Page 9 - Demo

Landmarks Commission Hears Ft. GreeneBAM-Triangie Supporters Speak for DesignationBY IRVING LIEBERMANLandmark designation for the %u201cBAM Triangle%u201d area in Fort Greene was unanimously supported by public testimony at the Landmarks Preservation Commission Hearing at City Hall on July 11. Many witnesses entreated the Commission to end its %u201cunconscionable delay%u201d in considering 'designation for the larger Fort Greene community by simultaneously granting Historic Status to both areas.The proposed Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District, bounded by Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street to the north, South Portland Avenue, Hanson Place and Ashland Place, encompasses the Brooklyn Academy of Music, a neo-Renaissance style structure built in 1908, and the Williamsburg Savings Bank, an individually designated landmark. On Fulton Street stands a group of cast iron buildings constructed in 1872, which comprises the last structures of their kind in Brooklyn.Most of the area is residential, however, composed primarily of rowhouses built in the 1850%u2019s and 60%u2019s. The houses on St. Felix Street, Fort Greene Place and South Elliot Place have uniform scale and cornice heights and display a variety of Italianate features and decorative detail.A wide majority of those who spoke at the hearing asked the commissioners to \area by simultaneously granting Historic District status to the BAM Triangle and the adjacent portion of Fort Greene currently being considered for landmark designation.Fort Greene has been fightingfor Historic District status since 1971. The Fort Greene Landmarks Preservation Committee has researched and negotiated its way through many obstacles in the process, including the insistence of Commission member Beverly Moss Spatt that the BAM Triangle area south of Fulton Street could not be included in the larger Fort Greene proposal.After seven years of struggle, the neighborhood committee conceded the point, touching off a struggle within the community over what part would be designated. %u201cThere was a lot of animosity,%u201d said Nedda Allbray, spokesperson for the BAM Triangle Association. %u201c It was like suddenly a brick wall went up on Fulton Street.%u201dAt the hearing on Tuesday, Tom Kennedy, chairman of the Ft. Greene Landmarks Preservation Committee, accused the Commission of creating two segments in the community when %u201cit is easier to operate a unified district.%u201d He called for an end to %u201cthe unconscionable delay and interference%u201d with the efforts of Fort Greene residents to achieve landmark status. %u201c It%u2019s time these visits (to the commission) stop and a decision be made,%u201d he said.%u2018BAM Triangle area%u2019 is a divisive term for the community,%u201d said Fort Greene resident Jerry Schick. %u201c We want designation for the BAM Triangle and the entire Fort Greene area as soon as possible.%u201dCity Council members Abe Gerges and Mary Pinkett concurred in their testimony before the commission. Pinkett told the commission that it was a disservice to the community to divide it. GergesB R O O K L Y N A C A D E M Y O F M U S I C H I S T O R I C D I S T R I C T ___________________ PRO POSED