New York City Councilman and Peter Cooper Village resident Dan Garodnick helped Stuy Town (square) dance its way toward landmark designation on Saturday night, as tenants of the 110-building, World War II-era housing complex officially (re)launched their landmarks campaign.

We stopped by the party after 6 before any real dancing had begun, but the Gramercy Park church hall was already packed with mainly elderly residents decked out in denim, flannel, and other Western regalia, fuelling up on dinner before the main event.

Gaining protective status for Stuy Town is not a new idea. The Historic Districts Council first endorsed the proposal seven years ago and five years later told the Tenants Association that the complex was eligible for honorary state landmark status.

But the square dance was the first push to get the landmarking process off the ground since Tishman Speyer paid $5.4 billion for the planned community in 2006, though the tenants we spoke to Saturday night insisted the campaign is not related to their new landlord.  read more »

At least one preservation group is speaking up on behalf of the endangered Hotel Pennsylvania.

The Historic Districts Council (HDC) has formally asked the Landmarks Preservation Commission to hold a hearing on proposals to protect the old McKim, Mead & White-designed hotel, which owner Vornado Realty Trust has threatened to demolish.

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But Assembly member Dick Gottfried, the Historic Districts Council and Community Board 6 are trying to get a hearing in front of the Landmarks Preservation Commission before then to see if they can get the building, built in 1922, landmarked. They sent a letter asking for just that to the L.P.C. earlier this week.