Fifty-Five Years of LPC

Designated 6/27/2000 | The Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill district became famous during the 1930s and 1940s as the residence of prominent African-American professionals active in law, business, medicine, and the arts.

See all of LPC’s <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LoveNYCLandmarks?src=hash" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LoveNYCLandmarks</a> initiative <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/discover/love-nyc-landmarks.page" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.

Addition Approved by LPC | Polshek Partnership (now Ennead Architects), 1995 | Individual Landmark

Designated 10/25/2011 | This district contains one of the city’s most significant collections of Art Deco and Moderne-style apartment buildings, recalling the boulevard’s golden era as the “Champs-Elysees of the Bronx.” 

Designated 2/21/2017 | The yet unfinished Cathedral (begun in 1892) is one of the largest churches in the country and the world. With the buildings of the Cathedral Close, it  forms one of the outstanding ecclesiastical ensembles in the city.

Restoration Approved by LPC | Gensler, 2018 | Individual and Interior Landmark

First Landmark in Manhattan| Designated 10/14/1965 | Built in 1832, this house was once home to merchant Seabury Treadwell and is an outstanding example of a Greek Revival style row house in Manhattan.

Designated 2/1/1966 |Designed by Mangin &amp; McComb and built between 1802 and 1811, City Hall combines Federal-style and French influences in its design and is the city's most enduring symbol of its government.

First Ride | Designated 7/12/1988 | Since its construction at Coney Island in 1927, The Cyclone has attracted thrill seekers as one of the country's premier wooden roller coasters.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission was established&nbsp;55&nbsp;years ago when Mayor Robert F. Wagner signed the Landmarks Law on&nbsp;April 19, 1965. In the decades since, LPC has designated more than 37,000 buildings and sites and issued hundreds of thousands of permits approving work on historic buildings and new buildings in historic districts. The Commission’s mission to protect the buildings and places that represent New York City's cultural, social, economic, political, and architectural history benefits the&nbsp;city&nbsp;through stabilizing and improving property values, enhancing the&nbsp;city’s&nbsp;attraction to tourists, and fostering civic pride.&nbsp;&nbsp;

American Museum of Natural History, Gilder Center for Science

Designated 6/23/2009 | These 850 buildings remain among Brooklyn's most intact and architecturally distinguished residential neighborhoods. 

Addition Approved by LPC | Davis Brody Bond, 2001 | Individual Landmark

Designated 5/29/2018 | This district is a characteristic example of Harlem’s speculative row house development and a reminder of the significant role African-American Harlemites took in social and political progress.

Designated 10/19/1993 | Mostly built between the 1910s and 1950s, Jackson Heights is one of the earliest neighborhoods in New York City inspired by the “model tenement” and “garden city” movements in urban design and planning. 

First Modern| Designated 1/27/1976 | Constructed between 1933 and 1934 and designed by William Lescaze for his combined residence and architectural office, this house is a significant and early expression of modernism in New York City.

First LGBT Designation | Designated 6/23/2015 | This Greenwich Village gay bar originally constructed in 1843 was the starting point of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion and a major catalyst in the fight for LGBT rights in the United States.

Addition Approved by LPC | Foster + Partners, 2001 | Individual Landmark

1980s Lever House, Wikimedia Commons/Beyond My Ken. Street Plan, <a href="https://www.nyhistory.org/library" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New-York Historical Society Library</a>, Maps Collection. The Cyclone, Bami Adedoyin/<a href="https://www.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC Go</a>. Empire State Building, Mayoral Photo Office. Seagram Building, Wikimeida Commons/dandeluca. Woolworth Building, Wikimedia Commons/Jonathan71. Marine Air Terminal exterior, LPC. Marine Air Terminal interior, Wikimedia Commons/Steve Bornholtz. Richmond County Courthouse, Wikimedia Commons/Jim.henderson. Astor Row, Wikimedia Commons/Urban~commons. Upper East Side, Wikimedia Commons/Gryffindor. Ladies Mile, Wikimedia Commons/Beyond My Ken. Longwood, LPC. Witch's Hat, LPC. Bogardus Building, <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mateox/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matthew X. Kiernan</a>/New York Big Apple Images. Copperflagg Estates, <a href="https://www.ramsa.com/home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Robert A.M. Stern Architects</a>. Seamen's Church Institute, (c) Jeff Goldberg/<a href="http://esto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Esto</a>. Felix Warburg, (c) <a href="https://elizabethfelicella.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Elizabeth Felicella</a>. Morgan Library, <a href="https://www.themorgan.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Morgan Library &amp; Museum</a>, photo by David A. Loggie.

Designated 6/20/2006 | Designed by John Matthews as part of Robert Moses’ program of WPA-era swimming pools, this is one of the largest pools in the United States, with the capacity to accommodate 6,200 swimmers. 

Designated 6/24/2003 | Designated by William Lescase, this 1935-38 Federal Public Works Administration housing project is notable as one of the earliest to utilize modernist architecture for its low-rise mutli-family housing. 

Designated1/10/2006 | Fieldston Historic District, a development of country homes begun in 1914, exhibits an eclectic variety of styles, including period revival and modernist examples, built amidst a park-like setting of winding tree-lined streets. 

This story map was created by the&nbsp;<a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/index.page" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission</a>&nbsp;using&nbsp;<a href="https://www.esri.com/en-us/arcgis/products/arcgis-storymaps/overview" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ArcGIS Story Maps</a>.&nbsp;Sarah Carroll, Chair; Lisa Kersavage, Executive Director; Mark Silberman, General Counsel; John Weiss, Deputy Counsel; Timothy Frye, Director of Special Projects and Strategic Planning; Cory Scott Herrala, Director of Preservation; Edith Bellinghausen, Deputy Director of Preservation; Caroline Kane Levy, Deputy Director of Preservation; Kate Lemos McHale, Director of Research; Margaret Herman, Deputy Director of Research. Staff: Erica Rothman, Jessica Baldwin, Lisa Buckley, Michael Caratzas, Marianne Hurley, Bilge Kose, Sarah Moses, MaryNell Nolan-Wheatley, Theresa Noonan, Marianne Percival, Matt Postal, Sonia Edghill, Joscelyn McCargo.

New Building Approved by LPC | Ulrich Franzen &amp; Associates, 1967 | Brooklyn Heights Historic District

On April 19, 1965, Mayor Wagner signed the Landmarks Law. Celebrate with a tour through the LPC's work over the past 55 years!

start

Designated 3/22/2011 | Designed by Japanese architect Junzo Yoshimura in partnership with George G. Shimamoto, the Headquarters is likely the City’s earliest permanent structure designed by a Japanese citizen.

Designated 8/11/1981 | Comprised of 28 buildings designed by Charles Buek for William Astor between 1880 and 1883, Astor Row reflects the development of Harlem from a suburban community to an urban center. 

American Museum of Natural History, Rose Center

Addition Approved by LPC | Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Beyer Blinder Belle, 2002 | Individual Landmark

In the 2010s,&nbsp;in&nbsp;fulfillment of&nbsp;goals&nbsp;to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;focus on&nbsp;diversity, equity,&nbsp;and&nbsp;transparency in all of our work,&nbsp;the Commission&nbsp;continued to broaden landmark designations to include culturally significant sites and districts associated with&nbsp;African-American history,&nbsp;LGBT history,&nbsp;immigration history and&nbsp;immigrant communities,&nbsp;labor history,&nbsp;and women’s history, as well as recognizing&nbsp;significant architectural achievements of the&nbsp;late-Modern and&nbsp;Postmodern&nbsp;styles&nbsp;for the first time.&nbsp;&nbsp;

2010s AT&amp;T, Wikimedia Commons/David Shankbone. Stonewall Inn, Wikimedia Commons/Gryffindor. Coney Island Boardwalk, Julienne Schaer/<a href="https://business.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC &amp; Company</a>. Waldorf-Astoria, LPC. St. John, Alex Lopez/<a href="https://www.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC Go</a>. Rossville AME Zion, LPC. Japan Society, Wikimedia Commons/Jim.henderson. Grand Concourse, LPC. Sunset Park, LPC. Harlem, LPC. Ridgewood, LPC. Greenwich Lane, James Ewing, courtesy <a href="https://www.rudin.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rudin Management</a>. Judd Foundation, courtesy of Judd Foundation, (c) Joshua White/<a href="https://juddfoundation.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Judd Foundation</a>. Tobacco Warehouse, (c) David Sundberg/<a href="http://esto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Esto</a>. Empire Stores, Wikimedia Commons/Caroline Culler. Ford Foundation, Wikimedia Commons/Cc2723. St. Patrick's, (c) Elizabeth Felicella. Emigrant Savings, Wikimedia Commons/Gryffindor. Passive house projects, <a href="https://www.baxtingui.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Baxt Ingui Architects</a>. Barrier-Free Access projects, LPC. Otis Building, courtesy of <a href="https://www.vno.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Vornado Realty Trust</a>. Tammany Hall, courtesy of <a href="https://bkskarch.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">BKSK Architects</a>. Domino Sugar, courtesy of <a href="https://pau.studio/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Practice for Architecture and Urbanism</a>. Gilder Center, rendering courtesy of <a href="https://studiogang.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Studio Gang</a>, 2019.

Designated 7/19/1994 | Designed by Eero Saarinen and Associates, the TWA Flight Center opened in 1962 and is a revolutionary design composed of soaring concrete buttresses and glass walls. 

First Public Housing | Designated 11/12/1974 | Constructed in the East Village in 1935-36 by Frederick L. Ackerman, this was the first housing project undertaken by the New York City Housing Authority and the first public, low-income housing project in the nation.

Addition Approved by LPC | RKTB and Perkins Eastman, 1998 | Individual Landmark

Designated 4/12/1983 |Designed by Cass Gilbert between 1911 and 1913, the Gothic-style Woolworth Building was once the world's tallest  and today is still referred to as the "Cathedral of Commerce." 

2000s Triangle Shirtwaist, <a href="https://untappedcities.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Untapped New York</a>/Sofia Andrade Antoniazzi. Astoria Pool, Joe Buglewicz/<a href="https://www.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC Go</a>. University Village, Wikimedia Commons/how_long_it_takes. Williamsburg Houses, Esther Crain/<a href="https://ephemeralnewyork.wordpress.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ephemeral New York</a>. Begrisch Hall, LPC. DUMBO, Wikimedia Commons/Caroline Culler. Sunnyside Gardens, Kenneth Grant/<a href="https://www.newyorkitecture.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Yorkitecture</a>. Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill, LPC. Fieldston, LPC. St. Paul's Ave, LPC. Lamartine Place, LPC. Prospect Heights, Julienne Schaer/<a href="https://business.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC &amp; Company</a>. Gansevoort Market, Wikimedia Commons/La Citta Vita-Beyond My Ken. 47 East 91st, <a href="http://www.jonathanwallen.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jonathan Wallen Photography</a>, courtesy of <a href="https://www.pbdw.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PBDW Architects</a>. 40 Mercer, <a href="https://rolandhalbe.eu/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Roland Halbe Fotografie</a>. Hearst Tower, Flickr/ShutterRunner. Harvard Club, Paul Warchol, courtesy of <a href="https://www.davisbrodybond.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Davis Brody Bond</a>. Brooklyn Museum, Richard Barnes/JBSA. 322 Hicks, (c) Michael Moran. Morgan Library, photography by Graham S. Haber, 2010. Higgins Hall, (c) David Sundberg/<a href="http://esto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Esto</a>. 1 Jackson Square, (c) Raimund Koch, courtesy of <a href="https://www.kpf.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kohn Pedersen Fox</a>. Front Street, courtesy <a href="https://cookfox.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">COOKFOX Architects</a>. Bronx Zoo, (c) David Sundberg/<a href="http://esto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Esto</a>.

Designated 10/3/1989 | The iconic Seagram Building (1956-58) is the only work by Mies van der Rohe in New York City.

The 1960s was an era of social consciousness and a growing national awareness about preservation. This decade saw the National Historic Preservation Act and the Archaeological Historic Preservation Act signed into law, the Columbia University Protests, and the Stonewall Inn riots.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Restoration Approved by LPC | Architecture Research Office, 2013 | SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District

Addition Approved by LPC | Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, 1988 | Individual Landmark and Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District

New Building Approved by LPC | BKSK, 1999 | Tribeca West Historic District

Designated 2/1/2011 | Constructed in 1897 by Andrew Abrams, the church is an important surviving building from the period when this area, Sandy Ground, was a prosperous African American community on Staten Island.

Designated 1/17/1968 | Completed in 1912, the Staten Island Lighthouse is notable for its classically inspired rusticated limestone base, eight-sided yellow-brick shaft with quoined window surrounds, and ornate iron brackets supporting a captain’s walk. 

Designated 12/18/2007 | Possibly one of the most Instagrammed spots in America, this historic district's 91 buildings reflect the importance of industrial architecture in New York City and the United States.

Designated 3/23/1982 | A Greek Revival, temple-fronted structure designed by Carrere and Hastings between 1913 and 1919, this courthouse remains an important symbol of justice on Staten Island.

First Labor History Designation | Designated 3/23/2003 | This building was the site of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, a tragedy that brought about important changes in fire and safety laws to protect the workforce.

New Building Approved by LPC | Hugh Hardy &amp; Associates, 1971 | Greenwich Village Historic District

Welcome to&nbsp;Fifty-Five Years of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, with a decade-by-decade history of the Commission, highlighting&nbsp;designations, Commission-approved new design, legal milestones, and a timeline of NYC history.&nbsp;

Street Plan of New Amsterdam and Colonial New York

First Public School | Designated 9/23/1975 | The Boys’ High School in Bedford-Stuyvesant, designed in 1891 by architect James W. Naughton, is a monumental example of the Romanesque Revival style used for a public academic institution.

First 19th-Century African-American Landmark | Designated 8/18/1970 | Now a museum, these houses were part of Weeksville, a community of African-American landowners established in the 1830s.

New Building Approved by LPC | Edgar Tafel, 1972 |Greenwich Village Historic District

Addition Approved by LPC | Resilient Building | Marvel Architects, 2015 | Fulton Ferry Historic District

Commission approvals in the 1980s included notable additions&nbsp;and new buildings&nbsp;spanning a wide spectrum of&nbsp;styles and approaches. Kevin Roche’s expansion of the Felix Warburg Mansion for the Jewish&nbsp;Museum&nbsp;extended the historic architectural design&nbsp;into&nbsp;the addition so carefully that&nbsp;the line between new and old&nbsp;is&nbsp;difficult to differentiate, and&nbsp;Voorsanger&nbsp;Architects’&nbsp;swooping metal and glass addition to the Morgan Library creates a&nbsp;bold&nbsp;juxtaposition of form, style, and materials.&nbsp;Landmark sites incorporated new&nbsp;skyscrapers added to the City’s skyline&nbsp;during this decade,&nbsp;including&nbsp;the&nbsp;50-story&nbsp;Palace Hotel behind&nbsp;McKim, Mead &amp; White’s&nbsp;Villard Houses&nbsp;on Madison Avenue.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

New Building Approved by LPC | Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, 2006 | Greenwich Village Historic District

Addition Approved by LPC | Steven Holl Architects and Rogers Marvel Architects, 2003 | Clinton Hill Historic District

Youngest Landmark | Designated 7/31/2018 | Designed by Johnson/Burgee in 1977-1978 and completed in 1984, the 37-story AT&amp;T Corporate Headquarters Building was the world’s first Postmodern skyscraper.

Today, New York City is&nbsp;in the midst of&nbsp;an unprecedented crisis, with a global pandemic changing the way people live, work, and experience the city.&nbsp;As New Yorkers are doing their part and staying home, the LPC launched an initiative to provide engaging online content about historic buildings and neighborhoods that make New York a&nbsp;vibrant, beautiful, and resilient city. We hope this story map, showing the places that New Yorkers cherish&nbsp;and&nbsp;the exciting new designs that have been built in the city’s historic context, will&nbsp;engage New Yorkers in a joyful discourse about the City’s history and culture and strengthen our connections to the places we love.&nbsp;&nbsp;

In terms of new buildings, the&nbsp;Commission continued to favor diverse approaches, including both modernist and contextual additions.&nbsp;The American Museum&nbsp;of Natural History continued to grow with the addition of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, an iconic sphere within a glass cube. Simultaneously, new buildings in historic districts continued to blend in stylistically with their surroundings, as at 362 Pacific Street and 124 Hudson Street.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Designated 3/7/2017 | Designed by Schultze &amp; Weaver in 1929-31, the elegant Art Deco-inspired public spaces of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel contributed to the hotel’s prestige as one of NYC’s premiere hotels.

New Building Approved by LPC | Architects Design Group, 1983 | Greenwich Village Historic District

Adaptive Reuse Approved by LPC |PAU | Individual Landmark

1970s Hunterfly Houses, Wikimedia Commons/Anonitect. Dunbar, <a href="https://streeteasy.com/complex/dunbar-apartments" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Streeteasy</a>. New York Public Library, Jonathan Blanc/<a href="https://www.nypl.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Public Library</a>. Central Park, Christopher Postlewaite/<a href="https://business.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC &amp; Company</a>. Boys High School, LPC. Lescase House, <a href="https://streeteasy.com/building/william-lescaze-house-and-office" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Streeteasy</a>. First Houses, LPC. Paramount Studios, Wikimedia Commons/Jim.henderson. High Bridge, Wikimedia Commons/Jim.henderson. SoHo, LPC. Prospect Park South, LPC. Weatherman Building, LPC. Metropolitan Museum, courtesy of <a href="http://www.krjda.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates LLC</a>. St. John's, LPC. Palace Hotel, courtesy <a href="https://www.lottenypalace.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lotte New York Palace Hotel</a>. Eichner Townhouses, LPC.

Designated 1/8/2002 |Begrisch Hall at Bronx Community College, designed by the world-famous architect Marcel Breuer in 1956-61, is a striking mid-20th century modern building, constructed of exposed reinforced concrete in a gravity-defying trapezoidal shape. 

1960s Wyckoff House, <a href="https://www.nycgo.com/museums-galleries/wyckoff-farmhouse-museum" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC Go</a>. Brooklyn Heights, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/young_gotham/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@young_gotham</a>. Merchant's House, LPC. Kingsland Homestead, Frank DiStefano, courtesy of<a href="https://queenshistoricalsociety.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Queens Historical Society</a>. Poe Cottage, Julienne Schaer/<a href="https://www.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC Go</a>. Snug Harbor, Wikimedia Commons/Dmadeo. Friends Meeting House, LPC. Staten Island Lighthouse, <a href="http://www.metouhey.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Max Touhey</a>. City Hall, Benjamin Kanter/Mayoral Photo Office. New York Public Library, <a href="https://www.nypl.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Public Library</a>. Grand Central, Wikimedia Commons/FCB981. Watchtower, LPC.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Master Plan and Expansion

1990s Guggenheim exterior and interior, courtesy of <a href="https://www.guggenheim.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Guggenheim Museum</a>. Cass House, Wikimedia Commons/how_long_it_takes. Loew's, LPC. Unisphere, Julienne Schael/<a href="https://business.nycgo.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NYC &amp; Company</a>. African Burial Ground, <a href="https://www.nps.gov/afbg/index.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Park Service</a>. TWA exterior, Wikimedia Commons/Roland Arhelger. TWA interior, Wikimedia Commons/Bogframe. Williamsburgh Savings Bank exterior, courtesy of Weylin/Durston Saylor. Williamsburgh Savings Bank interior, courtesy of Weylin/Christopher Schoenbohm. Lampposts, Wikimedia Commons/Beyond My Ken. Governor's Island, Andrew Moore/<a href="https://govisland.com/about/national-park-service" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">National Parks Service</a>. Jackson Heights, Wikimedia Commons/Marcuswoollen. 362 Pacific, Wade Zimmerman. Rose Center, (c) Jeff Goldberg/<a href="http://esto.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Esto</a>. 124 Hudson Street, Jonathan Wallen. Scholastic Building, LPC. Towers Nursing Home, John Bartelstone.

Designated 9/8/2003 | This district, also known as the Meatpacking District, retains a remarkable concentration of commercial, industrial, and residential buildings from the 1840s to 1940s, illustrating the long history of this urban marketplace.

The Commission also started to award Certificates of Appropriateness for&nbsp;additions to landmarks and&nbsp;new buildings in historic districts, such as the Watchtower Building (1967), a refined,&nbsp;almost Brutalist design&nbsp;approved in&nbsp;the Brooklyn Heights Historic District.&nbsp;&nbsp;

New Building Approved by LPC | Polshek Partnership (now Ennead Architects), 1986 | South Street Seaport Historic District

Designated 11/25/1980 | This glamorous Art Deco terminal was built for transatlantic seaplanes by the Works Progress Administration in 1939-41.

New Building Approved by LPC | FXFOWLE, 2012 | Greenwich Village Historic District

Designated 2/8/1979 | This planned community was conceived of and developed by Dean Alvord. It is a  remarkably intact suburban development from the early 20th century.

Designated 8/14/1973 | Designated in 1973, the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District is significant for its extraordinary concentration of late- 19th century cast-iron facades and for its historic role in the commercial development of New York City. 

Addition Approved by LPC | Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, 1971 | Individual Landmark

Designated 5/15/2018 | The 2.7-mile Coney Island Boardwalk is one of the best-known waterfront promenades in the world and has given its users free access to the beach and seaside since 1923.

New Building Approved by LPC | John Gillis, 1995 | Brooklyn Heights Historic District

New Building Approved by LPC | Beyer Blinder Belle, 1982 | South Street Seaport Historic District

Designated 7/8/1980 | The Longwood Historic District is a well-preserved enclave of semi-detached houses built at the turn of the 20th century as the Bronx became an urban extension of Manhattan.

The Commission&nbsp;designated&nbsp;landmarks and historic districts throughout the five boroughs in the 1970s,&nbsp;totaling 7,356 buildings and sites. Designations embraced&nbsp;an increasing variety of building types, historical periods, and styles, as well as&nbsp;recognizing&nbsp;sites&nbsp;with cultural significance.&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1974,&nbsp;Central Park became&nbsp;the&nbsp;City’s&nbsp;first&nbsp;scenic&nbsp;landmark,&nbsp;and interiors of the New York Public Library&nbsp;became&nbsp;the first&nbsp;interior&nbsp;landmark.&nbsp;The Commission&nbsp;designated&nbsp;its first public school (Boys’ High School in Brooklyn) and public housing complex (First&nbsp;Houses) in 1975, and&nbsp;its first Modern landmark&nbsp;(the William&nbsp;Lescaze&nbsp;House)&nbsp;in 1976.&nbsp;Important&nbsp;African-American&nbsp;history was recognized in such landmarks&nbsp;as the&nbsp;Weeksville&nbsp;Houses in Brooklyn and the Dunbar Apartments&nbsp;in Harlem,&nbsp;a pioneering example of cooperative housing for middle class African Americans.&nbsp;LPC&nbsp;expanded historic district designations to include the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District,&nbsp;the first&nbsp;commercial and manufacturing district,&nbsp;and Prospect Park South&nbsp;Historic District, the first district primarily consisting of suburban homes.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Designated 11/10/1970 | Built in 1838-48 by engineer John B. Jervis as a part of the Croton Aqueduct, High Bridge is a triumph of 19th century engineering and a monument to the city’s first adequate public water supply. It is now a public park.

First Interior Landmark | Designated 11/12/1974 | This designation encompasses the primary circulation spaces of the New York Public Library’s Main Building on 42nd Street and 5th Avenue: the Main Lobby, the North and South Staircases, and the Central Hall

Addition Approved by LPC | Studio Gang Architects |Individual Landmark and Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District

New Building Approved by LPC | Aldo Rossi with Gensler Associates, 1996 | SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District

Designated 8/2/1967 | Designed by Reed &amp; Stem and Warren &amp; Wetmore and completed in 1913 for the New York Central Railroad, Grand Central  is a monumental work of Beaux-Arts grandeur and one of the country’s greatest works of engineering. 

Designated 6/25/1996 | The 1875 Classical Revival-style bank designed by George B. Post features a large iron dome and is a precursor of the numerous temple-fronted banks from the late 19th century.

Designated1/11/1967 | Designed by Carrere &amp; Hastings and opened in 1911, the New York Public Library is a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and one of NYC's most significant civic monuments.

First Historic District | Designated 11/23/1965 | The Brooklyn Heights Historic District is significant for its collection of homes and churches, reflecting the history of urban residential design in NYC since the 1820s.

The Commission approved the&nbsp;master&nbsp;plan for the expansion of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, designed&nbsp;by Kevin Roche John&nbsp;Dinkeloo&nbsp;and Associates in 1971, the first of many occasions when LPC has worked with leading cultural institutions to guide the preservation and growth of their physical complexes.&nbsp;LPC also approved the design for a new house at 18 West 11th Street (1971), the site of the Weathermen town house explosion in the Greenwich Village Historic District.&nbsp;

Designated 3/14/1978 | Designed by the Fleischman Construction Company and built in 1920-21,  Paramount Studios is a significant reminder of the early-20th century period when NYC was the country’s movie capital. 

In the 1970s, as the City faced a&nbsp;major&nbsp;fiscal crisis,&nbsp;the&nbsp;Landmarks Law was tested&nbsp;in the nation’s highest court,&nbsp;when the Supreme Court upheld the law and recognized historic preservation as a legitimate public purpose. In addition, Local Law No. 71 expanded the Commission’s mandate&nbsp;to include the designation of interior landmarks and scenic landmarks.&nbsp;

First Landmark in the Bronx | Designated 2/15/1965 | This c. 1812 farm cottage was the home of American author and poet Edgar Allan Poe from 1846 to 1849, when he wrote his famous poems “Annabel Lee” and “Bells.”

The Greenwich Lane Condos &amp; Townhouses

First Landmark in Queens | Designated 10/14/1965 | This vernacular frame house, built between 1774 and 1785, is named for Joseph King, the English sea captain who purchased it in 1801. It is the second oldest house in Flushing.

Restoration and Barrier-Free Access Approved by LPC | Murphy Burnham &amp; Buttrick Architects, 2015 | Individual Landmark

Restoration Approved by LPC | Resilient Building |STUDIO V Architecture and S9 Architecture, 2017 | Fulton Ferry Historic District

When LPC was founded, the&nbsp;city&nbsp;was in the beginning of an economic downturn, and by the early 1970s New York City was on the verge of bankruptcy and had a dramatically declining population. In recent years, the&nbsp;city’s&nbsp;economy has been booming and the population continuing to grow. In between&nbsp;these points in time,&nbsp;New York City’s economy grew and retracted, and the&nbsp;city&nbsp;faced incredible challenges, including the 9/11&nbsp;terrorist attack&nbsp;and Superstorm Sandy. New York’s people, economy and culture proved resilient to those challenges, as did the communities and historic buildings under LPC’s jurisdiction. In recent years, several historic districts have reached&nbsp;50-year milestone&nbsp;since designation&nbsp;and are today thriving, including the Brooklyn Heights, <a href="https://nyclpc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=991f09d365b9459ea724b0967c8175ad" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Greenwich Village</a> and Mott Haven Historic Districts.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Designated 10/13/2009 | Lamartine Place was home to the 1863 draft riots in Manhattan. Prominent abolitionists Abby Hopper Gibbons and James Sloan Gibbons lived at 339 West 29th Street, which is associated with the Underground Railroad.

Designated 6/26/2007 | Designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright and developed by the City Housing Corporation, Sunnyside Gardens implemented innovative residential planning concepts of low-rise, low density housing around landscaped open courtyards. 

Designated 5/19/1981 | An unquestionable symbol of New York City, the Art Deco style Empire State Building of 1931 held the title of the world's tallest building was 41 years.

New Building Approved by LPC | Cook + Fox Architects, 2003 | South Street Seaport Historic District

Designated 5/19/1981 | The Upper East Side Historic District is home to a beautiful collection of elegant mansions, townhouses, and apartment buildings constructed in the late 19th century and early 20th century. 

First Scenic Landmark | Designated 4/16/1974 | Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1858, Central Park was the first planned, large-scale public park in the nation.

The decade of the 1980s&nbsp;opened with&nbsp;the&nbsp;passage of the&nbsp;New York Historic Preservation Act of 1980,&nbsp;which&nbsp;created the New York State Register of Historic&nbsp;Places and&nbsp;declared historic preservation as&nbsp;the&nbsp;public policy of the state. It also&nbsp;strengthened the environmental review process for work impacting historic properties.&nbsp;&nbsp;

First Landmark Designation Designated 10/14/1965 | This farmhouse, home to the Wyckoff family from the 17th to 20th centuries, incorporates the oldest surviving built structure (c.1652) in NYC.

First Wonder Theater | Designated 5/16/2006 | Designed by John Eberson and opened in 1929, the 4,000-seat Paradise was one of the so-called “Wonder Theaters” in New York that delighted and served the people of Bronx for over sixty years.

The first decade of the&nbsp;twenty-first&nbsp;century brought with it the unspeakable tragedy of terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, as well as in Washington, D.C.&nbsp;and Pennsylvania. The City came together in grief&nbsp;and support, and to rebuild, planning for the site as well as more broadly, and&nbsp;addressing&nbsp;sustainability&nbsp;and resiliency.&nbsp;The City’s parks and public spaces&nbsp;grew&nbsp;with the restoration and creation of the High Line in Chelsea, and Christo and Jean Claude’s The Gates project brought uplifting public art to Central Park.&nbsp;In the 2000s,&nbsp;the Commission designated 4,594 buildings and sites throughout the city.&nbsp;Designations&nbsp;recognized more architecture of the 20th&nbsp;century, expanded our&nbsp;historic district&nbsp;designations in all&nbsp;boroughs,&nbsp;recognized&nbsp;a&nbsp;number of&nbsp;WPA-era&nbsp;recreation centers, and recognized places with important cultural significance.&nbsp;&nbsp;

First Landmark LEED Project | Green Building | FXFOWLE, 2003 | Bronx Zoo

African Burial Ground and The Commons Historic District

New Building Approved by LPC | Smith Miller &amp; Hawkinson, 2002 | Brooklyn Heights Historic District

In the&nbsp;1990s,&nbsp;New York City elected its first African-American mayor, David Dinkins,&nbsp;and&nbsp;enacted Local Law No 71, giving the City Council authority&nbsp;to review landmark designations,&nbsp;and Local Law No. 77, which allowed the Commission to exercise certain powers of the Art Commission (now Design Commission) in review of city-owned designated properties.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Commission designated 5, 432 buildings and sites in the 1990s, including&nbsp;significant&nbsp;Modern buildings&nbsp;such as&nbsp;Frank Lloyd Wright’s Crimson Beech&nbsp;House on Staten Island&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Guggenheim Museum and interior&nbsp;on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan,&nbsp;and&nbsp;Eero&nbsp;Saarinen’s TWA Terminal and interior&nbsp;at the John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens. The&nbsp;Commission designated its first&nbsp;archaeological landmark,&nbsp;the African Burial Ground and Commons Historic District, its first&nbsp;World’s Fair structure,&nbsp;the&nbsp;Unisphere&nbsp;in Flushing Meadows, Queens, and the Governors Island Historic District,&nbsp;recognizing its&nbsp;19th&nbsp;and early-20th&nbsp;century architecture and its role in the City’s&nbsp;military history.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine and the Cathedral Close

Designated 5/2/1989 | The Ladies' Mile Historic District contains numerous late 19th century stores and commercial buildings.

Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Building

Adaptations Approved by LPC | Green Buildings | Baxt Ingui Architects | Passive building is a voluntary standard for energy efficiency that results in buildings with ultra-low energy requirements.

Designated 6/17/1997 | With the earliest dating from the mid-19th century and now often standing in forgotten urban spaces or quaintly juxtaposed with modern buildings, New York's historic street lampposts reflect the exuberance of the city’s architecture.

The Commission also considered&nbsp;the challenges of sustainability and resiliency.&nbsp;For instance,&nbsp;the Commission&nbsp;approved the adaptive reuse of the former Lion House on Astor Court at the Bronx Zoo in 2002.&nbsp;Now occupied by the popular&nbsp;primates&nbsp;exhibit Madagascar, this was first time that the restoration of a&nbsp;landmarked&nbsp;building received Gold LEED certification.&nbsp;

First Archaeological Historic District | Designated 2/25/1993 | Re-discovered during the construction of the Ted Weiss Federal Building in Lower Manhattan, this is the burial site for many colonial New Yorkers of African descent and is the oldest known African-American cemetery in NYC.

Explore LPC’s other story maps <a href="https://www1.nyc.gov/site/lpc/discover/maps.page" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.

First World's Fair Structure | Designated 5/16/1995 | Designed by Gilmore D. Clark, the Unisphere was the centerpiece and visual logo of the 1964-65 New York World’s Fair, symbolizing the theme of “Peace Through Understanding.”

Central Harlem West 130th-132nd Street Historic District

Paramount Studios, Building No. 1 (Famous Players-Lasky Studio)

Designated 12/21/1982 | Designed by Skidmore Owings &amp; Merrill, Lever House was New York City's first International Style office building.

The Commission&nbsp;expanded&nbsp;designation of landmarks and historic districts&nbsp;throughout the City&nbsp;in the 1980s, designating 4,524 buildings and sites in the decade,&nbsp;including iconic skyscrapers like the Woolworth Building, Empire State Building, and Seagram Building, representing a wide range of architectural styles and periods,&nbsp;as well as interesting landmark types&nbsp;including Coney Island rides&nbsp;and&nbsp;the historic street plan of New Amsterdam in Lower Manhattan.&nbsp;In this decade,&nbsp;Lever House became the first Post-WWII International Style landmark, the beautiful row of houses forming “Astor Row” in Harlem were&nbsp;designated as individual landmarks, and large historic districts,&nbsp;including Ladies’ Mile and the Upper East Side,&nbsp;were designated.&nbsp;

New Building Approved by LPC | Alfredo De Video Architects, 1978 | Brooklyn Heights Historic District

New Building Approved by LPC | Ateliers Jean Nouvel, 2001 | SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

St. Paul's Avenue / Stapleton Heights Historic District

Designated 12/9/2014 | Constructed mainly between 1906-1914, this district represents one of the most harmonious and architecturally distinguished enclaves of brick row houses built in early 20th century NYC. 

In this decade, the Commission approved notable modern additions to historic buildings, including Hearst Tower by Lord Norman Foster, the first skyscraper built in New York after the September 11th&nbsp;attacks.&nbsp;The Commission also reviewed and approved other works by a range of international architects, including Jean&nbsp;Nouvel&nbsp;and Renzo Piano.&nbsp;There were&nbsp;significant&nbsp;additions&nbsp;at&nbsp;number of institutions, including at the Harvard Club, Brooklyn Museum, and Pratt Institute.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The Commission acted quickly in&nbsp;its first five years,&nbsp;designating&nbsp;5,594 buildings and sites&nbsp;throughout the City.&nbsp;New York’s&nbsp;first&nbsp;individual&nbsp;landmark&nbsp;was also its oldest building – the&nbsp;Pieter Claesen&nbsp;Wyckoff House in Brooklyn&nbsp;– and the first&nbsp;historic&nbsp;district&nbsp;was&nbsp;Brooklyn Heights, containing 1,375 mostly residential buildings.&nbsp;&nbsp;Many of the City’s oldest buildings&nbsp;were designated&nbsp;during this time, as well&nbsp;as&nbsp;major monuments like&nbsp;City Hall, the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum&nbsp;of Art,&nbsp;and Grand Central Terminal. Significant&nbsp;religious&nbsp;buildings&nbsp;were also designated – the&nbsp;first being the Friends Meeting House in Manhattan.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Designated 6/18/1996 | Governor’s Island Historic District, including three surviving fortifications and some 100 structures, was a major component in the defense system of New York Harbor dating from the early 19th century. 

Commission approvals in the 2010s have focused on adapting historic buildings to the demands of an evolving city, as with the Domino Sugar Refinery and the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank.&nbsp;Building&nbsp;technologies&nbsp;are constantly evolving, and new&nbsp;innovations have&nbsp;been incorporated into historic structures to increase their&nbsp;resilience and&nbsp;energy efficiency in the face of a changing climate.&nbsp;Buildings&nbsp;across historic districts now use passive house technology, and buildings&nbsp;on the&nbsp;waterfront&nbsp;like&nbsp;the&nbsp;Tobacco Warehouse are designed to be floodable.&nbsp;The Commission&nbsp;has also approved projects that incorporate modifications for barrier-free access, as with the restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, to make sure buildings are accessible to all New Yorkers.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Addition Approved by LPC | BKSK Architects | Individual Landmark

First (and Only!) Street Plan | Designated 6/14/1983 | The Street Plan of New Amsterdam is the only above-ground evidence of Manhattan as a colonial settlement.

Designated 11/18/2008 | Designed by James Ingo Freed of I.M. Pei &amp; Associates in 1964-1967, this is one of the finest examples of a mid-20th century residential complex in NYC.

Addition Approved by LPC | Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners | West Chelsea Historic District

First Landmark in Staten Island | Designated 10/14/1965 | Constructed between the 1830s and early 1880s as a home for retired seamen, Sailors’ Snug Harbor includes five dormitory and administration buildings, one of the nation's finest Greek Revival-style complexes.

New Building Approved by LPC | Platt Byard Dovell White, 2001 | Carnegie Hill Historic District, Manhattan

First 20th-Century African-American Landmark | Designated 7/14/1970 | Named after the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906) and completed in 1928, this was the first large cooperative built for African-Americans and was Manhattan's earliest large garden apartment complex.

Adaptive Reuse Approved by LPC | Woods Bagot, 2018 | Individual Landmark and African Burial Ground &amp; The Commons Historic District

Addition Approved by LPC | Emery Roth &amp; Sons and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer, 1977 | Individual Landmark

North, 50th Street, Central, and South Historic Districts | Designated 6/18/2019 | The Sunset Park Historic Districts are remarkably cohesive, well-preserved collections of buildings that represent the area's transformation into a working- and middle-class community at the turn of the 20th century.

New Buildings Approved by LPC | Robert A.M. Stern Architects, 1984 | Individual Landmark

First Frank Lloyd Wright (with Guggenheim Museum) | Designated 8/14/1990 | Also known as the Cass House, this Usonian house and the only example of the architect’s residential designs in NYC.

Addition Approved by LPC (later demolished) | Voorsanger Architects PC, 1989 | Individual Landmark

Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District

Designated 6/18/2019 | The designation of these six buildings with significant LGBT history as individual landmarks recognized groups and individuals that helped move forward the LGBT civil rights movement: the Caffe Cino, the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, the Women's Liberation Center, the LGBT Community Center, the James Baldwin Residence, and the Audre Lorde Residence.

First Frank Lloyd Wright (with Crimson Beech) | Designated 8/14/1990 | Completed after his death in 1959, the Guggenheim Museum is the last major work by Frank Lloyd Wright and is an example of the architect’s fascination with the expression of organic forms.

Visit LPC’s web map <a href="https://nyclpc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=93a88691cace4067828b1eede432022b" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>, with maps of&nbsp;landmarks and districts and access to designation reports.

Addition Approved by LPC | Polshek Partnership (now Ennead Architects), 2001 | Individual Landmark

Designated 6/22/2004 | In this well-preserved 19th-century residential neighborhood, freestanding houses were designed in a variety of popular styles for Staten Island’s distinguished citizens. 

New York City is the greatest city for many reasons, including its strength, resiliency and creativity. Evidence of these traits can be found in&nbsp;all of&nbsp;our NYC Landmarks.&nbsp;Though our circumstances are changing, we remain committed to protecting and preserving New York City’s architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites, promoting these places so we may learn and be inspired by the past, while collectively working through these difficult times today.&nbsp;

First Religious Landmark | Designated 10/26/1965 | The simple but beautifully detailed Friends Meeting House was designed by King &amp; Kellum in the Italianate style and constructed by the city's Orthodox Quaker community in 1857-59.

First Frank Lloyd Wright (with Crimson Beech) | Designated 8/14/1990