James Baldwin's Former UWS May Become Landmark

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side home where author and civil rights icon James Baldwin lived for two decades until his death may become a city landmark.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission voted Tuesday to calendar the James Baldwin Residence on West 71st Street between Columbus Avenue and Broadway for an individual landmarks designation. The property was once of six New York City sites tied to LGBT history that was placed on the calendar for designation on Tuesday.

Baldwin lived in the West 71st Street home from 1965 until his death in 1987, according to city landmarks officials. The row house was built in 1890 and was altered by H. Russell Kenyon in 1961 into a Modern-style apartment house.

During his life, Baldiwn did not self-identify as gay but often featured LGBT characters in his books such as the influential 1956 novel "Giovanni's Room." Baldwin also spoke openly about same-sex relationships and LGBT issues, including an 1984 Village Voice interview in which he spoke about life as a black, gay writer in the United States.

The other sites calendared for landmarks status Tuesday include the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse in SoHo, the Women’s Liberation Center at in Chelsea; The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and the Caffe Cino in the West Village and the Audre Lorde Residence on Staten Island.

The city Landmarks Preservation Commission will schedule public hearings for each site and eventually vote on whether to designate the sites as individual landmarks.