Role
The goal of New York City's landmarks law is to preserve the aesthetically and historically important buildings, structures, and other objects that make up the New York City vista. The Landmarks Preservation Commission is responsible for deciding which properties should be subject to landmark status and enacting regulations to protect the aesthetic and historic nature of these properties. These regulations are generally designed to allow property owners to continue to use and maintain their properties, while preserving the important design characteristics of the properties. The commission preserves not only unique buildings, but the overall feel of neighborhoods that are designated as historic districts. The commission is responsible for overseeing a range of designated landmarks ranging from the Fonthill House in the North Bronx, built in 1852 for the actor Edwin Forrest, to the 1670s Conference House, where Benjamin Franklin and John Adams visited Staten Island.
Decisions that the Commission makes include intricacies ranging from siding in Clinton Hill to signage in TriBeCa to the color of bricks for an apartment tower on the Upper West Side. The role of the Commission has evolved over time, especially with the changing real estate market in New York City. As of 2006, the Commission set a goal of designating 16 individual landmarks and historic districts per year. In addition to decisions about buildings' preservation, the Commission must decide whether new uses, or changes are compatible with the landmarked building.
Read more about this topic: New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Famous quotes containing the word role:
“Nothing is ever simple. What do you do when you discover you like parts of the role you’re trying to escape?”
—Marilyn French (b. 1929)
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“His role was as the gentle teacher, the logical, compassionate, caring and articulate teacher, who inspired you so that you wanted to please him more than life itself.”
—Carol Lawrence, U.S. singer, star of West Side Story. Conversations About Bernstein, p. 172, ed. William Westbrook Burton, Oxford University Press (1995)