Eye on REAL ESTATE
LEFT: Brooklyn resident Lisa Kersavage is the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s new executive director. RIGHT: This is Green-Wood Cemetery’s Fort Hamilton Parkway Gatehouse, which is landmarked. INBrooklyn photos by Lore Croghan
Carrying the preservationist torch in NYC Meet Brooklynite Lisa Kersavage, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s new executive director By Lore Croghan INBrooklyn
Lisa Kersavage’s two-decade career journey has taken her from rural Pennsylvania to a top job at America’s largest municipal preservation agency. The long-time Brooklyn resident got a promotion in March to the position of executive director at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. “It is a dream job,” she said. “I really do believe in the importance of municipal government and specifically the ability of Landmarks to protect the city’s most important buildings and neighborhoods and to regulate them efficiently and then address issues related to sustainability and equity,” she said in a recent interview at her lower Manhattan office. The commission’s headquarters is — appropriately — in a century-old limestone landmark at 1 Centre St., designed by famed architectural firm McKim Mead & White. Kersavage worked at the Landmarks Preservation Commission for four years as director of special projects and strategic planning before her promotion. Her new job was open because Sarah Carroll, who held it, became the commission’s chairperson last fall.
Kersavage now oversees the agency’s operations and works closely with its chairperson to develop strategic plans for the agency. The majority of its approximately 80 staff members report to Kersavage.
‘PRESERVATION OPPORTUNITIES’ IN GOWANUS She has lived in Brooklyn for almost 20 years. She currently resides in a 1960s Kensington high-rise with a view of historic Green-Wood Cemetery. She can see all the way from Coney Island’s landmarked Parachute Jump to lower Manhattan. She previously lived in Downtown Brooklyn, Carroll Gardens and Gowanus. As Kersavage settles into her new job, looming Brooklyn-centric preservationist issues include the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition’s campaign to win protected status for historic neighborhood sites. “We are actively studying preservation opportunities in Gowanus,” Kersavage said. It’s too soon for her to weigh in on another big Brooklyn preservationist issue, namely the city Department of Transportation’s threat to demolish the landmarked Brooklyn Heights Promenade for BQE repairs.
“Until we have DOT plans that we can review, I can’t speak about this issue,” she said. Mayor Bill de Blasio recently announced the creation of a panel to study different scenarios for repairing the highway running beneath the famous esplanade.
HISTORIC SITES RESCUED FROM LANDMARKING LIMBO During Kersavage’s years at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, she developed a plan for evaluating landmark eligibility for 95 historic sites that were on the commission’s calendar for up to a half-century. “It was challenging. It was consuming,” she said. “But it was exciting.” She collaborated with Chairperson Meenakshi Srinivasan and Executive Director Carroll on the mammoth project. The preservationists did lots of outreach to property owners — and in many cases were able to alleviate their concerns about having their buildings landmarked, Kersavage recalled.
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