Month: January 2011

Historic Districts Councils NYC Preservation Priorities

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The Historic Districts Council, New York’s city-wide advocate for historic buildings and neighborhoods, has announced it’s first Six to Celebrate, a list of historic New York City neighborhoods that merit preservation attention. This is New York’s only citywide list of preservation priorities.

The Six were chosen from applications submitted by neighborhood groups around the city on the basis of the architectural and historic merit of the area- the level of threat to the neighborhood- strength and willingness of the local advocates, and where HDC’s citywide preservation perspective and assistance could be the most meaningful. Throughout 2011, HDC will work with these neighborhood partners to set and reach preservation goals through strategic planning, advocacy, outreach, programs and publicity.

“Neighborhoods throughout New York are fighting an unseen struggle to determine their own futures. By bringing these locally-driven neighborhood preservation efforts into the spotlight, HDC hopes to focus New Yorker’s attention on the very real threats that historic communities throughout the city are facing from indiscriminate and inappropriate development.” said Simeon Bankoff, HDC’s Executive Director. “As the first list of its kind in New York, the Six to Celebrate will help raise awareness of local efforts to save neighborhoods on a citywide level.”

Founded in 1971 as a coalition of community groups from New York City’s designated historic districts, the Historic Districts Council has grown to become one of the foremost citywide voices for historic preservation. Serving a network of over 500 neighborhood-based community groups in all five boroughs, HDC strives to protect, preserve and enhance New York City’s historic buildings and neighborhoods through ongoing programs of advocacy, community development and education.

The 2011 Six to Celebrate (in alphabetical order):

Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn
The Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood contains an astonishing number of architecturally, historically and culturally significant structures, including rowhouses, mansions, religious buildings, and schools dating from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Although there are currently two designated historic districts in the area, the vast majority of Bedford Stuyvesant’s architectural splendor is unprotected. The recently-formed Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation, a coalition of concerned neighborhood block associations, and the landmarks committee of Brooklyn Community Board 3 are working to correct that.

The Bowery, Manhattan
One of Manhattan’s oldest thoroughfares, the Bowery, stretching from Cooper Square to Canal Street, has a fascinatingly rich history which has left an equally rich built environment. From a fashionable shopping and residential neighborhood at the end of the 18th century, to bustling center of drygoods, hardware and other specialty stores, to an entertainment mecca and later the notorious “skid row” in the 20th century, the Bowery was always a part of the city’s culture, for better or for worse. In recent years,, the mix of historic structures along the street has been extremely threatened by high-rise hotel development. The Bowery Alliance of Neighbors was formed to help save the remaining historic buildings on the Bowery and to celebrate the avenue’s interesting and important history.

Gowanus, Brooklyn
The Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus nominated the neighborhood surrounding the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. This unique area retains its largely industrial character, with some of the businesses dating back more than 75 years. In recent years, plans for the canal have conflicted with the existing character of the neighborhood and some significant industrial structures have been demolished for out-of-scale, speculative development. However, with the canal’s recent designation as a federal Superfund site, there is now an opportunity to successfully advocate for the preservation of the industrial character of the area and retention of significant structures associated with this history.

Inwood, Manhattan
Inwood, at the very northern tip of Manhattan, combines striking geography of hills and views with notable architecture that includes art-deco apartment building, Tudor Revival houses, and unique elements such as the 215th Street Steps, the Seaman-Drake Arch and the historic Isham Park. Despite this, very little of the neighborhood’s historic buildings are protected or even official acknowledged. The Volunteers for Isham Park is working to identify and protect the neighborhood’s landmarks.

Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is New York City’s first planned neighborhood of “garden apartments” and “garden homes”. These airy, light-filled residences, combined with commercial, institutional and recreational buildings, provided an attractive environment for middle-class families to live when it was developed in the early 20th century, and it still does today. The Jackson Heights Beautification Group, established in 1988, is seeking to extend the boundaries of the existing Jackson Heights Historic District, landmarked in 1993, to better reflect and protect the actual historic neighborhood.

Mount Morris Park, Manhattan
The residential area adjacent surrounding Mount Morris Park in Harlem includes elegant rowhouses and larger apartment buildings from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Romanesque Revival, neo-Grec and Queen Anne styles. The longtime civic group, the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association, is seeking to expand the boundaries of the current city-landmarked Historic District, which does not adequately represent the elegant architect of this Harlem neighborhood.

Buffalo and Erie Receives Re-Accreditation

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The Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society has announced that it achieved re-accreditation by the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition afforded the nation’s museums.

The Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society was initially accredited in 1974, and re-accredited in ’86 and ’99. All accredited museums undergo re-accreditation reviews approximately every 10 years to maintain that status.

Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 775 are currently accredited. The Historical Society is one of only 63 museums accredited in the state of New York, out of an estimated 900.

AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, then considers the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation. While the time to complete the process varies, it generally takes up to three years.

&#8220Accreditation is emblematic of an institution’s commitment to public service and to overall excellence,&#8221 said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. &#8220Attaining accreditation involves taking a hard look at yourself, allowing your peers in the field to do the same, and being judged to be superior in all areas. The people of Buffalo and the Western New York region can take great pride in the fact that their local institution is one of America’s premier museums.&#8221

Rensselaer County Surrogate Records Index Goes Online

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An index of 31,325 Rensselaer County Surrogate Court Records from 1786 to 1917 has now been added to the Troy Irish Genealogy (TIGS) website. These records, especially those prior to 1880 will be of great interest to genealogy researchers. The information in this data base was copied from a file in the Rensselaer County Historical Society, 57 Second Street, Troy, New York.

To view these records go to the Troy Irish Genealogy website and click on PROJECTS and then click on RENSSELAER COUNTY SURROGATE COURT INDEX. These records, like most of the TIGS data series, cover the general population in the area and are NOT restricted to Irish surnames.

For each name in the on-line index there is a Surrogate Court Record folder that may contain various original source documents such as Wills, Letters of Administration, Guardianship Papers, Invoice of Property, Depositions Concerning a Person’s Death, etc. The on-line index shows the following information for each record which may help you identify those records that will be of interest to you:

1. NAME &#8211 Last, first, middle name or initials if any, and titles like Dr., Rev., etc.

2. FILE NUMBER &#8211 Used to locate the files at the Rensselaer County Historical Society.

3. LOCATION &#8211 Gives name of city, town or state of residence.

4. DATE &#8211 May be year of death or year of legal issue.

5. INV. &#8211 Indicates when there is an inventory of household goods in the record. An invoice may be in the records EVEN if this column is not checked.

6. COMMENTS &#8211 This column will have an interesting comment for each name. Some comments may show marital status (bachelor, spinster, widow, widower), while other comments may show maiden names, occupations, name of street residence, relationships (wife, husband, mother, father, son daughter, etc.) and number of children.

Copies of any original source documents that are contained in the file folder for each name can be requested from the Rensselaer County Historical Society. The TIGS website has a PRINTABLE FORM that can be used when requesting copies from RCHS. For each request there is a $5.00 fee which will cover RCHS’s cost of locating and pulling a singular file folder from the archives. After the file folder is located, RCHS will contact the requester about the contents of the file to see which documents they want copied at a cost of .25 cents per page plus postage for mailing.

Historic Albany Issues Albany Endangerd List

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Every five years, the Historic Albany Foundation issues a new Endangered Historic Resource list with an update on past lists. The goal of the Endangered Historic Resource list is to draw attention to well-known buildings, properties, and landmarks that are in need of stabilization, rehabilitation or restoration in the City of Albany.

What follows is this year’s list:

800-812 BROADWAY ? c. 1854, 1858, 1872, 1876-77
ARCHITECT ? JOSIAH ROOT (802-806)
A part of the Broadway-Livingston Historic District, these buildings were once a part of a busy mixed-use corridor on the north end of the city. With the construction of the railroad bridge in the early 20th century, these buildings have
been forgotten and suffer from long deferred maintenance. They now sit mostly vacant with little prospect of rehabilitation. *Eligible for Federal and New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits

ARGUS PRESS, 1031 BROADWAY ? 1913-17
ARCHITECT ? MARCUS TULLIUS REYNOLDS
This building was constructed on speculation by the Albany Commercial Company, a group of businessmen who hoped to attract more industry to Broadway. The building was home to Argus Litho, successors to the company that began publishing the Albany Argus newspaper in 1813. The massive industrial building has sat vacant for years and has no known plan for rehabilitation.

10 HALL PLACE ? 1860
In 1860, W. H. Carr constructed a three story brick house on the site of 10 Hall Place, but never lived there. Albany stonecutters, Brooksbee and Roland (Brooksby and
Rowland) purchased the house in 1862 to sell it to lumber dealer J. W. Dunham in 1863. During the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Hall Place was nearly entirely vacant. Number 10 is the last remaining vacant building. Though the building has been stabilized, it still requires considerable work to become habitable once more. *Eligible for Federal and New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits

100-112 HOLLAND AVENUE ? 1937-38
BUILDER ? JESSE LEONARD
The houses were designed and built by Jesse Leonard and the Leonard Realty Company from 1937-1938 and are an exemplary example of Tudor style architecture. Throughout his career, Leonard constructed over 200 homes in Albany. Originally single family homes, the buildings have only been vacant for two years, these unique buildings are in need of repairs to be habitable once again and will continue to deteriorate without residents.

558 MADISON AVENUE ? c. 1880
Originally built to be a grocery store, this mixed-use building sits vacant on a busy corner across from Washington Park and just down the street from Albany Medical Center. Though its condition is stable, it is one of few vacant buildings across from the Park. Continued vacancy will only increase the deterioration and will have a negative impact on development around it. Madison Avenue runs the risk of losing a widely visible corner structure. *Eligible for Federal and New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits

4 MADISON PLACE ? 1872
In August 2005, a fire blazed through 4 and 5 Madison Place, leaving 5 damaged and 4 a facade. Since that time, number 4 remains a challenge with no way to access the rear of the property for construction save through its Elm Street neighbor’s yards. To lose a piece of this nationally recognized row would be tragic. Just one block long, Madison Place is a spectacular example of Gothic Revival rowhouses. Number 4 is no exception. The facade is elegantly simple when compared to the intensity of its Gothic Revival neighbors up the block.

BATH HOUSE NUMBER 2, 90 FOURTH AVENUE ? 1905
Bath House No. 2 represents the only remaining bath house in the City of Albany. Public bath houses were built as a response to the demands of the population and
hygiene practices of the time. Bath House No. 2 is owned and operated by the City of Albany. In the past week, the decision was made to close the Bath House for budgetary purposes. The building already has a long list of repairs needed that if left unattended will contribute to deterioration and a less likely chance of rehabilitation. *Eligible for Federal and New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits!

KENWOOD, 799 SOUTH PEARL STREET ? 1842-45, 1871
ARCHITECT ? A. J. DAVIS & A. J. DOWNING (1842-45) NICHOLS & BROWN (1871)
The buildings that make up Kenwood are currently vacant. The entire estate is threatened by the possibility of vacancy, inappropriate development, and demolition. Vacancy is a hazard to buildings as they immediately begin to deteriorate. The estate was initially constructed as the summer home, but was converted, in 1859, into the Female Academy and Convent of the Sacred Heart The buildings remaining today incorporate each period of the estate’s history.

SCHOOL 22, 292 SECOND STREET ? 1874
ARCHITECT ? FREDERICK W. BROWN
It was built as an eight room school house for the West Hill neighborhood. School 22 has been vacant for decades and continues to deteriorate every year. Though the building has been sold multiple times to be rehabilitated for a variety of uses, any action, including mothballing has yet to happen. The interior is in very poor condition and will continue to deteriorate unless properly mothballed. Without timely attention, the once beautiful structure will be lost.

PHERSON TERRACE ? 1887-88, 1891
ARCHITECT ? EDWARD OGDEN BUILDER ? ATTILIO PASQUINI
Constructed in two stages, this row of 16 buildings is highly stylized and decoratively designed with alternating details of pressed brick, stone trim, gables,
oriel windows and dormers. The block was most likely named for John McPherson, a gardener, who had previously owned the property. While some are lived in and maintained, the row as a whole has suffered from severe disinvestment and neglect. *Eligible for Federal and New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credits!

For more information about each endangered historic resource including past lists, please see the Historic Albany website.

Auburn Joins Arts, Culture, Economic Impact Study

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Auburn, New York’s Historic and Cultural Sites Commission has announced it has joined Arts & Economic Prosperity IV, a national research study being conducted by Americans for the Arts. The study will evaluate the impact spending by nonprofit arts organizations and their audiences have on their local economies.

According to Americans for the Arts most recent national study, the national nonprofit arts industry generated 5.7 million jobs and $166.2 billion in total economic activity during 2005, resulting in $29.6 billion in federal, state and local government revenues.

By collecting detailed financial information from all of Auburn’s nonprofit arts and culture organizations, and surveying hundreds of audience members at cultural events throughout the city, the Historic and Cultural Sites Commission will produce hard date about what the arts bring to the local economy.

Specifically, the study’s results will include:

* The total dollars spent by Auburn’s nonprofit arts organizations.
* The total dollars spent by audiences as a direct result of their attendance at cultural events in the city.
* The number of full-time equivalent jobs supported by arts spending.
* The amount of local household income generated by arts spending.
* The amount of local and state government tax revenues generated by arts spending.

“All of us involved in the arts in Auburn know that we have an economic impact on the city. This survey will give us the figures to prove it. We need real dollars-and-cents figures to make our case about why the arts matter,” said Eileen McHugh, Executive Director of the Cayuga Museum. The survey will be conducted through 2011, and the final report, specific to Auburn, will be available in March 2012.

“From a tourism perspective, arts and culture form a community’s image and set it apart, creating visitor anticipation and excitement. We know this study will show the economic importance of our rich cultural heritage and we hope it will garner the support that the arts deserve,” said Meg Vanek, executive director of the Cayuga County Office of Tourism.

Auburn’s Historic and Cultural Sites Commission is a collaborative organization whose purpose is to position Auburn as the destination of choice in the Finger Lakes through support and promotion of its history and culture.

Event Volunteers Needed at Saratoga Battlefield

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Saratoga National Historical Park, located on Route 32 and 4 in Stillwater is looking for Frost Faire volunteers on Saturday January 22. Hot lunch and warm-up gear supplied to all. If you like being outdoors and meeting people you will enjoy your time! Call Gina Johnson by January 12 at 664.9821 ext. 227 or email, [email protected]

Saratoga National Historical Park presents special interpretive events and programs throughout the year. For further information please call (518) 664-9821 ext. 224 or visit our web site at www.nps.gov/sara.

Adirondack Museum Receives Highest Accreditation

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York has again achieved accreditation from the American Association of Museums (AAM), the highest national recognition for a museum. Accreditation signifies excellence to the museum community, to governments, funders, outside agencies, and to the museum-going public.

For almost forty years the Accreditation Program has served as the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability, and earns national recognition for a museum for its commitment to excellence in all that it does: governance, collections stewardship, public programs, financial stability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement.

Developed and sustained by museum professionals, the Accreditation Program reflects, reinforces, and promotes best practices, institutional ethics, and the highest standards of museum operations.

The Adirondack Museum first received AAM accreditation in 1973, and was reaccredited in 1985 and 1998.

&#8220We are very honored that the Adirondack Museum continues to be recognized for meeting the highest standards of museum practice,&#8221 said Interim Director Michael Lombardi. &#8220The accreditation validates the ongoing work of our staff and points the way towards continued success in the future.&#8221

Of the nation’s estimated 17,500 museums, 775 are currently accredited. The Adirondack Museum joins the Albany Institute of History and Art, The Strong Museum, The Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages as well as eight other history museums accredited in New York State.

&#8220Accreditation assures the people of the Adirondacks that their museum is among the finest in the nation,&#8221 said Ford W. Bell, president of AAM. &#8220As a result, the citizens can take considerable pride in their institution, for its commitment to excellence and for the value it brings to the community as a whole.&#8221

Accreditation is a rigorous process that examines all aspects of a museum’s operations. To earn accreditation, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. AAM’s Accreditation Commission, an independent and autonomous body of museum professionals, review and evaluate the self-study and visiting committee report to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation. While the time to complete the process varies by museum, it generally takes three years.

The Adirondack Museum will open for its 54th season on May 27, 2011. The museum will introduce two new exhibits &#8211 &#8220The Adirondack World of A.F. Tait&#8221 and &#8220Night Vision: The Wildlife Photography of Hobart V. Roberts&#8221 as well as offer a full schedule of programs, special events, and activities for families.

The American Association of Museums has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community. With more than 15,000 individual, 3,000 institutional, and 300 corporate members, AAM is dedicated to ensuring that museums remain a vital part of the American landscape, connecting people with the greatest achievements of the human experience, past, present and future. For more information, visit www.aam-us.org.

Walking Tour Explores the Mafia in America

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A new walking tour examines the roots of the Mafia in America including the often overlooked early lives of such criminal heavyweights as Charles &#8220Lucky&#8221 Luciano, Al &#8220Scarface&#8221 Capone, Giuseppe Morello, Joe &#8220The Boss&#8221 Masseria, Meyer Lansky, &#8220Bugsy&#8221 Siegel, and more.

The weekly walking tour with guide Eric Ferrara is hosted by the Lower East Side History Project and runs every Saturday and Thursday at 2:00 pm, through March 2011. The cost is $20 per person.

The tour details the Sicilian and Italian immigrant experience and conditions which led to organized gangsterism in America. From the arrival of Sicilian Black Handers and Neapolitan Camorra to New York in the 1890s, to the forming of the Mafia Commission in 1931, tour participants visit the early homes, headquarters, hangouts and assassination locations of some of the most powerful criminals in American history, and explore the wars which shaped the future of organized crime.

Sites visits include &#8220Black Hand Block,&#8221 headquarters of the &#8220first family&#8221 of the American Mafia- the headquarters of Paul Kelly’s notorious Five Points Gang, the gang responsible for breeding the likes of Al Capone, Johnny Torrio, &#8220Lucky&#8221 Luciano, and hundreds more- the home of prohibition era’s &#8220Boss of Bosses-&#8221 and the childhood homes and teenage haunts of &#8220Lucky&#8221 Luciano, &#8220Bugsy&#8221 Siegel and Meyer Lansky.

Ferrara deciphers the myths and realities of the Mafia in Hollywood, including Boardwalk Empire and The Godfather series. Ferrara is a published author, educator, and founder of the Lower East Side History Project and the first museum in America dedicated to gangsterism. He is a fourth generation native New Yorker with Sicilian roots in Little Italy dating back to the 1880s, and has assisted several movie, tv, and media projects world wide, including HBO, SyFy, History Channel and National Geographic.

Ferrara says that he has consulted the families and estates of crime figures discussed on the tour, as well as law enforcement agents, collectors, authors and historians to provide unique first-hand accounts, images and documents in over five years of research.

For more information visit the Lower East Side History Project online.

Last Chance to Nominate 2011 Woman of History

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Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is looking for a few good women is calling on the public to nominate a deserving woman to receive the Martha Washington Woman of History Award in March, 2011. The deadline for nominations is this Friday, January 7, 2011. Nomination forms are available here.

Each March, Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site recognizes a woman who has distinguished herself in the field of Hudson Valley history by bestowing upon her the “Martha Washington Woman of History Award.”

Appropriately, the award emanates from where Martha Washington resided with her husband, General George Washington, during the last months of the Revolutionary War. That the ceremony takes place in March, during Women’s History Month, is indeed fitting. The Woman of History award acknowledges Martha Washington’s important place in history as a devoted patriot in support of the American Revolution and the ensuing new nation. This is the ninth year the award has been given.

A Livingston Family Secret: Arsenic and Clam Chowder

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Arsenic and Clam Chowder recounts the sensational 1896 murder trial of Mary Alice Livingston, a member of one of the most prestigious families in New York, who was accused of murdering her own mother, Evelina Bliss.

The bizarre instrument of death, an arsenic-laced pail of clam chowder, had been delivered to the victim by her ten-year-old granddaughter, and Livingston was arrested in her mourning clothes immediately after attending her mother’s funeral.

In addition to being the mother of four out-of-wedlock children, the last born in prison while she was awaiting trial, Livingston faced the possibility of being the first woman to be executed in New York’s new-fangled electric chair, and all these lurid details made her arrest and trial the central focus of an all-out circulation war then underway between Joseph Pulitzer’s World and William Randolph Hearst’s Journal.

The story is set against the electric backdrop of Gilded Age Manhattan. The arrival of skyscrapers, automobiles, motion pictures, and other modern marvels in the 1890s was transforming urban life with breathtaking speed, just as the battles of reformers against vice, police corruption, and Tammany Hall were transforming the city’s political life.

The aspiring politician Teddy Roosevelt, the prolific inventor Thomas Edison, bon vivant Diamond Jim Brady, and his companion Lillian Russell were among Gotham’s larger-than-life personalities, and they all played cameo roles in the dramatic story of Mary Alice Livingston and her arsenic-laced clam chowder.

In addition to telling a ripping good story, the book addresses a number of social and legal issues, among them capital punishment, equal rights for women, societal sexual standards, inheritance laws in regard to murder, gender bias of juries, and the meaning of &#8220beyond a reasonable doubt.&#8221

Note: Books noticed on this site have been provided by the publishers. Purchases made through this Amazon link help support this site.