Full Citation
Title: Preserving Racism: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Citation Type: Dissertation/Thesis
Publication Year: 2009
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Abstract: This thesis evaluates the decisions of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) over a 40-year period, during which over 22,000 properties were designated in historic districts. The methodology develops a system of measuring social indicators of land use within districts relative to the rest of the city, both at the time of designation and in the decades following. This is applied across various intensities and indicators. The 260 measurements evaluate five basic categories: proximity to new development, racial composition, owner occupancy by race, education by race, and income by race.The results show across nearly every indicator that the decisions of the LPC have favored whites over minorities, even when accounting for differences in income, owner occupancy, and education levels. Affluent, white neighborhoods have received the lions share of designations, while poor, minority neighborhoods have been designated disproportionately more than poor white ones. Given uneven costs and benefits of designation across different social groups, this thesis concludes that the LPC is preserving a racial divide.Finally, policies are recommended to improve diversity and social equity.
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Authors: Cocks, James
Institution: Columbia University
Department: Graduate School of Architecture
Advisor: Owen Gutfreund
Degree: Master of Science
Publisher Location: New York, NY
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Data Collections: IPUMS NHGIS
Topics: Housing and Segregation, Other, Race and Ethnicity
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