Two blocks in Bedford-Stuyvesant got the go-ahead for landmarking this week despite protests from many Orthodox Jewish residents, who say the designation forces them out of their homes.
On Tuesday, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved the creation of the Willoughby-Hart Historic District, which comprises two full rows of intact brownstones in Bed-Stuy.
Local politicians like Councilman Chi Osse and state Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman, along with some residents, lobbied for the landmarking of Willoughby Avenue and Hart Street between Nostrand and Marcy avenues to protect the neighborhood’s history.
“Rapid development and the ensuing gentrification have eroded the architecture and history of Bed Stuy, and communities are fighting back to preserve our neighborhood’s legacy,” said state Sen. Jabari Brisport in a statement.
“I am proud to stand with community activists as they tell us that ‘community can’t be demolished!'”
The 100-plus homes in the enclave were built around 150 years ago and the area is unique for “the quality of its architecture, strong historic character and sense of place of its streetscapes,” as well as “its community history,” the commission said.
“Many current residents of Willoughby-Hart Historic District represent the latest of multiple generations of families from the neighborhood,” the commission’s release stated.
Lifetime Willoughby Street resident Michael Williams, 67, supported the landmark designation, calling his street, “one of the best blocks” in Bed-Stuy.
But Orthodox homeowners were up in arms when the agency calendared the vote in May, saying they need to be able to expand their houses to accommodate their numerous children, and landmarking will severely limit their options.
They saw the issue as an act of antisemitism.
“We feel that this is antisemitism because they are trying to stop us from moving in here,” Hart Street homeowner Herman Bodek, an Orthodox Jew, previously told The Post.
“This will have us moving out.”
In addition to saying the houses weren’t worthy of preservation, the Orthodox Jews’ attorney Adam Leitman Bailey wrote in papers submitted to the commission: “The proposed districting will all but guarantee that the permits required to undertake such work will be, if not outright rejected, made subject to undue scrutiny, delay and unnecessary expense. This result, likely to drive out this religious group in the time of a housing crisis in the City of New York, offends the purpose underlying landmark status, and should not be countenanced.”
Bailey did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.
The proposed district still needs to be reviewed by the City Planning Commission, followed by the City Council.
