Landmarking
To The Editor:

The rush to landmark Sunnyside Gardens is partly being driven by fear of overdevelopment. Many people are under the misperception that one of the purposes of landmarking is to prevent overdevelopment. If one reads the Landmarks Commission's enabling legislation, it becomes clear that stopping overdevelopment isn't their job.

It is the job of the City Planning Commission and zoning to regulate size and bulk of buildings and their relationship to open spaces as well as appropriate uses. The McMansions and expansions that many people find objectionable are prevented through appropriate zoning. Zoning provides specific rules formed with input from the local community planning board. [The] Landmarks [Preservation Commission], as the issue is style and look of buildings, revolves around materials such as specific window, door, and brick types and yes, slate shingle, with approvals at the discretion of staff of the commission.

Zoning is used to preserve the relationship between buildings and open spaces and appropriate uses. In Sunnyside Gardens the zoning now in place prohibits any enlargements without special approvals. We do not need landmarking to prevent overdevelopment.

Preservation need not be historically focused, taking a neighborhood back to its original look. Zoning can, and should be used to preserve and control the size of buildings and preserve the open spaces.

I believe that preservation of the open spaces and the size of the buildings is what is most important to people in Sunnyside and Queens, and that most people would not support landmarking if they were fully aware of City Planning's role and recent Buildings Department's enforcement efforts in Sunnyside.

In fact, it appears that some enlargements that are now prohibited under the present zoning would be allowed under landmarking if the special zoning was rescinded.

The Landmarks Commission would focus on the facades and care about materials used, and would approve rear additions in many cases. (They are now prohibited.)

There are burdens to landmarking for the homeowner that have not been properly evaluated. Landmarking's impact here would be largely upon individual homeowners, not large apartment building owners, and therefore the cost cannot be spread among many people or commercial tenants. The assertion that the impact is small and rents would remain relatively modest is absurd, as the costs of renovations and insurance will increase and the owners of the two- and three-family homes will be forced to pass this cost along to the tenants. Any middle-class person who remembers first buying a house must remember how they stretched in order to make the mortgage and purchase work. This additional burden will stretch the finances of many, putting homeownership out of reach. Need I explain the situation many senior citizen homeowners on a fixed income are in?

There is a strong historical public policy in our country, and especially our city, of supporting individual home ownership which is supported by the real property tax system, government guaranteed and subsidized mortgages and the income tax deductibility of mortgage interest. Whenever the Landmarks Commission seeks to landmark one- to three-family homes therefore, it must use a higher standard when balancing the needs and rights of the individual homeowner against the need for historic preservation that benefits the larger city-wide or nation, or even worldwide community. I personally do not believe that this is the primary reason to be for or against landmarking, but at least we should be honest about the impacts and effects.

Therefore the impact of landmarking and removing the PC district is serious and consequential and must require an environmental review.

I do not think that trying to historically restore Sunnyside Gardens to the way it looked in the 1920s, turning it into a museum, would be appropriate now. It is the feel of the community, not the look, preserving the size of the buildings and the open spaces, that is the primary goal. If people really want to preserve Sunnyside Gardens, they should join with the group that seeks to regulate through zoning and better enforcement, and education of fellow homeowners, and oppose landmarking.

Sunnyside Gardens, "where the architecture is unimportant but the urbane arrangements a source of urban delight" (American Institute of Architects Guide to New York City (2000) p. 810) does not need historic preservation as it conflicts with such strong public policies as home ownership. Let's keep the Planned Community (PC) district and work together to preserve what is important to all Sunnyside Gardens residents. We should not forget that the goals of the architects of Sunnyside Gardens, "health, open space, greenery and idyllic community living for all".

Let's be honest about the facts and the goals of landmarking and above all, respect the honest and well-thought-out opinions of our neighbors. The only reason to landmark is to historically preserve and restore Sunnyside Gardens, turning it into a museum of historical architecture for all to study and enjoy.

I am therefore opposed to landmarking for the following reasons:

1. Because the Landmarks Commission has not and will not provide us with any rules or suggested permissible alternate materials and will wait until a number of people submit applications before drafting rules.

2. Because the need to landmark our homes is not strong when balanced against the needs and rights of individual middle-class homeowners and the strong historical tradition of favoring home ownership for the working class in our country and city.

3. Because zoning would be sufficient to preserve the important elements of our community the open space and the building size.

4. Because amendments to the zoning text in order to make it more workable have not been tried, but have been proposed, and many similar communities have special zoning rules and make them work.

5. Because we have a better say in the zoning rules- community board and local input are required under zoning. With landmarking, our say is secondary- the Landmarks Commission's primary goal is historic preservation- their job is to restore or maintain the look of the buildings. Sincerely, Ira R. Greenberg Sunnyside Gardens