Two blocks in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood were approved for historic designation this week, despite protests from many Orthodox Jewish residents who say the designation will force them out of their homes.
On Tuesday, the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted Willoughby Hart Historic DistrictThere are two rows of brownstone buildings in Bed-Stuy that remain intact.
Local politicians, including City Council Member Ki Osse and State Assembly Member Stephani Zinnerman, along with some residents, have lobbied to have Willoughby and Hart streets, between Nostrand and Marcy streets, designated a landmark to protect the area’s history.
“Rapid development and subsequent gentrification are damaging the architecture and history of Bed-Stuy, and local residents are fighting back to protect their neighborhood’s traditions,” state Sen. Jabari Brisport said in a statement.
“We are proud to stand with local activists who say, ‘Community cannot be destroyed!'”
The commission said more than 100 homes in the area were built around 150 years ago and the area is unique for its “quality of architecture, strong historic character, sense of place in the streetscape” and “local history.”
“Many of the current residents of the Willoughby Hart Historic District represent the latest generations of multi-generational families in the area,” the commission’s release said.
Michael Williams, 67, a lifelong Willoughby Street resident, supported the landmark designation, calling his street “one of the best blocks” in Bed-Stuy.
But when officials scheduled the vote for May, Orthodox Jewish homeowners who need to expand their homes to accommodate large numbers of children were outraged, saying the landmark designation would severely limit their options.
They considered the issue an anti-Semitic act.
“We feel this is anti-Semitic because they’re trying to stop us from moving here,” Hart Street homeowner Herman Bodek, who is Orthodox Jewish, previously told The Washington Post.
“This will force us to move.”
Orthodox Jewish attorney Adam Reitman Bailey said the homes are not worthy of preservation and wrote in a filing with the commission, “The proposed zoning would almost certainly ensure that the permits necessary for such work would be subject to undue scrutiny, delay and unnecessary expense, if not denied outright. This outcome, which could displace this religious group at a time of New York City’s housing crisis, violates the underlying purpose of historic landmark status and should not be tolerated.”
Bailey did not respond to a request for comment Saturday.
The proposed district must undergo review by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council.
