TONY's Top Blocks are heavy on the history

So last week, Time Out New York came out with their Top 50 Blocks in New York City. It's one of those entertaining, argument-inducing puff pieces that TONY is known for. Here's their list:

Block Stars



Their choice of South Portland between Dekalb and Lafayette as the #1 block was somewhat of a surprise but it is a very nice block. Plus, with their criteria of transportation access, green space, and proximity to restaurants, etc factored in, it's definitely a top block.

As was expected, the list sparked some debate.

Here's are some initial posts from Curbed & Brownstoner:

TONY: So. Portland Best Block. Period. (Brownstoner)
HoodWatch: Vestry Named 43rd Best Block in NYC! (Curbed)

The comments came streaming in with some of the expected complaints. Here's more from Gothamist and Curbed again.

Now, as a young historic preservationist, I certainly support the idea of historic districts and think that they are nicer places to live because of the sense of place they have as well as the human-scale architecture (not to mention the aesthetics). So, I was curious how many of the Top 50 blocks are in NYC Landmark Historic Districts. Not surprisingly, many are fully within or partly within Historic Districts.

9 out of the top 10 are within Historic Districts. The one that isn't, #8: Coffey Street between Conover and Ferris Streets, Red Hook, Brooklyn, is in a part of the city that maybe should have more landmarking. Red Hook is woefully underrepresented (as are many other nabes).

From #11-20, 7 are within plus 1 block (#15: West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues, Hell’s Kitchen) that contains an individual landmark (432 W.44th St., The Actors Studio).

From #21-30, 4 are within plus 1 block (#21: Park Place between Carlton and Vanderbilt Avenues, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) that is within a National Register Historic District (why Prospect Heights is not landmarked by the LPC is beyond me).



From #31-40, 4 are within plus 1 block (#31: Clinton Avenue between Myrtle and Park Avenues, Wallabout, Brooklyn) that has been deemed "eligible" for listing on the National Register, and 1 block (#33 East 2nd Street between First and Second Avenues, East Village) that contains an individual landmark (52-74 E.2nd St., New York City Marble Cemetery).

From #41-50, 4 are within.

So, overall, 28 are within NYC Historic Districts, 2 within (or soon to be within) National Register Historic Districts, and 2 that contain individual landmarks.
Of the remaining 18 blocks, 11 are in the outer boroughs, which have been terribly underrepresented over the years of the LPC (44 in Manhattan, 16 in Brooklyn, 9 in the Bronx, 6 in Queens, and 3 in Staten Island). Another 2 are in Inwood, which is practically another borough and 2 (Beekman Place and E.57th near Sutton Place) are exclusive wealthy enclaves that don't tend to house activists for historic designation. If the LPC continues on their mission to designate more districts in the outer boroughs, we may have more districts represented on this list.

Of course, most of the blocks are historic, just not designated. This may be due to a lack of resources at the LPC, lack of community push, or too much infill or damage to the historic integrity.

Does this tell us anything? First off, it's just a TONY article. Not to belittle all the work that went into their study, but it wasn't exactly scientific and wasn't a large survey. However it still gives some sort of insight to what New Yorkers think about where they live. And a majority of the places we want to live, or at least places we'd find desirable, are within historic districts.

Proof that preservation has gotten, and is doing, something right.