In a dramatic public hearing on December 12th, #70 Lefferts Place, the beautiful old yellow house next to the big empty lot between Grand and Classon, was saved from demolition by the NYC Landmarks Commission's unanimous vote to designate it an individual landmark.

#70, also known as the James W. and Lucy S. Elwell House, is a Civil-War-era Italianate villa-style mansion once a headquarters of the famous and controversial religious leader Father Divine. In 2001 the house had been empty for some years and fallen into disrepair, when it was bought and restored by Earl and Elizabeth Maitland. Seemingly overnight, this grand but blighted hulk, damaged by fire and neglect and occupied only by an intimidating rotweiler, became one of the gems of the neighborhood, admired and commented on by everyone who saw it. When the house was sold last year, tenants and neighbors were told the new owner, Christopher Morris, planned to convert it into a bed-and-breakfast. But in fact, as he told neighbors over the summer, his intention was to tear down the house and put up a 7-story, 25 unit luxury condo development, the largest building NYC zoning would allow.

Many residents expressed unhappiness about this, since #70 is one of the most beautiful and historic houses on the street, and the proposed condo development would likely have caused parking congestion and blocked sunlight, as well as created more than a year of noise and dust during construction. With the support of Council Member Tish James and the New York Historic Districts Council, the LPCA started a letter-writing and petition campaign to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission in hope that they would put the house on their calendar for consideration, putting a hold on the demolition expected to begin any day. The Society for Clinton Hill soon lent their support as well, gathering over 100 signatures at one meeting, and getting the assistance of Andrew S. Dolkart, the top expert on architectural preservation in New York.

Covered by the NY Times, the Brooklyn Papers, the Park Slope Courier, the New York Observer and Brownstoner.com, the effort to save #70 Lefferts gained momentum, with a deluge of letters and petitions to the Landmarks Commission. In September, LPCA representatives made a presentation to Community Board 2 which resulted in their Land Use and Preservation Committee voting unanimously to support landmarking the house. Still, the clock was ticking--at any point, the developer could have filed for a demolition permit, which would have ended any possibility of saving #70.

Then, on October 31st, the Landmarks Commission voted to calendar the house, meaning that any permit the owner filed would have to wait 40 days to go into effect. A public hearing date was set for December 12th. Less than a week before the hearing, the developer filed with the Buildings Department for permits to begin demolition. He had already cut the sewer, water and power lines to the house.

On December 12th, LPCA members and other community residents, along with representatives from the New York Historic Districts Council, Society for Clinton Hill, the offices of Council Members Leticia James and Al Vann, and Father Divine's International World Peace Mission crowded the meeting room at the Landmarks Commission. Supporters delivered a string of testimonies in favor of landmarking and preserving the house, including architectural historian Andrew Dolkart, community activist Patti Hagan, and Angel Lee of the International World Peace Mission who drove up from Philadelphia with four of her sisters to talk about her experience living at #70 and working in Father Divine's relief kitchen there during the Depression. Owner Christopher Morris spoke, saying he'd been unaware of the history of the house he'd bought, and was surprised by the opposition to his development, but was willing to work with the community on alternatives to demolition. This was applauded by the room, and clearly impressed the Commission. Once all the testimonies were finished, LPC chairman Robert Tierney told the commissioners he saw no reason not to close the public portion of the hearing, proceed with discussion of the case, and vote on the spot. The LPC does this extremely rarely--Simeon Bankoff of the Historic Districts Council, who has attended many LPC hearings, said he'd seen it happen only once before. The commissioners each spoke, saying #70 Lefferts clearly rose to the standard of architectural, cultural and historic importance required for landmark status. Then they voted unanimously to designate the house and the lot on which it stands as an individual NYC landmark. Chairman Tierney also declared the LPC's interest in working with Mr. Morris to find uses for his property that would be both profitable to him and beneficial to the long-term health of the house. The applause was long, loud and enthusiastic.

Since real estate prices have skyrocketed, developers have been snatching up properties throughout Brooklyn and the rest of NYC, often demolishing fine old houses to quickly build large blocks of condos which they can then sell at top prices to buyers anxious to get in on the "Brooklyn Boom." These buildings are put up with speed and low construction cost as the first priorities, often sacrificing workmanship--and even structural safety in some cases--to cut costs and construction time. The condo units in these buildings usually sell for high prices, and drive out low- and middle-income renters. Developers whose involvement with the neighborhood ends when they sell all their condo units have little or no incentive to take the community into account, except as far as it's a selling point for their apartments. They don't stay around to see the parking congestion, blockage of light, displacement of long-time residents, and general transformation of the neighborhoods in which they build, which are often stable, close-knit communities.

The landmarking of #70 Lefferts, though it's only a single house, shows that ordinary New Yorkers are ready and willing to take a stand against this strip-mining of stable, attractive neighborhoods, and the destruction of historic and unique architecture. The Society for Clinton Hill, along with other architectural preservation groups, has been working for over a year with Andrew Dolkart to research and design a plan to expand the existing Clinton Hill Historic District. This plan, which would include Lefferts Place from St. James to Classon, is expected to be completed and submitted to the Landmarks Commission in 2007. The LPC's decision to landmark #70, which was made with an awareness of the SCH's plan, is important to this effort, since the more historic houses and buildings get demolished, the weaker the case gets for landmark status. More information on the Clinton Hill Historic District expansion plan will be posted here as we get it.