Stories archive: Endangered New York City

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Community shocked as plug pulled on historic power plant

A monumental century-old power plant sitting on the Brooklyn waterfront and featuring a stout stone foundation and 4-story high arched windows with cream colored terra-cotta trim is being demolished brick by brick, upsetting local preservationists.

Hip-hop birthplace gets a break

There was new hope for the tenants of 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in the Bronx Monday when the city nixed a deal to sell the building - the birthplace of hip-hop -- to a real estate developer.

Queens activists: City ignores our crumbling history

It's too late for the 19th-century parsonage at St. Saviour's Episcopal Church -- it was leveled in December -- and Long Island City's Hackett Building, a Flatiron-like structure that was built in 1884, was torn down last year to make room for condos.

What's a landmark? New Yorkers struggle to agree

When New Yorkers talk about landmarking, they often think of genteel townhouses on tree-lined streets or distinguished cast-iron buildings. But concrete high-rises built in the 1960s?

NYers head to court to save their businesses

Fighting to stay in their century-old Harlem home, a group of commercial tenants has taken their case to State Supreme Court just days after the building's demolition was stayed.

Residents call to hip-hop stars for help

Now it's their turn to make some noise.

Residents fight to save hip-hop birthplace

A new beat may be coming to the Bronx building where hip-hop was born.

Endangered New York: 10 (more) to save

As the real-estate boom year of 2007 winds down, houses of worship, schools, historic residences, whole neighborhoods -- even the corner diner -- tenuously exist under the threat of the wrecking ball.

Rally: Washington Square Park plan threatens trees

Opponents of renovations to Washington Square Park rallied under its iconic arch Thursday, saying changes to the historic space will destroy its character while making 32 old-growth trees disappear.

Columbia expansion opposed in heated hearing

Opponents and backers of Columbia's planned expansion into Manhattanville took their fight to City Hall Wednesday in a packed and tense public hearing. "We will be here for as long as it takes," said Tony Avella, chair of the City Council's Zoning Committee, told the hundreds of people who filled the gallery for the mid-day session that stretched on for more than six hours of testimony from both sides of the battles.

Historic Italian bakery closes

Rose Morrone, 72, was the face of Morrone & Sons bakery on East 116th Street in East Harlem since 1956, back when the Mexican enclave was still a thriving branch of Little Italy.

Council vote opens way for reshaping Queens

The City Council overwhelmingly passed the largest rezoning in New York City's history Monday, voting to radically reshape Jamaica in eastern Queens.

Last hurrah for famed 'soccer tacos'?

Every summer for more than 30 years, Yolando Ceron has pitched a tent by the Red Hook ball fields and sold authentic Colombian dishes, from smoked sausages to deep fried stuffed potatoes.

Scrapping to save the Hotel Chelsea

When filmmaker Sam Bassett moved into the Hotel Chelsea last month, he became not only the newest resident in a building almost 100 years older than himself, but also a part of the legendary artistic community distressed by a management takeover they fear could steal the Chelsea's soul.

LES Jewish bakery closes

The last baker of Jewish soul food on the Lower East Side turned off the ovens for good Friday, after more than 90 years in business.

Suit: Underground Railroad homes at risk

A lawsuit filed against the city aims to save seven unassuming houses that may have been a stop on the Underground Railroad used by escaping slaves.

Sunnyside landmark status divides nabe

A bid to landmark Sunnyside Gardens is bitterly dividing the historic Queens community, once envisioned as a utopian oasis of green spaces and neighborly cooperation.

B'klyn waterfront deemed endangered

There was a time when the Brooklyn side of the East River came alive nightly with great flashes of smoke, fire and sparks, and Manhattanites would gather on their side of the water to watch the show.

World's Fair site named endangered monument

Rising seas, spreading deserts, intensifying weather and other harbingers of climate change are threatening cultural landmarks from Canada to Antarctica, the World Monuments Fund said Tuesday as it released its latest list of the world's most endangered sites.

Ten to save: Endangered NYC

The soaring real estate market has placed significant parts of New York's urban heritage at risk. Many of those threatened buildings define neighborhoods -- churches, old corner drug stores and pubs, prominent corner buildings simply sitting on all-too-valuable land, crumbling 19th-century masterpieces just waiting for a rescue plan.

Groups tries to save historic Red Hook dock

From the food and cars they buy to the trash they dispose of, a large part of New Yorkers' lives come and go by sea.

Activists hope to save Garment Center

Fabric mongers are stitching together a message: Unite against gentrification!

Landmarked West Village district extended

The potential for additional massive luxury development in the West Village was dealt a seemingly fatal blow Tuesday when the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to extend Greenwich Village's historic district clear to the West Side Highway.