Series I. Historic Preservation and quality of life issues, 1971-2013

Opposition to developer Jeffrey Glick's plan to construct a twin-towered complex directly across the street from the landmarked 1799 Abigail Adams Smith House (now called the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, 421 East 61st Street).

Newspaper clippings regarding the fate of the African Burial Ground, which would gain landmark designation in 1993 as part of the African Burial Ground & the Commons Historic District.

Development concerns for Avenue of the Americas (a.k.a. Sixth Avenue) between West 16th and West 23rd Streets, and for West 28th and West 29th Streets between Fifth Avenue and Broadway.

Press releases, newspaper clippings, and some correspondence regarding the B.E.C.A.'s activities, and a $33,000 grant it received from the State Board of Regents to provide educational and occupational training for battered women.

Press releases, newspaper clippings, and notes regarding the Brooklyn Historic Railway Association, which led tours of the 1844 Atlantic Avenue Tunnel (the world's oldest subway tunnel), and hoped to return historic streetcars to the borough.

Press releases, newspaper clippings, notes, and some correspondence documenting the activities of the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation, which in 1988 closed the crime-ridden park for a four-year renovation.

Opposition to proposals by the 92nd Street Y to erect a building at 125 East 92nd Street.

Opposition to plans by the Spence School to alter its building, the landmarked 1932 Smithers Mansion at 56 East 93rd Street.

Efforts to seek landmark protection for the length of Central Park South (i.e., West 59th Street between Fifth and Eighth Avenues), and specific buildings fronting it, such as 2 Columbus Circle and 240 Central Park South (the latter was designated in 2002).

Efforts to stop the New-York Historical Society's proposed residential tower above its building at 170 Central Park West. For a later, similar plan, see box 15, folder 10.

Opposition to Citibank's plan to sell the air rights above its branch office at Madison Avenue and East 91st Street. Zoning permitted a potential twelve-story building on the site, but the CitiNeighbors Coalition sought to have Citibank require any new construction to conform to the low-rise character of the neighborhood.

In 1979 the Macri Group, an Argentine company, in partnership with investor Abe Hirschfeld, bought the 60th Street Rail Yard, and in they 1982 planned a 7,300,000-square-foot residential redevelopment for the site to be called Lincoln West. They were unable to obtain financing, so in 1985, Donald Trump bought the development rights for his proposed Television City. (For opposition to the latter, see the folders on the group Westpride in boxes 15-17).

The Coalition for a Livable West Side, formed in 1981, a volunteer, environmental organization, draws its membership from individuals, tenant and block associations, and cooperative and condominium boards. In the early- to mid-1990s, the Coalition sought to block construction of Donald Trump's Riverside South, a 57-acre urban development project in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan. Originated by Trump in partnership with six civic associations (Municipal Art Society, Natural Resources Defense Council, Parks Council, Regional Plan Association, Riverside Park Fund, and Westpride), the project replaced Trump's proposed Television City on the site of the failed Lincoln West residential development. (For Lincoln West, see Matz's files on the Coalition Against Lincoln West, in boxes 1-2; for Television City, see the files on Westpride in boxes 15-17.)

In 1984 developer Peter S. Kalikow (who later owned the New York Post) bought the City and Suburban Homes Company's Avenue A (York Avenue) Estate, a complex of early twentieth-century model tenements for working-class families. Kalikow's plan to construct high-rise towers on the site (on the block bounded by East 78th Street, East 79th Street, York Avenue, and the FDR Drive) would have displaced thousands of residents, and, so, met fierce opposition. The complex received landmark protection in 1990; however, a portion was later stripped of that designation by the Board of Estimate at the request of Kalikow. In 1993 the courts overturned that decision and restored landmark status to the entire site.

The builder of an apartment tower at West 68th Street and Broadway agreed to pay New York City $10 for every foot of bonus space allowed by the City Planning Commission. The resulting $280,530 was coveted by the residents of the Lincoln Square Home for Adults, who were facing eviction and hoped to use the money toward the purchase of their building (201 West 74th Street) before it was sold to a developer and replaced by conventional housing.

In 1989 the Central Park Conservancy and the Parks Department, in conjunction with restoration of The Mall, announced plans to demolish the Naumburg Bandshell. Nothing happened until 1992, when revived plans to tear down the bandshell, or move it to Riverside Park, or even to Peekskill, New York, raised the cries of preservationists. They were led by Christopher W. London, great-grandson of Elkan Naumburg, donor of the bandshell in 1923. The courts sided with the preservationists, blocking the bandshell's removal.

Efforts to block construction of a condominium tower above the Walden School at 1 West 88th Street, northwest corner of Central Park West.

Press releases, clippings, and materials for "Building the City We Need," a conference sponsored by the Committee for New York, 26 January 1990.

In the 1980s part of the congregation of the landmarked St. Bartholomew's Church (325 Park Avenue) hoped to increase funding by replacing their community house (109 East 50th Street) with a 47-story office tower. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission twice rejected their application, and the case, which lasted until 1991, eventually went to the Supreme Court, which upheld the landmark designation but raised the question of whether religious structures should be exempt from historic, municipal ordinances.

Spurred by the recent demolition of the Helen Hayes and Morosco Theatres, the Committee to Save the Theatres sought landmark protection for 45 historic Broadway performance venues. Actress Colleen Dewhurst was among the famous names who lent support to the cause.

Documentation of opposition to New York City's plan to install a trolley line along the length of 42nd Street, from the United Nations Plaza on the east, to a terminus at Twelfth Avenue between West 36th and 38th Streets on the west.

Manhattan Community Board 5 is bounded (roughly) by 59th Street, Lexington Avenue, 14th Street, Sixth Avenue, 26th Street, and Eighth Avenue. In her long tenure as chair or co-chair of the board's Landmarks Committee, Joyce Matz had oversight of many iconic structures and enclaves in CB5's jurisdiction, such as the Flatiron Building and the Ladies' Mile Historic District. Any application to demolish or alter a landmarked structure, or any proposal for a new designation, came to her committee for rejection or approval. (For the landmarks within CB5's boundaries, refer to the Landmarks Preservation Commission's official map, which provides designation dates and links to designation reports.)

In 1999 the developer of a large site at 506 East 76th Street applied to have the property rezoned from manufacturing to residential, hoping to capitalize on its maximum 31-story building potential. The City Planning Commission reduced the allowable height to 13 stories, which the community argued still exceeded an 8-story limit set in 1985 for all midblock areas of the Upper East Side.

The City of New York seized the apartment building at 823 Park Avenue for non-payment of taxes, and sold it to Robert Manocherian in 1994. Matz's files document Manocherian's efforts to evict the tenants.

Documentation of the unsuccessful attempt by PLACE (Preserve the Landmarks and Character of the East Eighties) to landmark the Convent of the Little Sisters of the Assumption (originally the Convent of the Sisters of Bon Secours). The four-story, red-brick, Victorian Gothic structure at 1195 Lexington Avenue, was designed by architect William Schickel and built in 1889. It has since been demolished.

The 1876 Coogan Building, originally the Racket Court Club, at 776 Avenue of the Americas, was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by Alfred H. Thorp. It had its 1989 landmark designation overturned by the Board of Estimate. The efforts of a coalition formed to seek re-designation in 1999 were unsuccessful, and the building has since been replaced by a residential tower. The new structure does not appear to incorporate any of the Coogan's facade elements, despite promises from the developer that it would.

A preservation advocacy group founded in 2003, Defenders of the Historic Upper East Side seeks to protect the historic character of Manhattan's Upper East Side from intrusive development.

Documentation of toxic tetrachloroethylene (a.k.a., perc) levels emitted by Fancy Cleaners, a dry cleaning business adjacent to 460 East 79th Street, where Joyce Matz occupied apartment 2B.

Fundraising efforts to restore and dedicate a statue of Czech composer Antonin Dvorák (1841-1904). The statue, by Croatian-American sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962), had been presented to the New York Philharmonic in 1963. The Philharmonic donated it to the Dvorák American Heritage Association, which eventually placed it in Stuyvesant Square, nearly opposite the site of 327 East 17th Street, the house Dvorák occupied between 1892 and 1895 (demolished in 1991).

Efforts to landmark townhouses on the north side of East 54th Street (nos. 111-121), south side of East 55th Street (nos. 116-124), and north side of East 55th Street (nos. 113-119). Ultimately, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated just two of the houses: no. 116-118 East 55th Street (the William and Helen Martin Murphy Ziegler, Jr. House) and no. 124 East 55th Street (the Mary Hale Cunningham House). For her work on this campaign, Matz received the Elliot Willensky Fund award for 2000 (see box 17, folder 8).

Press releases and newspaper clippings documenting the activities and concerns of the residents of a 24-block area of the Upper East Side anchored by East 79th Street between Third Avenue and the East River.

Construction of a proposed conference center by the National Parks Service would have resulted in the demolition of several structures on Ellis Island. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission eventually created the Ellis Island Historic District to prohibit such changes.

Efforts to landmark Fire Patrol Station No. 1 (240 West 30th Street) and Fire Patrol Station No. 2 (84 West 3rd Street). Since 2013 the latter has been protected as part of the South Village Historic District.

Notes and press releases for Hudson River Park, the Manhattan greenway constructed along the Hudson River between West 59th Street and Battery Park beginning in the late 1990s.

A not-for-profit membership group, Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts was founded in 1982 to maintain the architectural legacy and sense of place of the Upper East Side.

Press releases and newspaper clippings outlining the proposed revitalization of Grand Central Terminal.

Joyce Matz lived for many years in apartment 2B of the Gregory Towers, a 20-story building at 460 East 79th Street. Her files document the building's conversion from rental property to condominium, and the activities of the tenant's coordinating committee.

Opposition to a proposed oversized addition to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, an exterior and interior landmark at 1071 Fifth Avenue.

The J. M. Kaplan Fund, a philanthropic charity organized in 1945, supports varied causes, including heritage conservation.

Matz's typed reminiscence of her family's visits to Lake Minnewaska Mountain House in Ulster County, New York, submitted to the travel editor of the New York Times after the paper reported the resort had closed.

Information, clippings, and notes regarding the McKim, Mead & White-designed Lambs Club, an official New York City landmark at 128 West 44th Street.

Press releases, newspaper clippings, brochures, and ephemera documenting the work of Landmark West!, a non-profit group organized in 1985 to achieve landmark status for individual buildings and historic districts on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

The Historic Districts Council named Joyce Matz its 2000 Landmarks Lion on 10 January 2001. The award has been presented since 1990 to individuals who show unusual devotion to historic districts and landmarks. Matz's files document her own award, as well as earlier and later recipients.

Efforts to landmark and preserve Lever House, a glass and stainless steel-clad office building at 390 Park Avenue.

Notes, correspondence, research, and testimony for the designation of the Madison Square North Historic District.

Correspondence, research, press releases, and newspaper clippings on the opposition to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital's plan for a 44-story tower on a mid-block site between First and York Avenues, East 68th and 69th Streets.

Effort to block construction of a tower above the landmarked Metropolitan Club Building at 1-11 East 60th Street.

Documentation of some of the early plans to redevelop the James A. Farley Building (the main U.S. Post Office for New York City) as a replacement for the vanished Pennsylvania Station. The facility, when complete, will be named for Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003), who championed the project.

Press releases, newspaper clippings, and information regarding the Municipal Art Society's opposition to the replacement of the New York Coliseum, at Columbus Circle, by the complex that would eventually be known as the Time Warner Center.

Coalition of neighborhood groups against construction of a Toys R Us in a former warehouse at 1411 Third Avenue and 201 East 80th Street.

Notes, press releases, and fliers documenting opposition to Mayor Edward Koch's proposed alterations to New York City's Landmarks Law of 1965, which featured a moratorium on designations in specific areas, and a provision to "designate or demolish" within 90 days.

Correspondence, press releases, and newspaper clippings on the New York Committee for a Balanced Building Boom, formed to "retain the present character, quality, scale, ambiance and appearance of . . . Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, while . . . supporting the continued growth and vitality of the city."

Press releases, newspaper clippings, and correspondence documenting the campaigns and programs of the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a preservation advocacy group which funds the restoration and maintenance of historic properties through grants and low-interest loans.

Documentation of opposition to the New York Public Library's "Central Library Plan," which sought to replace the main research division's stacks beneath Bryant Park with a lending library and educational spaces. This folder also includes information on the proposed rezoning of the Greater East Midtown business district, which eventually happened in 2017.

Notes and research on corner news boxes, newsstands, and other "street furniture" in New York City.

In 1971 and 1974, Joyce Matz submitted to the New York City Parks Department her proposal for "Operation Rainbow: A Pilot Program Conceived for the Children of New York City," which aimed to bring kids into the parks "not just to play, but to learn and grow" by entrusting to schools the planting and care of gardens in designated "pilot areas" of Manhattan parks.

Notes, research, press releases, and some correspondence surrounding the 2005 landmark designation of the Plaza Hotel Interior, and proposed alterations to the same.

Documentation of efforts to block New York University School of Law from demolishing 85 West 3rd Street, a house occupied by writer Edgar Allan Poe in 1845-46, and the adjacent Judson House, on Thompson Street, a parish building sold to NYU by the struggling Judson Memorial Church. NYU's Furman Hall, the 11-story structure which opened on the site in 2004, incorporates the facades of the historic buildings.

Notes, press releases, newspaper clippings, and some correspondence regarding sculptor Greg Wyatt's unusual Peace Fountain at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Avenue). Wyatt, the Cathedral's Artist-in-Residence, created the work to mark the 200th anniversary of the Episcopal Diocese of New York in 1985.

In January 2007 the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York announced the closure of the Church of Our Lady Queen of Angels, housed since 1886 in a sanctuary designed by William Schickel & Company at 228 East 113th Street in East Harlem. Joyce Matz provided publicity for parishioners who fought to keep the church open, and lobbied for its landmark status. Neither came to pass.

A 1987 plan to convert the Beacon Theatre (2124 Broadway) to a discotheque raised an outcry from preservationists, who argued successfully in court that the alterations would damage irreparably the landmarked interior.

Notes, research, reports, testimony, press releases, and newspaper clippings documenting the unsuccessful fight to preserve the Cottages and Garden, a 1937 enclave of eight apartments that opened onto a private midblock green space and tennis court behind a Third Avenue commercial building. The complex, designed by architect Edward H. Faile on a site between East 77th and 78th Streets, failed to win landmark designation, and has since been replaced by a condominium tower.

Documentation of the Empire State Development Corporation's plans to take over, restore, and renovate the Seventh Regiment Armory (a.k.a., the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue) for use as a cultural arts center.

Press releases, clippings, and some correspondence documenting the formation and later activities of S.O.U.L. (Save Our Universalist Landmark), a group organized to preserve the deteriorating sanctuary of the Fourth Universalist Society at 160 Central Park West.

Newspaper clippings regarding Upper East Side property at the southeast corner of Third Avenue and East 86th Street owned then lost by the Sturman family in a bankruptcy auction.

Press releases, clippings, information, and promotional material for walking tours offered by Sutton Area Community, Inc., a civic organization founded in 1975 to improve the quality of life in the vicinity of Sutton Place.

Testimony and letters of support to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission for Tammany Hall (100 East 17th Street), which was not designated until 2013.

Documentation of the proposed renovation and reuse of Tavern on the Green in Central Park, which had closed in 2009.

Press releases, clippings, and other documentation of the successful effort to seek landmark designation (exterior and interior) for Town Hall, the performance space designed by McKim, Mead & White at 113-123 West 43rd Street.

Testimony and clippings regarding proposed towers above the Parke-Bernet Gallery (980 Madison Avenue) and the New-York Historical Society (170 Central Park West). For the Historical Society's earlier plan to build a residential tower above its building, see Matz's file on the Central Park West Preservation Committee (box 1, folder 13).

Press releases, newspaper clippings, and information on the successful campaign to landmark Tudor City, a residential skyscraper complex on the four blocks bounded by East 40th Street, East 43rd Street, First Avenue, and Second Avenue.

The Douglas Elliman real estate company proposed creating a privately policed--but taxpayer funded--"Special Security District" (later called SAFE, for "Security Area For the Eastside") between East 59th Street, East 96th Street, Fifth Avenue, and the East River. Mayor Giuliani approved the idea, which met considerable opposition.

Testimony, correspondence, and notes about preservation efforts on West 54th, 55th, 56th, and 57th Streets.

Press releases, mailings, newspaper clippings, and notes documenting the opposition by this group of Upper West Siders to Donald Trump's Television City, a complex proposed for the 60th Street Rail Yard that would have featured headquarters and television studios for NBC. (For opposition to the earlier, failed, residential plan for the site—called Lincoln West—see the folders in boxes 1–2.)

Correspondence and a few clippings proclaiming Joyce Matz one of two recipients of the Elliot Willensky Fund award for 2000. Named for the late architectural historian and coauthor of the AIA Guide to New York City, the fund, established in 1991, recognized preservation advocates who kept the landmarks movement alive. Matz received the $500 prize for her campaign to secure landmark designation for a group of townhouses on East 54th and East 55th Streets (see box 7, folders 7–12).

Correspondence, press releases, and newspaper clippings documenting the zoning reform project of the Women's City Club of New York. In conjunction with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the club released a report titled "New York City Zoning: The Need for Reform."

Draft of a press release, notes, and some correspondence surrounding the release of the book Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City's Landmarks (New York: Routledge, 2008), by preservation activist Anthony C. Wood. The New-York Historical Society Library holds a copy under call number F128.37 .W66 2008.

Efforts to restore and reinstall this sidewalk clock, a designated New York City landmark at 1501 Third Avenue.