Crown Heights: Can architectural landmark designation erase memory of recent history?
The bass player’s widow looked down Dean Street and remembered her neighbors by the work they did: a teacher, a letter carrier, a doctor, another jazz man. A subway conductor, a church lady. Across the street, there is a mansion, once a doctor’s home...
The name of the neighborhood came along only in the 20th century, after several lesser labels — St. Marks, Brower Park, Grant Square — for the inner Brooklyn sweep of farmland, mansions, brownstones and carriage houses had faded. The new name invoked a promise of grandeur that the neighborhood’s architects strived to deliver with bell towers and movie palaces, terra-cotta and bronze.
Crown Heights. The images that clung to that name changed horribly in August 1991, when a Hasidic motorist fatally struck a black boy on the sidewalk. The accident led to days of violence and chaos in which a Hasidic student was killed. The neighborhood with the grand name joined a grim fraternity of American areas, like Watts and, eight months later, South Central Los Angeles, that would be known for a riot.
But in a meeting this morning, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to designate a long swath of 472 buildings as landmarks. The designation, in effect, freezes the look of the area. Any significant changes to the facades of those buildings must meet commission approval.
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The name of the neighborhood came along only in the 20th century, after several lesser labels — St. Marks, Brower Park, Grant Square — for the inner Brooklyn sweep of farmland, mansions, brownstones and carriage houses had faded. The new name invoked a promise of grandeur that the neighborhood’s architects strived to deliver with bell towers and movie palaces, terra-cotta and bronze.
Crown Heights. The images that clung to that name changed horribly in August 1991, when a Hasidic motorist fatally struck a black boy on the sidewalk. The accident led to days of violence and chaos in which a Hasidic student was killed. The neighborhood with the grand name joined a grim fraternity of American areas, like Watts and, eight months later, South Central Los Angeles, that would be known for a riot.
But in a meeting this morning, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to designate a long swath of 472 buildings as landmarks. The designation, in effect, freezes the look of the area. Any significant changes to the facades of those buildings must meet commission approval.