Bedford-Stuyvesant Historic District Triples in Size

Christopher D. Brazee/Landmarks Preservation Commission 278 to 290 Macon Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, part of the newly expanded historic district.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted on Tuesday to triple the size of the Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, historic district, expanding its borders to include 800 more buildings.

The decision will preserve rows of 19th-century brownstones, wood-frame houses and ornate, Gothic-style faux chateaus. In those buildings is the work of some of the borough’s best-known architects, like Montrose Morris, who put up vast stretches of Crown Heights and other Brooklyn neighborhoods. (See slide show and official announcement.)

“It’s completely unique,” said Elisabeth de Bourbon, the commission’s spokeswoman. “It’s unique for its cohesive streetscape that continues on and on block after block. There is a special sense of place, which means there is nowhere else like it. So while there may be similarities between Park Slope and this expansion, over all the composition of the district is distinct.”

Christopher D. Brazee/Landmarks Preservation Commission 79 Decatur Street.

The designation was not a quick affair: the first vote to protect the area’s buildings was tabled for 20 years amid disagreement among homeowners and elected officials.

“We finally crossed the finish line today, thanks to a great deal of work by the residents, homeowners and leaders of this community,” the commission’s chairman, Robert B. Tierney, said in a statement. “We look forward to our continued partnership with them to protect the extraordinary streetscapes of their neighborhood, one of the most renowned in New York City.”

The expansion covers 825 buildings in an area that surrounds the existing 430-building district and is bounded by Fulton, Chauncey and Decatur Streets to the south; Tompkins Avenue to the west; Macon and Halsey Streets and Jefferson Avenue to the north; and Malcolm X Boulevard to the east.

A nearby district under consideration, the Bedford Historic District, was the subject of a hearing in January, but responses were mixed and no vote has been set.

Landmarks Preservation Commission The expanded historic district in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Existing district is white outlined in red. Expansion is gray outlined in red. Other districts in blue. Click to enlarge.