USA: Bialystoker Home (NYC) Landmarks Hearing Scheduled

 New York, NY Bialystoker Home.  Photo: Samuel D. Gruber (2005)

USA: Bialystoker Home (NYC) Landmarks Hearing Scheduled
 
In December I wrote about New York's Art Deco Bialystoker Home (1931) at 228 East Broadway and the community wide effort to designate the building a New York City landmark, a status that would prevent its demolition and provide guidelines on its future development - keeping its size and exterior detailing intact.  

Now the New York City Landmarks Preservation Board has scheduled a public hearing on the building for next Tuesday, February 12, regarding designation of the Bialystoker Home.

If you live in New York, I urge you to write to the Commission - and preferably attend the hearing on the 12th - to show your support for this designation.  You can read my earlier blog post for information, or get much more material form the Friends of the Lower East Website. If you live elsewhere - you can still write about this building to show there is widespread interest in its survival. It is very easy to send a 150 word message to the Commission electronically.  You can do it in a few minutes right here.

Although no time has yet been set, Bialystoker is on the agenda as Item #1, usually 9:15 a.m.  (the listing appears on Friday, Feb.8, so you can check the website of the Friends of the Lower East Side for updates and details).

The long-awaited Public Hearing is a major step forward. Then there is a wait - sometimes very long.  If designated by the Commission, the action still needs the approval of a City Council committee and then the full Council vote. Activists feel confident that Council Member Margaret Chin, in whose district the building is located, will continue to support the effort.