York City,“ he writes. “With comprehensive planning, we can balance the city’s growth while preserving the places that give New York City its identity and soul.”

To view the full article, click here.

For more information on the Municipal Art Society’s inaugural Summit for New York (October 21-22), where people will gather to discuss the present and future of New York’s sustainability and livability, click here.

MAS would like to congratulate the winners of the 2010 MASterworks Awards. This year, the award recipients include Thom Mayne’s 41 Cooper Square as Best New Building, the Empire State Building Lobby Restoration as Best Historical Restoration, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center as Best Redesign, Reef, at Storefront for Art and Architecture as Best Storefront Design, and The High Line, The Concrete Plant Park, and West Harlem Piers Park all as Neighborhood Catalyst.

Organized annually by The Municipal Art Society (MAS) and sponsored by international banking and investment group Helaba, Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen, the MASterworks Awards recognize excellence in architecture and urban design completed within the last year across New York City. The 2010 Awards will be presented at a ceremony this fall.

“The winners this year prove that buildings, parks, and artistic installations are equally masterful in bringing architecture and urban design to new heights,” said MAS President Vin Cipolla. “We are continually impressed and delighted by how our urban environment is enhanced every year by visionary people with extraordinary ideas.” Continue Reading>>

MAS President Vin Cipolla will be the featured speaker at Citizens Union’s second annual Spring for Reform event, taking place on May 12. The event will honor Jonathan Butler and Eric Demby, co-founders of Brooklyn Flea, for their creativity in building such a successful forum for exchange that are strengthening New Yorkers’ spirit of community.

Cipolla said his remarks will focus on the importance of public space in New York and around the nation, and how endeavors like Brooklyn Flea have the power to galvanize communities and transform relationships.

“I am very pleased to join Citizens Union at this wonderful event, both to pay tribute to the co-founders of Brooklyn Flea and to talk about why public space plays such a significant role in civic life and livability,” he said. Continue Reading>>

Last week, MAS President Vin Cipolla joined a host of committed New York City preservationists, including Paul Goldberger, Anthony C. Wood, and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel in the landmark interior of the Four Seasons Restaurant to celebrate the 45th anniversary of the New York Landmarks Preservation 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.

The New Yorker architectural critic and Pulitzer Prize winning writer Paul Goldberger reflected on the immense beneficial impact the Landmarks Preservation Law has had on the built environment of New York City, comparing the respective ages of the landmark Four Seasons Hotel (52 years) to that of the original Penn Station (also 52), when it was torn down immediately prior to the creation of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Mr. Goldberger said, “Preservation assures us that the city will have the resonance, the layers of time always being visible, that we need it to to be a civilized place.” But, he said, New York should not become “some grotesque version of Williamsburg on the Hudson.” Continue Reading>>

The City’s Parks Department will hold an April 23 public hearing on a proposal to regulate the sale of “materials or objects with expressive content” — such as books, paintings, photographs and sculptures — in the City’s parks.

The proposed rule will designate the number of specific locations where vendors of expressive material may sell their goods in four Manhattan parks: Battery Park, Union Square Park, the High Line Park, and heavily trafficked areas on Central Park. Vendors would not be restricted in less congested areas of Central Park. The rule also regulates vendors of expressive matter in other parks.

MAS testified in favor of the measures, which should improve pedestrian flow and overall enjoyment of the parks, at this morning’s hearing. To read our testimony in full, click here. “Since its founding, MAS has been both an advocate for the arts and for limited commercial activity in our parks,” said President Vin Cipolla. “We are extremely sensitive to the needs of entrepreneurial artists who need to make a living, but we also want to make sure the needs of the greater public are considered.” Continue Reading>>

With the 40th anniversary of Earth Day just around the corner, MAS is supporting New York’s first “green” auction, which will promote awareness about conservation as well as raise funds for four prestigious environmental nonprofit organizations.

On April 22, Christie’s will hold The Green Auction: A Bid To Save The Earth, featuring top celebrities, industry leaders, philanthropists and conservationists from around the globe. Funds raised from this silent and live auction will benefit Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Conservation International, and New York’s own Central Park Conservancy. Continue Reading>>

The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is noted for its awards and prizes recognizing the excellence and achievements of individuals and organizations in the fields of urban design, historic preservation, architecture, and other cultural and artistic contributions that help make New York City more livable. But next week, MAS will itself receive some much-deserved recognition when three separate cultural groups in the city honor MAS leaders for their philanthropic and visionary work.

In an extraordinary coincidence, all three will be feted at separate charitable events on the evening of Monday, April 19. 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>>

Senator Charles Schumer announces the federal stimulus funds for Moynihan Station outside the Farley Post Office today.

One of MAS’ most urgent priorities for New York — the transformation of the James A. Farley Post Office to Moynihan Station – took a significant step forward today, when US Senator Charles Schumer announced that the federal government will award $83 million in stimulus funds to begin the first phase of the project.

MAS President Vin Cipolla welcomed the news. “With today’s announcement, the federal government is recognizing what the Municipal Art Society has long known, that the construction of a new train station is critical to the future economies of New York City and State. The new station will create construction jobs in the near term; improve the capacity of Penn Station and the whole Northeast Corridor; and, once complete, will be a catalyst for development on Manhattan’s far West Side,” he said.

“It was more than a decade ago that the Municipal Art Society began working with Senator Moynihan to conceive of a new station that would reclaim Penn Station’s lost grandeur and create a great new gateway into New York City,” he continued. “By awarding Moynihan Station this grant, the federal government is not only achieving its goals of creating jobs and improving the nation’s rail infrastructure, but also helping to create a station that will make all New York proud.” Continue Reading>>

MAS is pleased at the City’s announcement today that the two portions of Broadway around Herald and Times squares closed to vehicular traffic since June of last year are to be made into permanent pedestrian plazas.

The goal of the Department of Transportation (DOT) pilot program was to reduce travel times around Times Square and Herald Square by eliminating the congestion where Broadway meets Sixth and Seventh avenues. This goal was achieved in part, but other direct consequences of reclaiming these streets for pedestrians, including a 35 percent reduction in pedestrian injuries, and the creation of 2.5 acres of new public space in one of the city’s densest neighborhoods, are the most exciting outcomes.

MAS welcomed the experiment when it was first announced last March as a great step towards creating improved, pedestrian-friendly streetscapes, and we congratulate Mayor Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today on having taken this bold step.

MAS President Vin Cipolla said, “Making these two new public plazas permanent fixtures of our streets is a fantastic achievement that promotes what Jane Jacobs called the ballet of the sidewalk — the unrehearsed choreography of people moving through the city. It will be of enormous lasting benefit to New Yorkers and the vitality of our city’s street life.”

Originally, the City had discussed extending the closures of Broadway further to the south, but there seem to be no plans at the moment to do so.

To read more about MAS’ advocacy on New York City streetscape issues click here.