This article from the Real Deal questions whether our mayor and his Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair, Meenakshi Srinivasan, are really committed to historic preservation. When de Blasio was a public advocate he was a supporter. Now that he’s Mayor, preservation seems a low priority:
Bill de Blasio can be “very eloquent” on preservation issues. Or at least he was as public advocate. But since he took over City Hall, preservationists like New York Landmarks Conservancy President Peg Breen have noticed, “It’s clearly not one of his major topics[…] He’s more or less silent on it.”
What’s more, his administration has made some moves that generated dismay. Most notably, shortly after de Blasio appointed Meenakshi Srinivasan as the chair of the city Landmarks Preservation Commission, she proposed to “de-calendar” almost 100 sites and neighborhoods waiting for historic designation, including some that had languished for decades. “We wanted to address the issue of backlog,” Srinivasan told The Real Deal, a situation both sides said needed to be addressed.
After opposition from preservationists, the commissioner, a trained architect who previously served as chair of the city Board of Standards and Appeals, withdrew the plan and asked for input from the community on how to address the matter. “She got off on shaky footing,” said Peter Bray, a Park Slope Civic Council trustee.