The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council
Our campaign to preserve the Prospect Heights Apartment House District involves research, community outreach, and communications. Much work is being done by community volunteers, but we need your contribution to help us cover the cost of research and communications.
Please click the button below to make a tax-deductible donation. All funds you contribute will be used exclusively to help preserve the architecture and character of southern Prospect Heights.
Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood may be known for its nineteenth century row houses, but it’s also home to one of Brooklyn’s first higher-density residential districts along Eastern Parkway. This collection of over 80 apartment houses represents a unique period in Brooklyn history when building patterns shifted and a new type of urban dwelling was built for a rising middle class. Built on land that had remained vacant for decades, these apartment houses attracted people who wanted to live near Brooklyn’s cultural center and Prospect Park, sought the advantages of apartment dwelling, and wanted rapid access to downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood may be known for its nineteenth century row houses, but it’s also home to one of Brooklyn’s first higher-density residential districts along Eastern Parkway. This collection of over 80 apartment houses represents a unique period in Brooklyn history when building patterns shifted and a new type of urban dwelling was built for a rising middle class. Built on land that had remained vacant for decades, these apartment houses attracted people who wanted to live near Brooklyn’s cultural center and Prospect Park, sought the advantages of apartment dwelling, and wanted rapid access to downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The story of how the East Side Park Lands Apartment House district was created links Brooklyn’s agrarian past, the construction of Prospect Park, and the extension of the subway system along Eastern Parkway. Now a group of local advocates has proposed designating the area a New York City Landmark District. Join the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, the Historic Districts Council and architectural historian Suzanne Spellen to explore the history of this part of Prospect Heights, and learn about how it can be preserved for the future.
The Land Use Committee of Community Board 8 reviews applications for zoning changes, variances, historic designations, and building permits in historic districts.
The September meeting include a review of a zoning change application from the owners of 587 Bergen Street. The property is currently zoned M1-1 and is vacant. The owners are asking that it instead be included in the boundary of the neighboring R6B zone to allow for the construction of a four-story apartment building. An earlier presentation by the owners indicated the building will contain 26 apartments, with 10 being affordable, and 13 below-ground parking spaces.
Join the Alliance for a Human Scale City, the Park Slope Civic Council, PHNDC and other sponsors for a lecture by Steven Semes, a leading architectural theorist, for a discussion of his book, The Future of the Past: A Conservation Ethic for Architecture, Urbanism, and Historic Preservation.
Steven Semes is the Academic Director of the Rome Studies Program as well as Associate Professor and the Director of the Graduate Program in Historic Preservation at the University of Notre Dame. His current research focuses on the issue of defining appropriate new architecture in historic settings.
Panelists include Simeon Bankoff, Executive Director of the Historic Districts Council; and Richard Cameron, Principal at the design firm Atelier & Co.
Admission is free, but RSVP is required. To register, click here.
Sponsors:
