City Landmarks Commission to Hold Public Hearing on Morningside Heights Historic District

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, NY — Residents of Morningside Heights fighting to preserve their neighborhood's character will get to present their case to the city next week.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Dec. 6, to discuss the creation of a historic district in Morningside Heights that will include swaths of the neighborhoods between West 199th and West 109th streets.

The district would cover 115-buildings in Morningside Heights that "reflects the residential development of Morningside Heights, primarily comprising residential buildings, with some institutional buildings, largely constructed between the 1890s and the 1920s," according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

The district would begin on West 119th Street and cover most buildings east of Broadway until West 109th Street. Some buildings on West 113th, West 112th, West 111th and Cathedral Parkway between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue would also be included in the historic district.

The proposed district notably omits The Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine —perhaps the most famous building in Morningside Heights. But the LPC will also discuss individually landmarking seven buildings on the cathedral's complex on Tuesday.

Here's how the LPC has sketched out the historic district.

The LPC voted in September to hold the public hearing.

Residents of Morningside Heights have been trying to protect their neighborhood's character for decades. Twenty years ago the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee was founded with a mission to protect the neighborhood's "rich history which is embodied in its buildings, green spaces and streetscapes," reads the group's website.

The committee created an online petition calling on the Landmarks Preservation Commission to establish a historic district in the neighborhood. As of this writing the petition has 457 supporters, with a goal of 500.

Photo: Flickr user llahbocaj via creative commons.