Preservation Advocates Join Fight To Protect Prospect Heights

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A powerful advocacy group will join the fight to protect 82 historic apartment buildings in Prospect Heights from development, according to local landmark activists.

The Historic Districts Council — a New York City-based organization that fights to preserve the city’s architecture — chose the Prospect Heights Neighborhood District Council’s proposal as one of six landmark projects to support in 2018, the group announced this month.

The would-be historic district — dubbed the Prospect Heights Apartment House District — should be preserved because of the vital role it played in making Prospect Heights a cultural center in Brooklyn, advocates argue.

The 82 Beaux Arts and Tudor revival buildings — bordered by Eastern Parkway, Sterling Place, St. John’s Place, Washington Avenue and Plaza Street East — were built between 1909 and 1929, shortly after Brooklyn became a part of New York City.

Officials promoted the neighborhood’s development to draw middle-class families from Manhattan and into an area where libraries, museums and parks were springing up like wildflowers at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, said PHNDC chair Robert Witherwax.

“A vogue for high density residential living in Brooklyn coincided in this location with the opening of premiere cultural institutions,” Witherwax said, “enabling the creation of this new neighborhood.”

“We’re delighted that HDC has recognized the value of preserving this history.”

HDC chose the Prospect Park project partially because of the PHNDC's successful campaign to create Prospect Heights Historic District in 2009, manager Barbara Zay told the Brooklyn Paper.

“It was really a no-brainer,” Zay said. “I think they have a really good case.”

The groups hope to earn historic landmark status in order to protect the apartment buildings from a new wave of turn-of-the-century development, said Isabelle Broyer, president of CuRBA, another advocacy group hoping to preserve the area.

“Without the protection of historic designation, we are concerned that not only may the character of the neighborhood be lost, but also that large-scale remodeling or redevelopment may force tenants out,” Broyer said.

“We’re gratified that HDC has recognized the importance of this initiative by selecting it as one of the Six to Celebrate.”

HDC also opted to support preservation of Arthur Avenue and Westchester Square in The Bronx, Elmhurst in Queens, and the Lower West Side in Manhattan.

Those interested in supporting the Prospect Heights project can sign a PHNDC petition, make a donation or volunteer to work the group with its outreach campaign.

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps/Oct. 2016