Landmarks to vote on Park Slope Historic District expansion

Nearly 300 buildings would be protected

Park Slope Historic District
From left: St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church in Park Slope and the proposed Park Slope Historic District Extension II (credit: LPC)

In a move likely to annoy those in the real estate community who aren’t too fond of the city’s landmarking process, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will vote this month on adding nearly 300 buildings to the Park Slope Historic District in Brooklyn.

Landmarks will decide on whether to expand the neighborhood’s historic district for the second time since its establishment in 1973, with preservationists having long sought to broaden the district’s scope. The issue has been on the committee’s calendar since 2013.

The expansion, known formally as the Park Slope Historic District Extension II, would include Sixth Avenue between St. Marks Avenue and Sterling Place, as well as several other blocks in north Park Slope, according to DNAinfo. Many of the buildings in question date back to the Civil War.

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The extended district would include the former Church of Christ, Scientist – now the Berkeley Carroll School – at 156 Sterling Place and St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church at 116 Sixth Avenue, with the latter among the individual buildings that were on Landmarks’ notorious backlog until recently.

The committee last expanded the Park Slope Historic District in 2012 – a measure that was supported by the Real Estate Board of New York. But REBNY has taken a tougher stance on landmarking more recently, arguing that it is often used to “impede development” and negatively impacts the number of rent-stabilized apartments in the city.

The 2012 extension include the likes of the historic Pavilion Theater on Prospect Park West, which meant owner and developer Hidrock Realty had to consult with locals, preservationists and Landmarks itself about its plan to convert the theater into condos. [DNAinfo]Rey Mashayekhi