New York Landmarks Preservation Commission
Coordinates: 40°42′47″N 74°00′14″W / 40.71295°N 74.00377°W
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr. following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for the construction of the current Madison Square Garden. The Commission is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status, and regulating them once they're designated. It is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission consists of 11 commissioners, and is required by law to include a minimum of three architects, a historian, a city planner or landscape architect, a realtor and at least one resident of each of the five New York City boroughs.
According to the Landmarks Preservation Law, a building must be at least thirty years old before the Commission can declare it a landmark. City law also allows for the Commission's decision to be overturned if an appeal is filed within 90 days.
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 architectural characteristics of the properties. The commission preserves not only architecturally significant buildings, but the overall historical sense of place of neighborhoods that are designated as historic districts. The commission is responsible for overseeing a range of designated landmarks in all five boroughs ranging from the Fonthill Castle in the North Bronx, built in 1852 for the actor Edwin Forrest, to the 1670s Conference House in Staten Island, where Benjamin Franklin and John Adams attended a conference aimed at ending the Revolutionary War.
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