ANNUAL REPORT 2008 - The New York Landmarks Conservancy

During the 1990s, the Landmarks Preservation Commission identified several
parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant as “Areas of Interest,” but they were
never developed into districts. In an effort to update this work, Fund staff
conducted a new survey and identified four distinct areas that featured
intact historic row houses: Stuyvesant West, Bedford-Stuyvesant East
Central, Shannon’s Garden, and Cripplebush Road. These potential historic
districts boasted row houses built around the turn of the 20th century
in popular styles of the day: Italianate, Neo-Grec, Second Empire, Queen
Anne, and Romanesque. Most of the buildings in Bedford-Stuyvesant
East Central and Stuyvesant West were built before 1890 by prominent
Brooklyn architects and builders. Shannon’s Garden is a mix of the late
19th and early 20th centuries, with elaborate late-Italianate brownstones
and Neo-Classical stone row houses. The Cripplebush Road district is
comprised of several blocks of especially consistent, late-Italianate row
house streetscapes, built between 1885 and 1891. The SHPO determined
in November 2008 that these four areas were eligible for listing on the
registers.
With Highland Park’s 120 buildings and the 1,130 properties in the four
Bedford-Stuyvesant areas, a total of 1,250 buildings have been added to
the Fund’s universe of possible work.
Newly Eligible State and National Register
Historic Districts
The City’s most recent real estate boom greatly increased property values
in neighborhoods traditionally served by the Historic Properties Fund.
In areas where the Fund has completed dozens of projects, such as Fort
Greene, Brooklyn, the need for its assistance has decreased. In response,
Fund staff began a campaign in 2007 to identify new areas for investing
its resources: intact blocks of older properties that could be deemed eligible
for listing in the State and/or National Registers of Historic Places, the
minimum criterion required for Fund assistance. To accomplish this work,
Fund staff and graduate interns researched, surveyed, and analyzed areas
of historic interest and presented potential districts to the State Historic
Preservation Office (SHPO), which then determines a district’s eligibility.
Fund research led to determinations of eligibility for the Bradhurst Historic
District in Harlem and the Windsor Terrace Historic District in Brooklyn.
Five more areas of Brooklyn were added in 2008: Highland Park in Cypress
Hills and four sections of Bedford-Stuyvesant.
prior page
top Cummings Residence, 295 Decatur Street, Brooklyn
bottom St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 334 MacDonough Street, Brooklyn
this page
top Jackman Residence, 112 Hancock Street, Brooklyn
bottom 279 Highland Boulevard, Brooklyn
The Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn came to the Fund’s attention after
the Pratt Institute Land Use and Historic Preservation Studio produced a
draft study of the neighborhood. Fund staff built upon this information,
as well as two prior studies, and selected Cypress Hill’s Highland Park
neighborhood as a potential historic district. Highland Park is bordered
on three sides by a greenbelt of parks and cemeteries. One part of the
district consists of large free-standing 19th century homes with Spanishtile
roofs. Downhill from the mansions lies an area of two- and three-story
early 20th century row houses built in Eclectic revival styles with Mission
or Craftsman details, and capped by red tile roofs echoing the architecture
of the mansions above. The SHPO determined in May 2008 that Highland
Park was eligible for listing on both registers.
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