Stuy Town residents push for landmarking

 
Residents of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village are making their first public push for the landmark designation since the 110-building complex was purchased by Tishman Speyer in 2006.

The campaign, which is being led by a core group of about 10 residents, will launch with a fundraising square dance on April 26.

Residents say the landmarking campaign dates back to well before Tishman Speyer’s record $5.4 billion purchase and is not directly related to it. But many long-time residents who have lived in the East Side complex fear that Tishman Speyer could make big changes and see landmarking as a form of protection.

Susan Steinberg, first vice president of the tenants association, said the neighborhood and its residents are changing quickly.

“After Tishman Speyer [bought the property], this is the first attempt to really get people conscious of landmarking, but it has not gotten very far,” she said.

The push to landmark the 11,200-apartment, 110 building-complex dates back more than seven years to when the Historic Districts Council, a preservation group, announced its support.

“I think Stuyvesant Town has a unique character and sense of place that makes it worthy of consideration for landmark status,” said City Councilman Daniel Garodnick, who represents the neighborhood.

About two years ago the tenants association received a letter from the state Historic Preservation Office saying that Stuyvesant Town was eligible for an honorary state landmark status.

Steinberg said she believed a binding designation from the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission would only make the complex more marketable.
A spokeswoman for Tishman Speyer said the company had no comment on the proposal.