he Keepers’ presence here brings attention to the blatant demolition of the Penn Station neighborhood’s historic buildings, the environmental impact of that demolition, and the human cost of displacing longtime residents and business owners.
Read MoreIn this Preservation Book Club webinar, we were joined by Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, and his co-author Herb Frazier. They discussed their book Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. This book is the personal account of one man's groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in the countless oft-overlooked former slave dwellings that still stand across the country, the fascinating history behind those sites, and how he has used the experiences to shed light on larger issues of race in America.
Read MoreHistoric preservation can serve as an economic life raft for upstate cities like Oneonta, but the public perception of preservation can be a challenge. As a way to celebrate the historic district, the League commissioned local artist Emily Falco to create a site-specific sidewalk mural strategically located in front of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society.
Read MoreThe Keepers is a performance art intervention created by longtime NYC cultural provocateur, Ed Woodham – scheduled for Friday, September 22 in three different locations around the Penn Station neighborhood (The Church of St. John the Baptist, Gimbel’s Skybridge, and the demolished Hotel Pennsylvania). The Keepers September activation has been commissioned by the Preservation League of NYS as part of a New York State Council on the Arts-funded project drawing attention to the League’s Seven to Save endangered historic sites across the state through artistic interventions. The Penn Station Neighborhood, which is threatened with needless and large-scale demolition, was identified as a Seven to Save in 2022. This project is organized in partnership with the Empire Station Coalition.
Read MoreThe League was saddened to hear of the passing of Joan Davidson this past weekend. Joan’s impact was felt far and wide, through her philanthropy at the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Furthermore Foundation, her involvement in important advocacy in the Hudson Valley and New York City, and her annual Shad Party at Midwood, her home in the Hudson Valley. Joan had served on the League’s Trustees Council since 2011, but her importance to the Preservation League and our programs is much deeper than that. Over the years, Joan played a vital role in supporting some of the Preservation League’s most important programs and initiatives.
Read MoreThere are several core estate planning and financial documents we should all have and keep up to date: a Durable Financial Power of Attorney, a Health Care Proxy, and a Living Will. A review is recommended at least every five years, or should your circumstances or finances change, or if there is a change in applicable laws. Read on for more…
Read MoreThe Preservation League of NYS and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) are thrilled to announce the 2023 Preserve New York grant recipients. At its 2023 meeting, an independent panel selected 19 applicants in 17 counties to receive support totaling $279,936.
Read MoreIn this Preservation Book Club presentation, author Ariel Aberg-Riger discussed her brand new book America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History. Ariel did a reading from the book and detailed the behind-the-scenes process of how a chapter was put together. Following her presentation, she was joined in conversation by Katy Peace, Director of Communications for the Preservation League of NYS.
Read MoreJust a few Pride Month book recommendations for you. Some of these we’ve already read and others are still on our TBR. Which have you checked out?
Read More…If what resonates with people is just the book recommendations, maybe there’s a better way to do that. So we’re going to spend the summer experimenting with a new format. Preservation Book Club, but make it Instagram.
Read MoreFor this panel, we invited people working across the state, from Buffalo to Queens, who are thinking outside the preservation box to work with their communities. We wanted to look at how practitioners take a more holistic approach to preservation in urban centers — not just relying on tried and true preservation tools like landmark designation and historic tax credits. From cultural districts to building shell stabilization, there are so many ways preservationists can engage with the complicated realities of their city's built environment to better serve the people who call these places home.
Read MoreBonnie Tsui’s book American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods shines a spotlight on Chinatowns across the country — from New York City to Honolulu, Hawai’i — interweaving the stories of the people she meets with her own personal narrative.
Read MoreEven small money can make a big difference in small towns. In this session from PastForward 2022, panelists dig into the results of the Northeast Heritage Economy Program (NHEP) grants, administered in 2020-2022. NHEP is a collaborative initiative of the Preservation League of New York State, New Hampshire Preservation Alliance, Maine Preservation, and Preservation Trust of Vermont.
Read MoreIn April, we hosted a virtual Roundtable to discuss Leslie Kern’s book Gentrification is Inevitable and Other Lies. For anyone who missed the conversation, we wanted to share a few key resources mentioned during the Zoom.
Read MoreThe yellow house at the intersection of 9H and NY-66 in the Town of Claverack has stood as a local landmark for over 200 years. When Quinn Levine and Simon Burstall first saw the building in 2020, it had been vacant and on the market for more than six years. The land was thought to be more valuable without the house, and potential buyers wanted to demolish it. Thankfully, the former owner wanted to see the house saved — and Quinn and Simon saw possibility where others saw a liability.
Read MoreThe League was thrilled to receive a record number of applications for the 2023 Zabar Family Scholarship. Established by former League Trustee Lori Zabar, the Zabar Scholarship has been supporting three students every year since 2019. Thanks to an outpouring of support following the passing of Lori Zabar early last year, the League was able to increase this year’s scholarships to $2,500. The three students receiving scholarships this year truly represent the future of our field, and we are honored to support them.
Read MoreThis panel used the iconic Erie Canal as a starting point for a conversation about how organizations can be better about sharing complicated histories, touching on issues related to environmental justice, urban renewal, disinvestment, segregation, and displacement. There is no single narrative about any history or historic place — the realities are often complicated, messy, and worth spending time thinking critically about. History is constantly being written and rewritten and we are all active participants in that process. The panelists also talked about implementation, how we take steps to truly tell a more complete story through our preservation work.
Read MoreJust like we did last year, when NYS announced its Regional Economic Development Council (REDC) grant recipients, we dove in to find League connections. Announced at the end of 2022, the Round XII REDC grants awarded $90 million in funding to 74 projects. Of those, 17 projects receiving grants totaling $8.9 million have also received direct involvement in the form of advocacy, grants, or loans from the Preservation League. When you break down the numbers, these projects were able to leverage every $1 of League funding for $5 from NYS.
Read MoreThe Preservation League was saddened to learn of the loss of the former Kenwood Convent, also known as the former Academy of the Sacred Heart, in Albany. In 2010, shortly after the building was vacated, the League listed the building on our Seven to Save list; our colleagues at the Historic Albany Foundation likewise included it on their Endangered Historic Resources List. This beautiful campus was rich in both history and frustrations: architecturally distinctive, historically fascinating, but subject to a series of failed development projects in recent years. The site was left vacant and vulnerable for over a decade. On March 23, despite the valiant efforts of first responders, it was lost to a terrible fire. Thumbnail image: Jim Franco for the Times Union
Read MoreUnderstanding and Advancing the Preservation Trades provides an overview of the current status of these professions in the Northeast, and offers a wealth of insights from tradespeople, educators, workforce development professionals, and preservation specialists. Together, these perspectives inform a variety of recommended actions suitable for individual practitioners, businesses, nonprofits, training programs, and other stakeholders who aim to strengthen the preservation trades workforce.
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