Newsday from New York, New York • 54

(fr A54 4 i i About QUEENS Overlooked Treasures i 1th EfH I STOR YjBE i dIth es i tes Landmark designations are on the rise in the 'forgotten borough By Mohamad Bazzi it was a case of the landmark blues Preservation advocates have long argued that when it comes to naming landmarks the city has virtually ignored rich history and architecture has the least landmarks in New York said Byron Saunders executive director of the Queens Historical Society mean that we have structures which should be treasured and protected It just means that the landmarks commission has not been as aggressive in designating sites here as ithas in Manhat tan or But local historians say the tide may The Vander Enda-Ondefdonk House the last sanrfving Dutch Coiofdai farmhouse Is la Ridgewood Unisphere was -designed by landscape archtoct Gflmore Clark tojfaseasfc cftHdretfl celebrate Hi dawn of the space age The structure consists of 500 lewis a crBdited heenfing a tang-tasting ight bdb Same moved Into 2222? 55 1 this two-story house on Holy Avenue fet 1880 and Ived there for 25mlamlh974- I years1 He was aiso a leader to lie early cMI ritftfsrmovwnenLTo stone foundation The house was restored by locdesiods and now avoM rtemojifion ffw hrxise was moved In Iffflfl to its ctirrBnt yinn A I 1 1 be turning The I and marks Preservation Commission last week approved landmark designation for two historic houses in the borough: the Vender Ende-Onder-donk House in Ridgewood and the Lewis Latimer House in Flushing And the commission is expected to vote in April to grant landmark status to the Unisphere in Flushing Meadows Corona Park The decisions have to be reviewed and confirmed by City Council and planning officials are beginning to see historic preservation as a quality-of-life said Jeffrey Kroessler president of the Queensborough Preservation League l-S -O -'taibJ long as Queens residents keep pushing landmarking then the marks Commission and the City Council will pay more attention to Kroessler said recent debates over development projects such as the National Tennis Center expansion have increased awareness of Queens architecture and history riiangwi in the borough have shown what be lost to insensitive he said now value the existing architecture Large-scale developments and other megaprqjects are not accepted as easily as they once Still Queens has the fewest number of landmarks According to commission spokesman Toby Miller the borough hiss 36 individual landmarks compared with 711 in Manhattan 120 in Brooklyn 94 in Staten Island and 60 in the Bronx Queens also has only four (of 94) interior landmarks and two historic districts (of 66) The Landmarks Commission was created in 1965 to designate and protect landmarks and historic districts throughout the city Over the past 30 years landmarking debates have pitted property owners and developers against preservation advocates i T-te i The Unisphere left is expected ts win landmark status a ad tbs Latimer Hsuss was fail designated a landmarlLjA I I i i i persuaded the now-defunct Board of Estimate to overturn or modify at least seven Queens landmarks In contrast Borough President Claire Bhulmari has been a strong advocate of landmark designation Shul-man however lost moat of her influence over the lmiHmuAing process in 1989 when a revised City Charter granted the power to ratify or property owners say conforming to standards usually increases designations to the City CoundL To-ies for more land- day Shulman lobbies use and increase repair coats Kroessler says this history of political jockeying and overturned designations made the commission more cautious when it considered sites in Queens But some council members have been willing to endorse landmark designation in light of strong community support Councilman John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) urged the council last year to confirm the designation of a 30-Mock portion of Jackson Heights as an historic district The district is one of tint lanmst in the dty with more than 200 buildings and private homes dustered between Roosevelt and 34th Avenues Heights was a big breakthrough for the landmarks said Jeffrey Saunders who chairs the historic of the Heights Beautification Group attitude all around Queens has changed very had good community response from Jackson said Miller Queens preservation groups also have been very responsive and have made the process Byron Saunders meanwhile says the historical society is compiling a list of potential landmarks in Flush- ing Among the sites it wants the commission to consider are the Flushing Armory PS 614 the Flushing free Sjynagogue Windsor School the Masonic Temple and the US Post i Office building 4 structures are rare andj have survived development They dj serve to be given consideration foijjg landmark he said 5 are some wonderfril treasures in Queens As time posses sure the commission will realise their import- tance to New 1 repair costs and at times restricts a use And since all new construction in landmark areas must be approved by the commission owners have to contend With an extra layer of bureaucracy As a result back-room politics has played a crucial role in the naming of landmarks especially in Queens In the 1970s and early former Borough President Donald Manes cham-1 the property cause and an anti-landmark crusade marks fay working with the historical society and preservation league and by testifying at commission hearings The political jockeying meanwhile has shifted to members of the City CoundL In 1992 for example real estate heiress Rita Stark pressured the council to deny landmark status to a building that was once home to Jamaica Savings Bank Stark along with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce argued that landmarking would restrict the go out and tell other communities about the benefits of landmarking The Mohamad Bam is a free-lance uniter is- I 1 i sir I.