Arete served as Chair of the League’s Board of Trustees from 2009-2012 and continues to be deeply involved in the League’s work to this day. She has served on the statewide Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Jury for three decades, and her steadfast service has helped guide the League to becoming one of the most successful statewide preservation organizations in the nation. Arete is a League champion and exemplifies what it means to be a Pillar of New York.
Read MoreIn this guest blog post, Rob Yasinsac (@hudsonvalleyruins) shines a light on the historic Belden House. The house is not currently listed on the State or National Registers, but it is eligible. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection owns the building and has announced plans to demolish it.
Read MoreIn this Preservation Book Club webinar, Art Historian and Author Kristina Wilson joined us to speak about her book Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Power in Design. A striking counter-narrative to conventional histories of design, this book unveils fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture. Following Kristina's presentation, she was joined in conversation by Sarah Tietje-Mietz, Digital Editor at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
Read MoreIf you want to know what a professional commitment to preservation looks like, look no further than to John Waite and the firm of John G. Waite Associates, Architects. With offices in Albany and New York City, the team at JGWA provides expert leadership in the preservation and continued use of some of America’s most significant historic buildings.
Read MoreA recap of two days in DC for this year’s Preservation Advocacy Week.
Read MoreLooking for a career that will take you to interesting locations, requires hands-on creativity and problem-solving, and connects you to local history and heritage? Recent research conducted in partnership with the Northeast Regional Initiative for the Preservation Trades indicates that preservation and restoration trades careers can offer exactly these benefits.
Read MoreValerie Jo Bradley is co-founder and President of Save Harlem Now! – an award-winning nonprofit advocacy organization formed to preserve historic buildings and landscapes reflecting important African American history from the late 19th and early 20th century. She is also a 2023 Pillar of New York.
Read MoreThe Preservation League of New York State, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy filed an amicus brief on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, supporting a lawsuit challenging New York State’s proposed demolition of several blocks around Penn Station.
Read MoreThe League’s annual Pillar of New York Awards allows us to recognize those who have demonstrated remarkable commitment to preserving and celebrating New York’s rich history. This year’s honorees are no different. We hope you will join us in the Rainbow Room on April 18 as we celebrate three remarkable preservationists – Arete S. Warren, Valerie Jo Bradley, and John G. Waite Associates, Architects.
Read MoreA recent Hudson Review article draws attention to the unfortunate removal of Richard Lippold’s iconic site-specific sculpture Orpheus and Apollo from the New York Philharmonic’s David Geffen Hall. Working with our colleagues at Landmark West!, the League included Orpheus and Apollo on our 2020-2021 Seven to Save list.
Read MoreIn Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall, author Alexandra Lange chronicles postwar architects' and merchants' invention of the mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. In Lange's perceptive account, the mall becomes newly strange and rich with contradiction: Malls are environments of both freedom and exclusion--of consumerism, but also of community. Meet Me by the Fountain is a highly entertaining and evocative promenade through the mall's story of rise, fall, and ongoing reinvention, for readers of any generation.
Read MoreThe Preservation League of New York State and our program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2022 Technical Assistance Grants. During this grant cycle, 19 projects representing 14 counties across the state have been selected by an independent panel of preservation professionals. A total of $68,130 was awarded.
Read MoreIn a year full of challenges, supporters like you continued to provide a vital lifeline. As we start the new year, I wanted to look back at some of my favorite League webinars and stories of impact from the past year – made possible by preservationists like you. Thank you!
Read Morehe Preservation League of NYS is thrilled to announce a continued funding partnership with the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. A three-year funding commitment from the Gardiner Foundation will allow the League to bring grant opportunities and extended outreach to local historical societies and historic sites on Long Island.
Read MoreThis guest blog post from Jeff Iovannone provides an analysis of the demolition of the Great Northern Grain Elevator in Buffalo from a legal perspective. This piece was originally written for his Historic Preservation Law course at Cornell University.
Read MoreOn December 6, preservationists, architects, contractors, environmentalists, students, academics, recycling coordinators, and city planners were among the 60 or so attendees at the first annual statewide Deconstruction Summit, held at Russell Sage College in Troy. The summit was co-hosted by The City of Troy and TAP Inc., with support from NYSAR, Russell Sage College, CR0WD, and NYSERDA. The goal was to generate ideas about potential statewide deconstruction legislation.
Read MoreHave former asylum properties, built in the late 19th century to house people with mental illness, outlived their usefulness? Or can they once again contribute to modern society? In selecting the former Willard Asylum property for the 2022-2023 Seven to Save list, the League chose optimism. We’ve now researched a number of other asylum reuse projects in which properties very similar to Willard have charted a path toward productive and beneficial reuse, and have begun sharing this information with community members and decision-makers.
Read MoreNew York State’s historic places tell our stories. The block of storefronts on Main Street with apartments above. The barn that has stood proudly on the landscape for generations. The restored theater that is once again a community anchor. You and the League can empower people and communities across the state to save and renew the places that matter.
Read MoreAs we all try to find the perfect gift for everyone on our lists, we present to you our third annual Preservationist Gift Guide, a non-sponsored list of a few things we think would make excellent gifts for all the history nerds, old house lovers, and preservation people in your life.
Read MoreThe Preservation League of NYS has received three Regrowth and Capacity grants of $10,000 each from the New York State Council on the Arts. These grants will support the organization’s programming, as they continue their ongoing recovery from pandemic challenges. The responsive funding of NYSCA is providing nearly 1000 organizations with over $13 million in recovery support in FY23, as part of their historic FY23 $90 million in grant making and $150 million in multi-year capital support.
Read More
