We are proud to report that today the New York State Board for Historic Preservation recommended approval of GVSHP’s nomination of the entire South Village for the State and National Registers of Historic Places! This means the South Village will soon be listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places, and the nomination will proceed to the Federal government for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which we expect will also be approved.
In addition to recognition of the historic significance of this neighborhood, listing qualifies certain properties for some tax breaks and financial assistance, as well as protecting against State or Federal actions or the use of State or Federal monies in ways that would be harmful to the historic character of the neighborhood. GVSHP's entire nomination can be found here, and pictures and maps of the district can be found here.
The nomination has also been shared with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which is supposed to vote upon "Phase II" of GVSHP's proposed South Village Historic District before the end of the year, and complete a survey of the third and final phase before year's end as well. Unlike State and National Register listing, New York City landmark designation provides strong protections against demolition and tightly regulates new development; GVSHP has been urging the City to landmark the South Village for many years, and submitted a formal proposal in 2006 ("Phase I" of that proposal was landmarked in 2010).
We are pushing the LPC to designate all of "Phase II" of the South Village before year's end as promised (the LPC can vote to approve, disapprove, or scale back the boundaries currently under consideration), and to complete their survey of the highly vulnerable "Phase III" and move ahead with designation of that section. The current arrangement -- to consider these two remaining sections of the proposed South Village Historic District before year's end without any firm commitment as to what action will ultimately be taken -- was the result of a deal made by City Council Speaker Quinn when she approved adjacent the Hudson Square Rezoning, which increased development pressure upon the South Village. GVSHP has reached out to Speaker Quinn, as well as City Councilmember Chin (who also represents part of the South Village) and City Councilmember-elect Corey Johnson for their assistance in pushing the LPC on this; we are awaiting their response.
