PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation 
July 24, 2007
www.gvshp.org

TWO MORE 'FEDERAL-ERA' HOUSES GVSHP FOUGHT TO PROTECT ARE LANDMARKED;
Hudson Square designations mean 7 of 13 proposed houses now landmarked, 6 still remain

Two More Federal-Era Houses GVSHP Fought to Protect Are Landmarked:  Today the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted unanimously to landmark two  more surviving federal-era houses (1790-1835) of the thirteen that the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) and the NY Landmarks Conservancy (NYLC) proposed for landmark designation (see http://www.gvshp.org/federalrowhouses-Aprilhrg.htm and http://www.gvshp.org/13federals.pdf).  The two houses, at 486 and 488 Greenwich Street (near Spring Street), were built in 1820 and are among the oldest surviving structures in the rapidly transforming Hudson Square neighborhood (see www.gvshp.org/486-488GreenwichStFederals.pdf).  For the past four years, GVSHP has been waging a letter writing campaign to protect these thirteen houses, and has garnered substantial support for effort from the public, as well as from elected officials (see www.gvshp.org/fed13letter.htm).

GVSHP and NYLC first proposed the landmark designation of thirteen surviving federal-era houses in Lower Manhattan in 2003 (see http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505EED71731F932A15750C0A9629C8B63).  In addition to the two  houses designated today, five others have already been designated -- 127, 129, and 131 MacDougal Street (www.gvshp.org/macdougalPR.htm) near Washington Square Park and 4 St. Mark's Place (www.gvshp.org/67greenwich.htm) in 2004, and 67 Greenwich Street near Wall Street in 2005 (www.gvshp.org/federalrowhouses67greenwich.htm).  The six remaining federals are 94, 94 1/2, and 96 Greenwich Street , located south of Ground Zero, which were heard by the LPC in January (www.gvshp.org/federalrowhouseslowermanhattan.htm), 7 Leroy Street (www.gvshp.org/7leroy.htm)  and 57 Sullivan Street (www.gvshp.org/57sullivan.htm) in the South Village, and 2 Oliver Street in Chinatown.

GVSHP has been working since the 1990's to document and protect the more than 300 surviving "federal' rowhouses in Lower Manhattan (www.gvshp.org/fedrowh.htm), so named because they were designed in the first American architectural style developed after the Revolutionary War and the adoption of the United States Constitution. 

HOW TO HELP: 

• PLEASE WRITE TO THE  LPC thanking them for voting to landmark these two federal houses and urging them to KEEP GOING and designate the remaining six.  Go to www.gvshp.org/federalrowhousesletter.htm  for a sample letter you can use.