On Friday, November 15, the League gathered with friends and supporters in NYC to celebrate our 2024 Excellence in Historic Preservation Awardees. The 2024 Award winners represent how historic preservation addresses critical issues, including providing affordable housing, boosting economic development, and uplifting underrepresented histories. Each Award winner has had a tremendous impact on their local community, but their work is relevant far beyond that.
Read MoreOn Wednesday, March 27, alongside our colleagues at Historic Albany Foundation (who are also celebrating their 50th Anniversary!) the League received a proclamation from Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan. In addition to the Mayor, we were honored that both Congressman Paul D. Tonko and NYS Assemblymember John T. McDonald were on hand to show their support. Relationships with elected officials like Rep. Tonko and AM McDonald are essential to our statewide work and we are grateful for their continued support of historic preservation in NYS.
Read MoreOn Thursday, March 14, we hosted a festive evening in New York’s iconic Rainbow Room for our 50th anniversary Pillar of New York Awards. In addition to our wonderful honorees and their guests, the room was filled with League Trustees and members of the Trustees Council, historic preservation students and recent grads, and great friends and supporters of preservation.
Read MoreEarlier this week, we celebrated our 2023 Excellence in Historic Preservation Awardees with our first in-person Awards ceremony since 2019. It was a sold out crowd, with winners coming from all over the state and other supporters joining us to honor their great work. As League President Jay DiLorenzo said during his opening remarks, winners of the Excellence Award always inspire us — and I think everyone left Monday night’s event feeling that same inspiration.
Read MoreThank you to everyone who helped make the 2022 Pillar Awards one of our most inspirational yet. On Tuesday night we were joined by over 200 friends, supporters, activists and donors, both in person and virtually, to celebrate our 2022 Pillars of New York, Nancy & Otis Pearsall, A’Lelia Bundles, and Elizabeth & Ethan Finkelstein. The admiration and support was truly palpable.
Read MoreThe stories of preservation are big and small. Tiny projects and epic journeys. And always about the people who save the places we love. The 2022 Pillar Awards will highlight the stories of five extraordinary preservationists.
Read MoreWe brought together three Adirondack-based preservationists to explore how the preservation movement has helped shape the region and how it continues to evolve.
Read MoreFor Pride Month, we hosted a panel to talk about the importance of preserving LGBTQ+ history.
Read MoreDuring the final days of Preservation Month this May, we took the opportunity to highlight the positive impact of the NYS and Federal Historic Tax Credit programs here in New York. While significant challenges resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic this year, we continue to support the role preservation can play in recovery efforts. A notable victory came during this year’s NYS legislative session: a 10% increase to the state historic tax credit for small projects under $2.5 million (for a total credit of 30%). To celebrate, we presented a special three-part webinar series. If you missed it live, we’ve got you covered.
Read MoreWe invited several professionals whose work exists at the intersection of preservation and affordable housing to hear their perspectives on how this work is being done successfully — and what challenges still exist. Our panelists share examples of how preservation and affordable housing efforts can work together, from community land trusts to land banks, along with specific project examples.
Read MoreIn this webinar, the League welcomed Nakita Reed, Associate at Quinn Evans, Evan Mason, Principal of Sustainable Homes+Yards, Melissa Auf der Maur, Director and Co-founder of Basilica Hudson and River House Project, and Angel Ayón, Principal of AYON Studio Architecture and Preservation, to have a conversation around the intersection of preservation and sustainability, from specific policy issues and project examples to how the field needs to move forward.
Read MoreA recap of the 2021 Pillar Awards, bringing preservationists together from across the state and beyond to celebrate Hermes Mallea, MCR/Morse Development, and PBDW Architects. Thanks to the generosity of supporters like you, the League raised over $330,000 so far to support our statewide work.
Read MoreOur relationship with the built environment has changed considerably over the past year. COVID-19 has disrupted our lives in myriad ways, including how and where we spend our time. We have spent so much time in our own homes, so little time in indoor public spaces, and more time — if we were lucky — taking refuge outdoors. Over a year into the pandemic, things are starting to open back up, and we are starting to think about how our public places can better serve us in a post-COVID world. When the team from Walter Sedovic Architects | Modern Ruins reached out about putting a webinar together to do a deep dive into this topic, we jumped at the chance to host them.
Read MoreOver the course of two days, trainers Ramona Bartos, Friedericke Mittner, and Abbey Christman took us on a jam-packed seven hours of training on legal fundamentals, design review guidelines, alternative materials, procedures and commissioner roles, infill design, and mid-century resources.
Read MoreWhile we’ve been reading Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration as our February Preservation Book Club pick, we wanted to dive into the topic of the Great Migration and its effect on New York. On Tuesday, February 23, we welcomed historians Dr. Carla DuBose-Simons and Dr. Jennifer Lemak and members of the Rapp Road Historical Association Beverly Bardequez and Stephanie Woodard to share their expertise.
Read MoreAs one of the League’s first events of 2021, our Excelsior Society was honored to welcome A’Lelia Bundles and Julie Seely to speak about their work in sharing the stories of their families and preserving their historic family homes.
Read MoreOn Thursday, February 11, we welcomed Diana S. Waite to share some highlights about her book The Architecture of Downtown Troy: An Illustrated History.
Read MoreIn perhaps the first virtual northeastern regional preservation event, New Hampshire reached out to fellow northeast statewide organizations and the National Barn Alliance to partner. The National Barn Alliance, Maine Preservation, Preservation Connecticut, Preservation League of New York State, Preservation Massachusetts, Preservation Pennsylvania, Preserve Rhode Island and Preservation Trust of Vermont all joined the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance and over 240 participants for an afternoon of barn discussion and fiddling!
Read MoreIf you couldn’t join us for the live announcement of this year’s Excellence in Historic Preservation Awards, you can watch a recording of the ceremony to learn more about this year’s incredible award winners.
Read MoreLearn more about the work being by the Elmhurst History and Cemeteries Preservation Society to advocate for the protection of the Elmhurst African American Burial Ground.
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