Of all places to landmark… Downtown Brooklyn?! The city is expected to approve landmark status for 21 buildings in what would be the city’s first protected “skyscraper district,” the Post reports. The goal is to protect Borough Hall and surrounding government and commercial buildings, built around the turn of the 20th century, from certain kinds of developers; many real estate organizations oppose the plan. The “new historic district”—which would mostly run down Court Street, from Montague to Livingston—”will strengthen the character of Downtown Brooklyn, allowing for new development and growth like the new retail space planned for the Municipal Building while preserving the graceful, historic, early-generation skyscrapers that make it Brooklyn’s civic center,” Council members Steve Levin and Brad Lander said in a joint statement.
The business community sees it differently, arguing that such landmark designations will cost the city jobs and tax revenues, though “historic district” status allows for new development and façade work, as long as it meets certain guidelines.
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