A Community Comes Together

"With its low-slung market-style buildings, metal awnings and battered bricks,
[Gansevoort Street] is one of the most recognizable spots in the city for location
scouts, tourism bureaus, and Instagram users. It is also one of the few
in the district to remain unchanged. So far." -New York Times

On Tuesday November 11th, 150 people turned out for the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on the development of the Gansevoort Market Historic District (also known as the Meatpacking District). Of the 50 who testified, only two were in favor of the plan to build two massive buildings on the historic street. The proposed project threatens the unique character of Gansevoort Street, its historic streetscape, low buildings and market-style architecture, the very reason the Landmark Preservation Commission decided in 2003 to landmark the area. The fight continues, so please be sure to sign the Save Gansevoort petition here.

Photos courtesy of Save Gansevoort

Stand Against The Shadows

Are you tired of the reckless overbuilding of New York City? Do you feel that too many insanely tall buildings are coming up; that we have lost enough light, air, and iconic views to this real estate madness? Are you sickened by the way public spaces get handed over to real estate developers for luxury housing that ends up casting the rest of us in shadows? Do you think that the takeover of so many retail spaces by developers, banks and chain stores is harming the character of your neighborhood?

We feel all those things, so we have joined together as New Yorkers For A Human-Scale City to fight back, and created a petition to tell the Mayor what we think. Please join us by signing and spreading the word.

Initial sponsors: Art Loisada Foundation, Bedford Stuyvesant Society for Historic Preservation, Bowery Alliance of Neighbors, Citizens Emergency Committee to Preserve Preservation, Citizens Defending Libraries, Coalition for a Livable West Side, Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, Community Action Alliance on NYU2031, Concerned Citizens for Community Based Planning, Defenders of the Historic Upper East Side, East Harlem Preservation, Fiske Terrace Association, Friends and Residents of Greater Gowanus, Friends of Brook Park, Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, Friends of City Hall Park, Friends of Greenwich Street, Friends of Lamartine Place Historic District, Friends of South Street Seaport, Friends of Tribeca Park, Historic Districts Council, Historic Park Avenue, LANDMARK WEST!, Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, Lower West Side Association, Madison-Marine-Homecrest Association, Movement to Protect the People in Crown Heights, North Avenue A Neighborhood Association, NYU Faculty Against the Sexton Plan, Preservation League of Staten Island, Project for Public Spaces, Save Chelsea, Save Harlem Now!, #SaveNYC, Save The View Now, Save Our Seaport, SoHo Alliance, South Bronx United, South Village Neighbors, Sullivan-Ludlam-Stoddard Neighborhood Association, TakeBackNYC, TenantNet, Tribeca Trust, 29th Street Association, Vinegar Hill Neighborhood Association, West 80’s Neighborhood Association, and Women of Woodlawn.