Preservation League of New York State

Join us on 11.19 for Stand in My Window: Author Talk with LaTonya Yvette! Stand in My Window: Meditations on Home and How We Make It is comprised of 11 meditative essays accompanied by 25 beautiful photographs. Through this book, LaTonya Yvette illustrates how the act of homemaking can be revolutionary, liberating—and one of the most powerful expressions we have of self- and community care. “Home is a reflection of what we inherit.” Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5017296978439/WN_gaBdGe_TRhSmfDIxpB4Lzw

Woven throughout the book is the story of the nearly 200-year-old house in upstate New York that Yvette bought and painstakingly renovated, with the aim of creating a safe space for BIPOC communities. The house—Yvette’s ultimate expression of home—provides her greatest lessons. Both visual feast and emotional salve, Stand in My Window demonstrates that home truly is what you make of it—in mind, body, soul, and in the thoughtfully curated spaces we can build for ourselves anywhere.

About the Author: LaTonya Yvette is a multimedia storyteller who writes the newsletter “With Love, L.” Yvette’s first book, Woman of Color, was included in an installation of Jay-Z’s personal bookshelf for Brooklyn Public Library’s Book of HOV exhibit. She also co-authored the illustrated children’s book The Hair Book with Amanda Jane Jones. Yvette is the owner and steward of , an upstate New York rental property and the home of Rest as Residency, which offers BIPOC families a no-cost place for rest and focus.

You have an extra week to submit your Seven to Save nominations! The submission deadline has been extended to Friday, November 8.

Seven to Save — Preservation League of NYS A biennial list of at-risk historic places in NYS

We were thrilled to see this profile of one of our 2024 Excellence Award winners, Elise Johnson-Schmidt of Johnson-Schmidt and Associates Architects. The Reynold's Way project in Elmira transformed four vacant buildings into 41 units of affordable housing. We'll be celebrating Elise and the Reynold's Way team, along with the rest of our Awards winners at the 2024 Excellence Awards Reception on November 15 - join us!

Elise Johnson-Schmidt Leads Award-Winning Reynold’s Way Project, Secures Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Johnson-Schmidt, the winner of the NYS Senate Woman of Distinction Award in 2007, has over 40 years of experience in breathing new life into vacant or underutilized historic buildings.

Get your proposals in for the 2025 New York Statewide Preservation Conference! https://forms.gle/LHdTkVogidg4SVvB6

We may have just wrapped up our 2024 Annual Conference, but we're already thinking ahead to 2025! We are delighted to announce that in 2025 we will be partnering with the The Landmark Society of Western New York, Inc., the City of Poughkeepsie, Preservation League of New York State, and NY State Parks & Historic Sites to present the 2025 New York Statewide Preservation Conference! The Conference will be held in Poughkeepsie from May 6-8.

The Call for Proposals is now OPEN! We accept and encourage proposals on all topics related to historic preservation; best practices or innovation in museum, library, or archival work; museum interpretation; collection care; and conservation. Presenter Proposal Deadline is 11:59 PM on Friday, November 15, 2024!
To learn more, or to answer the call for proposals, visit:
https://forms.gle/LHdTkVogidg4SVvB6

We are now accepting Letters of Intent for the 2025 Preservation Opportunity Fund grant cycle! Annual grants made from this fund will support discrete capital projects on historic buildings, sites, structures, and objects. These grant funds aim to help those organizations that already have a clear idea of what their historic building needs — but may not yet have the funding in place to make it happen. LOIs are due Monday, November 4.

Preservation Opportunity Fund — Preservation League of NYS Nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations with an ownership interest in, or a long-term lease of, a historic property requiring preservation, restoration, or rehabilitation, are invited to apply.

Tomorrow! Join , disability advocacy groups, neighborhood organizations, and doctors, staff, patients, and alumni of the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEEI) on Tuesday, October 15 at 11:00 am for a rally and press conference calling for the city to landmark the hospital’s historic main building. We’ll gather in front of NYEEI at Second Avenue and 13th Street to demand the city finally honor and recognize disabled history with this landmark designation, and help us to ensure the hospital’s preservation and future.

All are welcome to attend — PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

NYEEI is the oldest specialized hospital in the Western Hemisphere and the second oldest hospital in NYC. For more than two centuries, it has offered groundbreaking services for people with visual and hearing impairments, and has offered unique opportunities to Black doctors when few existed. With its acquisition by Mount Sinai Health Systems, its future has been in doubt. The City of New York is yet to landmark a site that honors and recognizes disability history.

Today is the last day to submit a pre-application for this year's New York State Council on the Arts-funded Technical Assistance Grants!

Technical Assistance Grants — Preservation League of NYS The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Preservation League are pleased to offer Technical Assistance Grants, with additional support from the Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area / Hudson River Valley Greenway and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

Thanks to the Zabar Family Scholarship Fund, the Preservation League is pleased to offer academic scholarships to support the next generation of preservation leaders. Three $2,500 scholarships will be awarded during the 2025 spring semester to students currently studying preservation or a related field. The application deadline is February 14, 2025.

Zabar Scholarship Fund — Preservation League of NYS Thanks to the Zabar Family Scholarship Fund, the Preservation League of New York State is pleased to offer academic scholarships to the best and brightest preservation students in New York.

What are you doing next Thursday? If you're in the North Country, we hope you'll join us at Historic Saranac Lake for our Technical Assistance Grant and Historic Tax Credit workshops! cc: New York State Council on the Arts

Join Janna Rudler from the Preservation League of New York State for workshops on the League's Technical Assistance Grant Programs and State and Federal Historic Tax Credits. Both workshops will be held on Thursday, September 26, at Historic Saranac Lake's Saranac Laboratory Museum and are FREE to attend (pre-registration required).

Register for TAG Workshop: https://www.preservenys.org/technical-assistance-grants

Register for Tax Credit Workshop: https://www.preservenys.org/tax-credits

The call for nominations for our 2025-2026 Seven to Save list is now live! If you know a place that is at risk of being lost and could benefit from receiving this statewide attention, submit a nomination by November 1.

Seven to Save — Preservation League of NYS A biennial list of at-risk historic places in NYS

Our colleagues at Village Preservation have released a first-of-its-kind study analyzing all 38,000 properties landmarked in New York City since the establishment of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. The report found that: Mayor Adams is much more resistant to designations than his predecessors; Fewer landmarks have been named since law favored by real estate industry passed; And every part of NYC is seeing designations drop dramatically, with threatened historic buildings ignored.

Village Preservation Releases First-Of-Its-Kind Report Analyzing NYC Landmark Designations 1965 to Present, Finds Dramatic Drop in Recent Years — Preservation League of NYS Study Finds Mayor Adams Much More Resistant to Designations than His Predecessors in Office; Fewer Landmarks Named Since Law Favored by Real Estate Industry Passed; Every Part of City Seeing Designations Drop Dramatically and Threatened Historic Buildings Ignored

We are very excited to announce the 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Winners! Now in its 40th year, the League's annual Excellence Awards program allows us to shine a light on the people who are using historic preservation to make all our lives better — through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction. Congratulations to this year's winners: Reynold's Way, Elmira (Johnson-Schmidt and Associates Architects Arbor Housing and Development); Little Caribbean caribBEING, Brooklyn; Town of Avon Opera Hall Rehabilitation; Canal Commons, Rochester (MM Development Advisors, Inc.); Still Standing: The Barns of J.T. Wells and Sons (WXXI); Roosevelt Island Lighthouse Restoration; Moyer Carriage Lofts, Syracuse (Carmina Wood Design); RUPCO's Newburgh East End II; Most Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church, Astoria; Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation's Revive 65 Phila campaign

Announcing the 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Award Winners — Preservation League of NYS Now in its 40th year, the League's annual Excellence Awards program allows us to shine a light on the people who are using historic preservation to make all our lives better —through exemplary restoration projects, indispensable publications, individual action, and organizational distinction. Thi

"Historic Albany Foundation has placed the houses on prior lists of the city’s most endangered historic properties. The nonprofit said it decided to request the historic district because the homes “were selected as the top priority from our constituents when we sought public input for our 2024 Endangered List.”" Last night, the Albany Historic Resources Commission unanimously approved the recommended designation.

Churchill: A sliver of hope for Albany's historic Tudors The city's Historic Resources Commission is set to weigh granting protection to the empty Holland Avenue homes.

Advocacy alert from our colleagues Historic Albany Foundation: show your support for the iconic Holland Avenue Tudors!

Thanks to our colleagues at Historic Albany Foundation for sharing this history lesson on our HQ building in Albany!

It’s not too late to register for the League’s Excelsior Society tour of Long Island’s Historic East End, taking place Oct 4-6! Visit historic sites and museums; private homes and artist’s studios; learn about the East End’s African American history; stay in comfort at the Southampton Inn; rekindle friendships; meet new people; and learn about preservation’s role in the history of this distinctive region of our State.

Long Island Tour 2024 — Preservation League of NYS There is no better way to understand the kinds of places the Preservation League fights to protect than by joining the Excelsior Society as we explore the different corners of New York State. We advocate for the preservation of treasured historic buildings, landscapes, downtowns, and neighborhoods t...

The 2024 Technical Assistance Grant cycle is open — and we'll be popping up across the state to answer all of your TAG-related questions. And if you can't join us in person in Corning Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes, Amenia Wethersfield Estate & Garden, Southampton History Museum, Historic Saranac Lake, or Newburgh, we've also got a webinar for good measure!

Technical Assistance Grants — Preservation League of NYS The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Preservation League are pleased to offer Technical Assistance Grants, with additional support from the Maurice D. Hinchey Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area / Hudson River Valley Greenway and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

You can now watch a recording of the forum our colleagues at The Municipal Art Society of New York cohosted with Regional Plan Association about expanding capacity and improving Penn Station.

Expanding Capacity and Improving Penn Station Regional Plan Association (RPA) and the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) invite you to join us to hear from representatives at Amtrak, NJ Transit, and the MTA about possibilities for expanding capacity at New York Penn Station.

On behalf of our colleagues at The New York Landmarks Conservancy, we encourage you to sign this petition demanding an independent review of plans for Penn Station.

Petition - Plans for Penn Station Deserve Independent Review | New York Landmarks Conservancy Thanks to the many of you who responded to our Penn Station alert yesterday and asked how to help. Please sign our petition which we will then send to a number of officials asking them to support an…

This guest blog post from our colleagues at Friends of Historic Kingston shines a light on an exciting rehabilitation project they are overseeing on the Frog Alley ruin, just outside Kingston’s Stockade Historic District. Using traditional masonry techniques, tradesmen Derrick McNab, Tim McDonough, and Manuel Roque are stabilizing the iconic structure.

"We know every rock in this building." - Checking in with the masons restoring the historic Louw-Bogardus Ruin in Kingston — Preservation League of NYS This guest blog post from our colleagues at Friends of Historic Kingston shines a light on an exciting rehabilitation project they are overseeing on the Frog Alley ruin, just outside Kingston’s Stockade Historic District. Using traditional masonry techniques, tradesmen Derrick McNab, Tim McDonough...

The Alvar Aalto-designed Kaufmann Conference Center was included on the League's Seven to Save list back in 2000. Although the rooms will not be preserved on site, we are heartened that the architecture is being carefully disassembled so that it can take on a new life in exhibitions accessible to the public.

Alvar Aalto’s Kaufmann Conference Center will be preserved in pieces and recreated for future exhibition New York–based Office of Tangible Space was tapped to lead the dismantlement of Aalto's Kaufmann Conference Center. Upon completion, “nationwide exhibitions” will give the public access to this incredible space.

Along with our program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts, we are thrilled to announce the 2024 Preserve New York grant recipients! This year, an independent panel selected 21 applicants in 17 counties to receive support totaling $264,388.

“Projects funded through Preserve New York often mark the beginning of bigger preservation efforts, and the League takes tremendous pride in helping to jumpstart this important work,” said Jay DiLorenzo, President of the Preservation League of NYS. “We can’t wait to see how this year’s grantees tackle these projects and look forward to continuing to be a resource into the future. We are grateful for the continued partnership of the New York State Council on the Arts, as well as the additional support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, which makes these grants possible.”

Preserve New York Grants - 2024 — Preservation League of NYS The Preservation League of NYS and their program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) are thrilled to announce the 2024 Preserve New York grant recipients. At its 2024 meeting, an independent panel selected 21 applicants in 17 counties to receive support totaling $264,388 . “

Exciting work happening in Ithaca - featuring our friends at Historic Ithaca!

Ithaca, New York, set ‘totally crazy’ climate goals. Here’s what happened next. Ithaca, New York, launched a Green New Deal five years ago. The city’s journey shows the promise and pitfalls of municipal action on climate change.

“'It is fundamental that we correct our own story,' said Lavada Nahon. 'And that is why institutions all over the state are actively working to make that shift.'” Redefining The Family: The Livingstons and the Institution of Slavery in Early America, is on view until June 22, 2025, at Clermont State Historic Site.

What makes a family? After years of research and advocacy, a Black descendant of the New York Livingstons is finally acknowledged in a new exhibit at Clermont State Historic Site.