We’ve got an op-ed piece in Slant, the blog of City and State Magazine, reflecting on the significance of the Landmark Preservation Commission’s decision on massive Gansevoort development project.   In our biased opinion, it’s worth a read!

Just recently, the commission ruled that massive new buildings – one of them nearly six times as high as the market building it would replace – could be constructed on Gansevoort Street due to the fact that tenements existed on this block more than 75 years ago. That this argument, advanced by the developers, actually won out with the current commission is shocking. One could equally argue that, because this block was once the site of the Indian village of Sapokanikan, it should be rebuilt with one-story wooden longhouses, which stood here in the 17th century.

The commission’s verdict is a complete reversal from the decision made by the same agency under a different administration. After all, there was a reason why the area was designated as the Gansevoort Market Historic District and not the Gansevoort Tenement Historic District. Today’s commission has disregarded what its predecessors deemed as the most historically valuable aspect of this area – its market-style buildings – and all for the sake of development.

Without question, our community is distraught at the thought of losing what drew us all to this part of the city to begin with. But as New Yorkers who care about preserving the past, we are even more disturbed by the precedents set by the commission’s actions.

Read the entire piece here.