MANHATTAN — The Landmarks Preservation Commission ruled Tuesday that St. Michael's Church on Amsterdam Avenue at West 99th Street should stay on a list of potential landmarks — a move met with both relief and uncertainty by preservationists.
While the commission deemed other row houses, theaters and church buildings across the city unworthy of landmarking Tuesday, kicking them off the agency's list because they don't meet LPC criteria, the historic Episcopalian church complex was saved from the chopping block.
Whether St. Michael's will become an official landmark still remains to be seen, but LPC commissioners designated the church a priority for landmarking in 2016.
Tuesday's hearing, at which public comment was not allowed, involved the LPC trimming its backlog, removing some sites altogether and designating others a priority for next year. The LPC initially tried to clear all 95 backlogged sites from landmark consideration in 2014, but put them back on its calendar amid public outcry.
The outcome of St. Michael's being prioritized for next year remains unclear, said Kate Wood, president of the local historic preservation advocacy organization LANDMARK WEST!
"These buildings that have been on the [LPC] calendar for decades are still on the calendar," she said at the hearing Tuesday. "We'll have to see."
The LPC has not said whether it will hold an additional public hearing on St. Michael's, nor set a date for a vote, she said, adding that just because the church complex has been described as a "priority" does not mean its designation is a done deal.
However, "there's now an even more robust record of support on these buildings than there was before," Wood said.
Residents, parishioners, clergy and preservationists testified before the LPC in November about the importance of landmarking St. Michael's, which dates back to the late 1890s, but they were divided about how to approach other buildings on the campus.
Rev. Kate Flexer, the church's head minister and the first woman to fill that role, testified that the congregation would like the flexibility to make improvements to the rectory and parish house.
LANDMARK WEST! and City Councilman Mark Levine support landmarking the entire complex.
Whether the LPC will go that route remains unclear, Wood noted.
In the case of the East Harlem historic Romanesque church St. Paul's, the LPC voted Tuesday only to prioritize landmarking the actual church, but not its rectory or school.
The LPC will begin voting on a group of sites it designated a priority on April 12.
Listen to DNAinfo's podcasts featuring Rev. Kate Flexer and Kate Wood of LANDMARK WEST!.
