An Effort To Landmark The Rest of The West Village

The New York TIMES reported on a story of local interest to me over the weekend; a new push on a long-delayed effort to get landmark status for my neighborhood, which the TIMES refers to as the "South Village".  It's an area that is well known for it's local music/entertainment spots, like the Back Fence, Cafe Wha and the former Village Gate (now converted into a CVS)

It comes as a shock to most people that this section of the Village has not been landmarked.  Most of the West Village, west of 6th avenue, was covered by landmark status decades ago. But this section remains unprotected.  Lately, there has been a lot of development in the area, including reckless knockdowns and ugly additions, including a new plan by NYU to add 2 million sq feet of classroom space to the area.

The City government, however, doesn't feel this is an urgent situation. But, living here, I can say that things have been rapidly changing for the worse in the last five years and will only increase without any of the protections landmark status offers.  I hope that this latest effort meets success and that the unique qualities of this Village in the heart of Manhattan will be preserved.