The East Village has a new landmark

According to an e-mail alert from The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation yesterday afternoon:

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to landmark the 1838 Isaac T. Hopper House at 110 Second Avenue in the East Village, a designation strongly supported by GVSHP. This impressive Greek Revival house located between 6th and 7th Streets is a rare intact vestige of the earliest stages of the East Village’s urban development. Since 1874 it has also served as the home of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA), a reform organization seeking to better the lives of women who have been through the criminal justice system. The house is named for Isaac T. Hopper, the Quaker Abolitionist and reformer who founded the WPA. Hopper’s daughter, Abigail Hopper Gibbons, was the first president of the WPA.

Read the entire history here. (PDF)

Of course, there's plenty left in the neighbor to preserve.

"This is the time to think about the importance of old buildings in New York's urban fabric -- and how to preserve those worth keeping"

Julia Vitullo-Martin, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, has an op-ed in the Post today on why it's time to save the city's imperiled landmarks:

The pause in New York City's building boom may have one side benefit: It gives everyone a chance to think. As projects skid to a halt and buildings get stopped in mid-construction, developers - and their neighbors -- have an opportunity to reassess their plans and consider different options for the future. Can that gorgeous but crumbling church on the corner be saved with neighborhood support? Is an old industrial warehouse a candidate for rehabilitation rather than demolition? Could a clever architect renovate that empty commercial skyscraper for residential? This is the time to think about the importance of old buildings in New York's urban fabric -- and how to preserve those worth keeping.

The Post also offers up a listicle of the 10 endangered buildings in the city worth saving, such as the Corn Exchange Bank in Harlem (pictured above) on the northwest corner of 125th Street and Park Avenue. You can view the slideshow here.