Our 2022-2023 Annual Report: A Letter from our Board Chair & President
Click the image to access the full report.
Covering July 2022-June 2023, our recently released annual report features highlights of our work over the past year, our donor list, and financial statements.
Providing an opening for the report is a letter from League Board Chair Frank Sanchis and League President Jay DiLorenzo:
Over the past year, the League team has been working on a new five-year plan to guide our work in a more thoughtful and strategic way. This plan comes at an important time in the League’s history: 2024 marks the League’s 50th Anniversary. Since our founding in 1974, our goal has been to preserve our historic buildings, districts, and landscapes to build a better New York, one community at a time. The time felt right to reassess our statewide work – how we achieve that goal – in a changing and dynamic world.
During the past three years, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced us to find new ways to work effectively. We have developed a greater reliance on virtual programming, which has expanded our field of stakeholders and introduced us to new audiences and new technologies. As a movement, preservation is committed more than ever before to telling everyone’s story, not just those in a position to control what is deemed historic and worthy of saving. Additionally, the impacts of climate change have made it clear that our buildings and our communities cannot be considered disposable commodities, whose demolition pollutes our world, but instead, as neighborhood assets that can be saved and thoughtfully and sustainably repurposed for the future.
Reflecting on these and other challenges, the League sees an opportunity for historic preservation to play a larger role in helping New Yorkers to address their most pressing needs. Within our plan we have identified five key goals:
Protect our heritage from loss.
Make the preservation and reuse of our heritage essential to addressing climate change.
Facilitate reinvestment in historic buildings, neighborhoods, downtowns, and landscapes.
Advance equity, diversity, and inclusion in all our work.
Build the capacity and effectiveness of New York preservationists.
As a statewide organization, we have a responsibility to help push the field forward, being proactive in positioning preservation as integral to our future. Our role as a statewide leader also includes bolstering the work being done locally. New York is a big state, and we cannot be everywhere – but we can provide resources to those who know their communities best.
As we prepare to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, we are more committed than ever to making sure historic preservation is for everyone. Preservation looks different depending on where you are and what is most important to the people involved. Tried and true tools like Historic Tax Credits and landmark designation can coexist alongside oral histories and public art installations. Not all preservationists identify themselves as such, but the League is dedicated to making space for all New Yorkers who are using preservation techniques to enrich their communities, protect their heritage, and build a sustainable future.
We believe wholeheartedly in the value of this work. Will you join us?