Metro

Bloomy deputy’s ‘historic’ nabe grab

The Bloomberg administration has increased the number of landmarked neighborhoods from 64historic districts to 107.

The avalanche of protected zones comes courtesy of powerful Deputy Mayor Patti Harris.

“It’s undeniable that there’s more landmark designation going on under the current administration than in past years,” said Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

Critics argue that aggressively shrinkwrapping whole neighborhoods in burdensome landmark rules is actually a city planning tool aimed at limiting development. They think landmarking should be restricted to preserving specific buildings or blocks that carry historical import.

Under past mayors, the Landmarks Preservation commissioner reported to the deputy mayor for economic development, and to the

Department of City Planning. But Landmarks Commissioner Robert Tierney — a longtime bureaucrat who had no architectural background when appointed in 2002 — reports directly to Harris, Bloomberg’s most trusted and senior aide.

“It’s outside the norm of her portfolio,” said a source of the deputy, who oversees cultural affairs, parks, special events and City Hall staffing.

“I think they’ve taken a broader approach to designating buildings in the outer boroughs,” said former Landmarks Commissioner Sherida Paulsen, who served under both Rudy Giuliani and Bloomberg.

The commission sets its goals of how many buildings and districts to landmark each year during the mayor’smanagementreports

process.

“We just had different numerical goals under the Giuliani administration,” said Paulsen. “This administration has increased he total number of staff at the commission and added staff to do surveys.”

* The city is seeking to add 3,162 buildings to historic districts throughout the five boroughs.

There are 107 historic districts in New York City, the majority of which are in Manhattan.

Now the Bloomberg administration is pushing to create or expand at least eight more in its last term, lassoing in an additional 3,167 buildings under Landmarks Preservation Commission protection, including major swaths of Brooklyn and Queens.

The largest historic district in the city is currently Greenwich Village, with 2,035 buildings under Landmarks’ watchful eye, followed by the Upper West Side, with 2,020 buildings, and the Upper East Side, with 1,044 buildings included.

* 300 buildings in the East Village and the Lower East Side, stretching from St. Marks Place to East Second Street, between Third Avenue and Avenue A. The majority of the buildings in the district are tenement buildings and churches constructed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

* 577 buildings in Park Slope, Brooklyn, stretching from Seventh Street to 14th Street, between Seventh and Eighth avenues, mainly including row houses and apartment buildings constructed in the 1880s.

* 745 buildings in Riverside and the Upper West Side, constructed primarily between the late 1880s and the late 1920s. The buildings, stretching from West 70th Street to West 109th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive, include row houses, French flats, large apartment buildings, schools, mansions and religious buildings.

* 900 buildings in central Ridgewood, Queens, including brick row houses constructed between 1900 and 1920. The area stretches from 71st Avenue to Madison Street, between Fresh Pond Road and Forest Avenue.

* 640 buildings in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, bounded by Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway and by Bedford and Albany avenues. Buildings in the district include late 19th- and early 20th-century residential buildings and row houses.