City Councilman Jumaane Williams is again calling on the city to designate Jackie Robinson’s Brooklyn home as an official city landmark.
The councilman, who represents the district that includes the East Flatbush house where the Brooklyn Dodger and his family lived for two years, said the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission turned down the request he made last year to make it an official New York landmark.
Williams started a national petition to gather support and make the city reconsider its decision.
“Jackie had an impact on the lives of every member of this community through his bravery on and off the field. We must protect that legacy for future generations to learn from and appreciate,” he said in a statement.
The LPC said it reviewed the application and said Robinson’s years in the house took place before his important Major League milestones.
Robinson, who broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, lived at 5224 Tilden Avenue during his first seasons with the team between 1947 and 1949. Between 1949 and 1955, Robinson lived in Addisleigh Park in Queens, which the LPC designated as a historic district in 2011.
“It was determined that the building on Tilden Avenue where he and his family rented an apartment for a period of just over one year does not commemorate his life and work as well as his home in Addisleigh Park,” the LPC said in a statement.
The house is a National Historic Landmark, which gives tax incentives and access to federal grants for preservation, but a city landmark designation would prevent any form of altercation to the building.
