WORD ON THE STREET: the park slope plane crash

welcome to a new series about what's happening on *your* block

Welcome to “Word on the Street”! A new series on City Speak where we interpret urban history, culture, and planning phenomena through photography. Each week, I’ll be using a photo that I’ve taken or that’s been submitted by a reader and talk about the urban planning concepts at play.

Have you ever seen something in your neighborhood and wondered what the hell is going on here? Take a photo of it and submit it for the next edition!

Before we get started, I want to thank my friend Liam for suggesting this idea (he has a guest post coming soon!) and my sister Mae for sending me the first submission:

So on one level, this photo is showing the wheels of city bureaucracy at work. Someone is proposing the construction of a 4-unit building on a landmarked site, and the landmark status has triggered a public review process which requires them send their application before the local community board.

The origins of “landmarking” properties in NYC dates back to 1965 with the passage of the New York City Landmarks Law, which was passed to protect the architectural heritage of the city. This was in response to a series of high profile demolitions of historic buildings, including Brokaw Mansion and the original Penn Station. So many of the buildings we love in contemporary New York, including entire brownstone neighborhoods, owe their continued existence to this law. However, as you can see in this photo, the bureaucratic consequences are clear.

Today, the landmark status of buildings is managed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), which requires “owners to obtain permits from the Landmarks Preservation Commission before doing work that affects the exterior and, in some cases, the interior of a designated landmark property” (website). The law was initially protested by real estate developers due to the fact that it slows down construction timelines by adding red tape, and doing renovations in a historic district still requires a permit (and historic windows). As the city’s need for housing grows more desperate, these rules feel somewhat arcane and counterproductive. But as someone who lives in a brownstone myself, I appreciate the preservation of architectural history in the built environment.

But now let’s get to the interesting part. Did you see why the site is landmarked!!?! I had no idea that there was a plane crash in Park Slope in 1960 and the pictures are INSANE.

In a tragic aviation accident eerily similar to the plane crash in DC last week, two planes collided over NYC and one crashed on Staten Island and the other in Park Slope. The plane debris left a trench running down Sterling Place and damaged buildings on either side. Little evidence remains of the crash, but I’ll never be able to walk past that intersection without picturing this massive plane wing in the middle of it.

I didn’t make it to the meeting to see if the permits went through… but I’ll keep you posted if they start construction here. I personally think they should only be allowed to build if it’s shaped like a giant wing.

Is there something in your neighborhood or town that interests or surprises you? Or that you just want to share? Send a photo of it to bennett.capozzi@gmail.com and I’ll include it in a future Word on the Street!

Bennett

City Speak # 41