What it Means to Become a Landmark: The Good

Other landmark advocates see the increased care, attention and oversight of their building as a good thing. To them, it shows how much their building can withstand the test of time and attest to the longstanding history of the city.

“Landmarks are in some of the most dynamic and prosperous neighborhoods of all New York City, and they are in some of the most desirable and sought after in all of New York,” Berman of GVSHP said. “Landmark preservation helps them to obtain their distinctive character but does not prevent them from growing and becoming profitable.”

Stefan Harshman, Webster Hall’s production manager, remembers sneaking into the nightclub, landmarked in 2008, every other week in the early eighties when he was a teenager to see a show. Back in those days, he could enjoy the music and never have to pay a thing.

To him, Webster Hall is and always has been a real bricks and mortar cultural icon that shaped much of his identity as he was growing up.

“Being landmarked is just a formality,” Harshman said. “Webster Hall was landmarked two years ago. In my mind it was a landmark decades before that.”

But, there is more to being a landmark than the special place it holds in people’s hearts. Other benefits such as loans, grants, tax breaks and zoning mechanisms come with it.

“These special buildings and places not only represent the City’s architectural, historic and cultural heritage, they also help stabilize and improve property values, encourage civic pride, enhance the City’s tourist attractions and strengthen its economy,” de Bourbon of the LPC said.

For landmark owners who want to restore, renovate or repair their designated properties, the LPC offers a grant program, called the Historic Preservation Grant Program, which provides up to $15,000 to income-eligible owners.

Federal and state law also provide tax credits against income to the owners of eligible historic structures that are income-producing for certain substantial rehabilitation work or for properties located in low-income census tracts.

To Kirking, these kind of incentives are needed to maintain the buildings that are important to the city and its heritage.

“That’s the kind of miracle of the Landmarks Commission, that the cityscape is preserved,” Kirking said.

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