Landmarks Preservation Commission

What is the Landmarks Preservation Commission?

• The Landmark Preservation Commission is the New York City agency that is responsible for identifying and designating the City’s landmarks and the buildings in the City’s historic districts. The Commission also regulates changes to designated buildings

• The agency consists of eleven Commissioners and a full-time staff.

• The Landmarks Preservation Commission was established in 1965 when Mayor Robert Wagner signed the local law creating the Commission and giving it its power.

• The Commission has designated 25,000+ properties, including 1,230 Individual Landmarks, 110 Interior Landmarks, 10 Scenic Landmarks, and 95 Historic Districts with 13 Extensions.

What is a landmark?

• A landmark is a building, property, or object that has been designated by the Landmarks Preservation Commission because it has a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value as part of the development, heritage, or cultural characteristics of the city, state, or nation. Landmarks are not always buildings. A landmark may be a bridge, a park, a water tower, a pier, a cemetery, a building lobby, a sidewalk clock, a fence, or even a tree.

• A property or object is eligible for landmark status when at least part of it is thirty years old or older.

Individual Landmarks – 1,230

Interior Landmarks - 110

Scenic Landmarks - 10

What is a Historic District?

An historic district is an area of the city that represents at least one period or style of architecture typical of one or more areas in the city's history; as a result, the district has a distinct "sense of place."

Historic Districts - 95 Historic Districts and 13 Extensions

Working with the Commission

The Approval Process

When is approval required?

The Landmarks Preservation Commission must approve in advance all work affecting an individually designated building or any property within an historic district, including any restoration, alteration, reconstruction, demolition or new construction. The Landmarks Commission does not regulate interior alterations unless the proposed work will affect an designated interior space or has an effect on the exterior of the building.

The Approval Process

Rules of the Landmarks Preservation Commission

• The Commission has adopted rules that authorize the staff to issue permits for certain types of work;

• If your proposal meets the criteria set forth in the rules, the staff will issue a permit;

• 90-95% of applications are approved at staff level pursuant to the Commission rules;

• If the proposed work does not qualify for a staff permit, the proposal requires approval by the full Commission after a Public Hearing.

Types of Permits

The Approval Process

Types of Permits:

• Certificate of No Effect – a staff level permit for work that requires a DOB permit, but has no effect on the protected significant features of the landmark, such as interior alterations

• Expedited Certificate of No Effect – a staff level permit for interior alterations only above the second floor

• Permit for Minor Work – a staff level permit for work that does not require a DOB permit, has an effect on the designated portion of the building, and is deemed appropriate based on the Commission’s rules, such as window replacement

• Certificate of Appropriateness – a Commission level permit for work that generally requires a DOB permit, and has an effect on the designated portion of the building, and is found to be appropriate by the full Commission at a public hearing, such as storefront replacement.

The Approval Process

• Public Hearing Process:– Hearings agendas are set one month

before the actual hearing date;– The application must be presented to

the local Community Board prior to the hearing date;

– At the hearing, the 11 members of the Commission review the proposal, listens to testimony from the applicant and the public, discusses the proposal and either votes to approve or deny the application, or recommends changes and reschedule the item for a future public meeting;

– If approved, the staff issues the permit upon receipt and review of the final DOB filing drawings.

Projects - A.T. Demarest & Company and Peerless Motor Car Company Buildings

Later General Motors Corporation Building

Projects - A.T. Demarest & Company and Peerless Motor Car Company Buildings

Later General Motors Corporation Building

Projects - A.T. Demarest & Company and Peerless Motor Car Company Buildings

Later General Motors Corporation Building

Projects – The Hotel Breslin, 1186 Broadway, Madison Square North Historic District

Projects – The Hotel Breslin, 1186 Broadway, Madison Square North Historic District

www.nyc.gov/landmarks