The Brooklyn Daily Eagle featured the Lady Moody House on the cover of its 1947 booklet of Gravesend history.
The moment we’ve been waiting for has come. On Tuesday, February 23, 2016, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) will hold a public meeting to decide the fate of the Lady Moody – Van Sicklen House at 27 Gravesend Neck Road. The Moody House, you’ll recall, is among the 95 properties on the LPC’s backlog calendar. It has been on that calendar, under consideration, since 1966 — that’s FIFTY YEARS in limbo, folks!
At Tuesday’s meeting, the commissioners will hear summaries of the testimony given previously for all 95 properties. Several of us spoke at the public hearing on October 8, 2015 (you can hear my testimony beginning at 2:24:08), and many of you sent in wonderful messages of support. While the public is welcome to attend Tuesday’s meeting, no new testimony will be admitted. After weighing the merits of each property, the commission will consider one of three outcomes:
1. prioritizing designation for some items (by December 2016); or
2. removing from the calendar by voting not to designate; or
3. removing from the calendar by issuing a no action letter.
PLEASE keep your fingers (and other body parts) crossed that the Moody House falls into the first category. If the LPC fails to designate the house now, it won’t stand a chance of survival. We’ll never get them to reconsider this most significant of Gravesend houses once it’s tossed off the calendar. And once that house goes, so goes the heart of Gravesend. And I’ll have yet another street to avoid walking for fear of seeing what’s missing.
Stay tuned . . .
Copyright © 2016 by Joseph Ditta (webmaster@gravesendgazette.com)
The Gravesend Gazette 