NYC’s Top Six Neighborhoods for Historic Preservation (Part III)

The Epoch Times is featuring the six neighborhoods and their unique characteristics in a three-part series; this is the third part. Please CLICK HERE for part one, and HERE for part two.

NEW YORK—Early 20th century beachside bungalows line the boardwalk in Far Rockaway, Queens; elegant row houses stretch between Riverside and Morningside Parks in Manhattan; and New York City’s Historic Districts Council (HDC) hopes to keep it that way.

HDC, an organization that advocates for preservation in the city, asked New Yorkers to nominate neighborhoods they feel should be top priorities for preservation. HDC picked its 2012 Six to Celebrate from among the nominations, its second annual list of six neighborhoods that merit special attention from the Landmarks and Preservation Commission.

HDC launched its Six to Celebrate campaign on Jan. 18. In the first two parts of this three-part series on HDC’s picks, The Epoch Times featured Van Cortlandt Village and the Port Morris Gantries in the Bronx, and Victorian Flatbush and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn. Now, part three highlights the beachside bungalows in Far Rockaway, Queens and Morningside Heights, Manhattan.

Far Rockaway Beachside Bungalows

Thousands of bungalows in Far Rockaway were once oceanside holiday homes for New York City’s middle class. Ivan Segarra, whose father bought his house off the boardwalk in Far Rockaway 30 years ago, has seen many of those bungalows torn down to make space for new high-density housing.

“It’s a good idea [to preserve the bungalows] because it helps you remember the history of the Rockaway, the architecture—houses are not built like this anymore,” said Segarra as he described the neighborhood around Beach 24th, 25th, and 26th streets.

Once a Jewish neighborhood, the area is now predominantly African-American. Rust and old paint are common sights. Many spaces remain vacant after the city bulldozed neglected bungalows to attract developments that never materialized, explained HDC Executive Director Simeon Bankoff.

The Beachside Bungalows Preservation Association and HDC hope to gain National Register of Historic Places status for the approximately 100 bungalows left along the three streets. This would mean incentives and tax credits for preserving the homes, without any of the restrictions of landmark status.

“All of the benefits, none of the restrictions,” says Bankoff.

A recent documentary titled “Bungalows of Rockaway” has brought renewed interest to the area and Bankoff is hoping to ride that wave into a new era for Far Rockaway as a vacation destination. It could also mean renewed interest in the bungalows as year-round habitations. Recent rezoning opened the door for new bungalows to be built.

Morningside Heights

Columbia University and the cathedral of St. John the Divine could expand into the row houses of Morningside Heights, Manhattan, which date back to the early 20th century.

“While they are excellent institutions and very important to New York City,” said Bankoff, “they also have development plans, or might have development plans, and those plans risk the character of the neighborhood.”

HDC is working toward city designation of the houses as a historic district.