 | The Once and Future New York: Historic Preservation and the Modern City Subjects: Historic preservation -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 19th century; Historic preservation -- New York (State) -- New York -- History -- 20th century; Architecture -- Conservation and restoration -- New York (State) -- New York; New York (N.Y; In the popular imagination, the controversial 1963 demolition of Pennsylvania Station gave birth to New York CityOCOs historic preservation movement. As Randall Mason reveals, however, historic preservation has been a persistent force in the development of New York since the 1890s, when the cityOCOs leading politicians, planners, and architects first recognized the need to preserve the rapidly evolving cityOCOs past. Rich with archival research, The Once and Future New York documents the emergence of historic preservation in New York at the turn of the twentieth century. Between 1890 and 1920, preservationists saved and restored buildings, parks, and monuments throughout the cityOCOs five boroughs that represented continuity with the past. Mason argues these efforts created a OC memory infrastructureOCO that established a framework for New YorkOCOs collective memory and fused celebrations of the cityOCOs past with optimism about its future.Focusing on three major projectsOCothe restoration of City Hall Park, the ultimately failed attempt to save historic St. JohnOCOs Chapel, and the construction of the Bronx River ParkwayOCo Mason challenges several myths about historic preservation. Against the charge that preservationists were antiquarians concerned only with architecturally significant buildings, Mason instead asserts that many were social reformers interested in recovering the cityOCOs collective history. Even more important, he demonstrates that historic preservation in this period, rather than being fundamentally opposed to growth, was integral to modern urban development. |
