new york voice for the future of the city

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MAS fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy.

Annual Report 2007–08

2 The Municipal Art Society of New York 2007–08

Our Brand IdentityThe Municipal Art Society of New York proudly introduces our new logo and brand identity at our 2008 Annual Meeting and in this annual report. Accompanied by the tagline, “Voice for the future of our city,” this identity presents a bold new face for our organization as we enter our third century.

CoverBuilt within an existing barge, the Floating Pool made a big splash during its premier last summer at Brooklyn Bridge Park, drawing in visitors from the borough and beyond. Taking a historical cue from New York City’s former “floating baths,” the Floating Pool provides recreational opportunities in underserved communities, draws people to the waterfront, and will continue to do so at its new location each summer. (Timothy Schenck)

Annual Report 2007–08


Benika Morokuma

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Contents

Board and Committees 4

Letter from the Chairman 5

Urban Planning 6

Preservation 14

Community Planning Assistance 20

Public Policy Initiatives 22

Education and Dialogue 25

MAS Annual Awards 32

Prizes 37

Membership and Support 44

Professional Committees 46

MAS Staff 47

Contributors 48

Friends 53

Consolidated Statement of Activities 56

A copy of the complete financial statements is available upon request.


Board and CommitteesOfficersPhilip K. Howard ChairmanKent L. Barwick PresidentPaul Beirne Vice ChairmanDiane M. Coffey Vice ChairmanHugh Hardy Vice ChairmanAnthony C.M. Kiser SecretaryEarl D. Weiner General Counsel

MAS Board of DirectorsLaurie BeckelmanElizabeth H. BergerEugenie L. BirchDavid M. ChildsKinshasha Holman ConwillEdward N. CostikyanLewis B. CullmanJoan K. DavidsonGordon J. DavisMichael P. DonovanPeter DuchinHeidi EttingerSusan K. FreedmanDuane HamptonAshton HawkinsKitty HawksMichael HoffmanSteven L. IsenbergArie L. KopelmanRocco LandesmanKenneth B. LererMarilyn W. LevyRonay MenschelJohn E. MerowFrederic S. PapertCharles A. PlattTim PrenticeFrances A. ResheskeCarole RifkindJanet RossRobert S. RubinBrendan SextonWhitney North Seymour, Jr.David F. SolomonGregg Solomon

Jerry I. SpeyerStephen C. SwidWade F.B. ThompsonHelen S. TuckerWilliam H. Wright IIGary J. Zarr

Executive CommitteeAnthony C.M. Kiser Chair

Kent L. BarwickPaul BeirneElizabeth H. BergerEugenie L. BirchDavid M. ChildsDiane M. CoffeyHugh HardyAshton HawkinsKitty HawksPhilip K. HowardRonay MenschelJohn E. MerowCharles A. PlattBrendan SextonStephen C. SwidEarl D. WeinerWilliam H. Wright, II

Finance CommitteePaul BeirneDiane M. CoffeyRocco LandesmanJohn E. MerowWilliam H. Wright, II

Nominating CommitteeKitty Hawks Chair

Elizabeth H. BergerDiane M. CoffeyPeter DuchinSusan K. FreedmanAshton HawkinsMichael HoffmanArie KopelmanRonay Menschel

Gregg SolomonWilliam H. Wright, IIGary J. Zarr

Executive Compensation CommitteeAnthony C.M. Kiser Chair

Paul BeirneElizabeth H. BergerEugenie L. BirchDavid M. ChildsDiane M. CoffeyHugh HardyAshton HawkinsKitty HawksPhilip K. HowardRonay MenschelJohn E. MerowCharles A. PlattBrendan SextonStephen C. SwidEarl D. WeinerWilliam H. Wright, II

Audit CommitteeJohn E. Merow Chair

Diane M. CoffeyWade F.B. Thompson

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Voice for the future of our city.Dear Friends,

This past fall, thousands of people visited the Municipal Art Society of New York to view the widely-acclaimed exhibit Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York and reflect on the life of one of New York City’s greatest citizen activists.

As we contemplate the future of our city today, we would do well to remember a critical lesson from Jacobs: that in the end, the real experts on city life—those who know what works and what doesn’t—are the people who live here.

This year’s annual report takes its theme from our new brand identity and tagline: “Voice for the future of our city.” For over 115 years, MAS has been providing opportunities for New Yorkers to have the most effective voice possible in the decisions that affect their city. From the East Side of Manhattan to Flatbush, from the Far West Side to Highbridge—MAS has engaged citizens throughout the city in the active process of shaping their neighborhoods. Through blogs, exhibitions, podcasts, short films, public programs and walking tours, MAS connected with well over 30,000 constituents over the past twelve months.

In the coming year, MAS will embark on a transition of leadership as our President Kent Barwick steps aside after four decades as our chief advocate—and voice—on countless initiatives to enhance this great city. After a year’s sabbatical, Kent will return as President Emeritus. Our new President, Vin Cipolla, is a nationally recognized leader in the preservation, conservation, arts and business communities. His accomplished background in both the private and nonprofit sectors will be critical as we move into a new phase of growth and influence in New York City.

With the involvement, action and support of our members and friends, MAS will help New York City realize its potential for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation; together with you, we will continue to be a voice for the future of our city.

Sincerely,

Philip K. HowardChairman


Urban Planning

Moynihan Station and the Far West SidePenn Station is the nation’s most heavily trafficked transportation hub, bringing misery to the 500,000 people who use it on a daily basis. For more than a decade, MAS has worked to realize the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s vision for transforming the Farley Post Office into New York City’s great new station. Today, the project has evolved into a complex public-private partnership that, coupled with other projects, would trigger a new commercial district the size of downtown Seattle to rise on Manhattan’s Far West Side. The Moynihan Station project—the construction of a new train station in the Farley Post Office and the redevelopment of Penn Station—is critical to serve as a catalyst for that development.

MAS joined citywide groups in releasing principles to guide the station’s development: protecting the landmark post office; ensuring the station is not overwhelmed by retail or Madison Square Garden and giving the public a voice. On the Far West Side, MAS has argued that one agency needs to oversee the neighborhood’s disparate plans in order to safeguard

the public’s expenditures and interests, to ensure coordinated planning and create effective transporta-tion systems.

Our blog, www.newpennstation.org, features the project’s latest news and planning and transportation analysis. MAS hosted a springtime series of lectures and panel discussions focused on the question: “Can New York Build Another Great Train Station?”

East Side Waterfront ParkLast summer, MAS hosted a “charrette,” an inten-sive design workshop, to visualize a future water-front park on the East Side of Manhattan from 38th to 42nd Streets, the neighborhood with the least amount of open space in Manhattan. MAS convened the charrette with local Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick and six leading landscape architects—Ken Smith, Ricardo Scofidio, Brian Jencek, Kate Orff, Margie Ruddock and Mathew Urbanski—who presented their final vision to elected officials and several hundred local residents.

Intelligent urban planning is essential to the thriving character of all cities. MAS shapes and champions grand visions for New York City’s future by convening the city’s most imaginative thinkers and visionaries—from the city’s top architects and developers, to enlightened government officials to community residents who seek a role in shaping their neighborhoods.

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Far left: Kent Barwick joined with the Friends of Moynihan Station to announce their principles for the design and construction of Moynihan Station. (Benika Morokuma) Left: The landmark Farley Post Office has the longest Corinthian colonnade in the world. (Benika Morokuma)

The Moynihan Station project—the construction of a new train station in the Farley Post Office and the redevelopment of Penn Station—is critical to the future of the Far West Side.Rendering: Empire State Development Corporation


This spring, MAS and its partners achieved a major step forward: during its approval process for the for-mer Con Ed Site on the East Side, the City Council reconfigured the design to facilitate the creation of the waterfront park. The developer of the project, East River Realty, also agreed to make a $10 million contribution toward the cost of building the park.

During the coming year, MAS will be working to ensure that the Midtown section of the FDR high-way is rebuilt to accommodate a waterfront park, to identify funding sources to pay for its planning and construction and to explore the creation of a new civic group that will push for the creation of the park in the long-term. To find out more, visit www.eastsidewaterfrontpark.org.

Campaign for Community-Based PlanningIn the belief that the best planning balances citywide needs with neighborhood needs, the Community-Based Planning Task Force—an MAS-coordinated coalition of community-based organizations, community boards, academics, and planners—aims to build an effective planning partnership between

the city and its neighborhoods, diversify representa-tion in community planning initiatives, and provide more resources for the creation and implementation of community-based plans.

In 2010, New York City will have a new mayor, four new borough presidents, an almost entirely new City Council, and a new commission that will make recommendations for revisions in the City Charter. These political changes provide opportunities for the Task Force to reform the way planning is done.

Building awareness of community-based plans goes hand-in-hand with advocating a stronger role for their adoption as official public policy. In April 2008, the Campaign’s Task Force released Planning for All New Yorkers: An Atlas of Community-Based Plans in New York City, an interactive, online tool that com-piles, locates, and documents community-based plans in New York City. The Atlas encourages other com-munities to create a plan, and informs local politi-cians about the creative planning work being done by communities and the need to implement their rec-ommendations. The Campaign also launched a new

Left: There is currently no waterfront access to the East River from 38th Street to 63rd Street. Below left: A coalition of Brooklyn elected officials and civic groups, including MAS, launced an initiative to pass new legislation that would reform the governance of the Atlantic Yards project. Below right: Neighborhood activism at work. (All photos this page: MAS)

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website, www.communitybasedplanningnyc.org, to support the reforms promoted by the Task Force and focus attention on the grassroots planning activities taking place throughout the city.

Atlantic Yards and Brooklyn SpeaksIn September 2006, MAS formed BrooklynSpeaks.net, a coalition of twelve national, citywide, and lo-cal civic and community groups, to push for major changes to the Atlantic Yards project: improving the transportation and housing policy of the project; ensuring that the scale and design fit with the sur-rounding historic neighborhoods; and, most impor-tantly, that the public is involved in the project’s decision-making. Atlantic Yards is currently the only state project with no dedicated oversight entity or vehicle for community input.

Last August, the BrooklynSpeaks.net coalition and its partners issued a white paper (available at www.brooklynspeaks.net/reformgovernance) that proposed reforming the project by establishing a new trust to oversee the project as well as a stake-holder council that would advise the trust and

provide a vehicle for community input. Nearly all the elected officials representing the project area endorsed the proposal and will introduce legislation implementing it in the New York State Assembly this summer.

More recently, after substantial delays to elements of the project were reported in the news media, BrooklynSpeaks.net organized a high-profile rally at the site to call a “time-out” on demolition of existing buildings on the site until the revised planning and timeline of the project were understood. MAS also released a set of dramatic renderings that illustrate the developer’s plans to create “temporary” parking lots for more than 1,600 cars that will blight the sur-rounding neighborhoods (www.atlanticlots.com).

Coney IslandLast November, the city announced its intention to redevelop Coney Island into a year-round, vibrant entertainment district, allowing for the construction of a new amusement area, hotels and entertainment retail. MAS testified at the scoping hearing for the environmental review of the project, calling for the

Below: MAS released a set of renderings depicting the potential impact of interim parking lots and empty land on the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn. (Jonathan Barkey/MAS) Below right: The landmark rollercoaster, the Cyclone, was built in 1927 and still draws thousands of visitors to Coney Island each summer. (Wally Gobetz) Following pages: The result of the East Side Waterfront Park charette. (MAS)


Rendering: MAS

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city to ensure that Coney Island remains a genuinely regional destination, to broaden its plan beyond the current 19 blocks surrounding the boardwalk to include the Coney Island Railyards and Coney Island Creek, and to develop an interim plan for the period before and during redevelopment to ensure Coney Island remains active in that period. For more infor-mation, visit www.mas.org/coneyisland.

125th Street Rezoning125th Street is Harlem’s “Main Street” and one of the city’s most famed and vibrant boulevards. MAS took an active role in the review of the city’s rezon-ing initiative, which held the promise to revitalize 125th Street as Harlem’s vibrant mixed-use corridor. While the city’s goals were laudable, MAS raised concerns about key aspects of the plan at a number of public hearings.

MAS urged the City Planning Commission to respect Harlem’s heritage and character by preserving its landmark quality buildings, to ensure that new development is compatible with the street’s existing character, to foster Harlem-based arts and culture

institutions, to preserve local retailers, to create af-fordable housing that meets the community’s needs and to plan for waterfront access, especially on the East River. The city’s final plan proposed a loan fund to aid small businesses that will be displaced. MAS will continue to study how we might protect small retail establishments to ensure New York City’s ur-ban retail diversity is not eroded.

Below left: The rezoning initiative held the promise to revitalize 125th Street as Harlem’s vibrant mixed-use corridor, maintaining a specific emphasis on the arts and entertainment industry. (Carlos Martinez) Below right: Called the “Eiffel Tower of Brooklyn” the Parachute Jump is another landmark structure at Coney Island, along with the Cyclone and the Wonder Wheel. (Jason Ryan)

The famous Apollo Theater will anchor the new entertainment and arts district on 125th Street.

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Angela Radelescu


Preservation

Save Brooklyn’s Industrial HeritageResponding to the destruction of some of Brooklyn’s most important historic buildings and sites, and the threats others face, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the industrial heritage of the Brooklyn waterfront to its annual list of the nation’s 11 Most Endangered Places last June. The listing was based on a nomination submitted by MAS.

Since the highly publicized announcement, during which MAS kicked off its campaign to Save Brooklyn’s Industrial Heritage, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has acted to protect some of the most significant places for which the MAS had been advocating designation: specifically, three buildings at the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory buildings, and the DUMBO Industrial Historic District.

While some sites have been saved, others remain at risk, like the Kent Avenue Power Station in Williamsburg. MAS continues to be the watchdog for the protection of historic buildings as Brooklyn’s

manufacturing and industrial neighborhoods like the Gowanus Canal are rezoned. Furthermore, MAS continues to identify significant buildings and advocate for their protection. These issues are the focus of a website, www.saveindustrialbrooklyn.org, which includes an interactive map that uses contemporary and historic photographs and engaging histories to document more than 100 important buildings and structures on the waterfront.

Prospect HeightsMAS has continued to advocate for the designation of Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, as a historic district. The neighborhood, which sits in the shadows of the Atlantic Yards project, contains blocks lined with beautiful, late nineteenth-century Italianate and neo-Grec rowhouses, interspersed with historic churches and commercial buildings.

Following an 1,100-building survey of the historic architecture of Prospect Heights that MAS and the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Corporation submitted to the LPC in April 2007, MAS completed a report this spring on historic

A city’s individual landmarks, historic buildings and neighborhoods contribute to its character and quality of life, and should be protected and integrated into future development. MAS preserves the vibrant character of New York City by safeguarding historic buildings and neighborhoods.

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census data of the neighborhood, which revealed its unique social history.

MAS advocacy is paying off; the LPC held a com-munity forum this spring on Prospect Heights and shared their proposed boundaries for a 700-building district. The LPC may calendar the district as soon as this year, the first step in the designation process. Designation will ensure this beautiful neighborhood’s special character remains intact.

Funding the Landmarks Preservation CommissionFor the second year, MAS joined preservation groups across the city to lobby the City Council to raise the budget for the LPC. Last year, in an effort led by Council Member Jessica Lappin, the City Council renewed and increased funding to $300,000, thereby enabling the LPC to retain five survey and research staff members and continue the level of designation work necessary in the current building boom. During the past two years, a remarkable difference in the LPC’s designation activity has been visible as a result of this increased funding and staffing. MAS began the campaign to increase LPC funding three years

ago after releasing a study that analyzed the LPC’s staffing, spending and work load since the 1960s, and found the agency was sorely underfunded.

TWA TerminalAfter years of fighting to ensure the preservation and adaptive reuse of Eero Saarinen’s TWA Terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, its redevelopment as the new JetBlue terminal has begun. When the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey first began considering an addition to the terminal, MAS, along with DOCOMOMO and the Preservation League of New York State, succeeded in urging them to retain an airport-related use and ensure the terminal’s views of planes taking off and arriving at JFK. MAS also prepared an alternate plan for the terminal that met these requirements and saved the terminal’s flight wings, under threat of demolition. Though our proposal was not incorporated, JetBlue’s building will be secondary to Saarinen’s terminal, where passengers will check in before walking through the original two tubes that used to lead to the flight wings, and now terminate at

Left: Preservationists surveyed brownstone blocks in Prospect Heights. (Patti Veconi) Below left: Peo-ple gathered on the steps of City Hall for the 2nd Annual rally to fund the Landmarks Preservation Commission. (Patti Veconi) Below right: DUMBO should be designated a historic district. (MAS)


Pete Jeliffe

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the new building. MAS will continue to monitor the project to ensure the building’s preservation.

Place Matters 10-Year AnniversaryTen years ago, growing from the concern that many people shared that places of cultural and historical value were disappearing, City Lore and MAS founded Place Matters. Place Matters has accomplished a tremendous amount of work since then, most sig-nificantly, the Census of Places that Matter, which contains more than 650 places that the public has nominated as places they care about. Place Matters uses this census as the basis for educational programs and advocacy to promote and protect those places.

The success of Place Matters is studied as a model all over the Northeast and Great Lakes Region, in Canada, and in New Orleans. Place Matters staff have delivered keynote addresses at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Florida Atlantic University, and the Chicago Historical Society, and have conducted workshops and talks in sites all over New York City.

Adopt-a-MonumentIn response to the deterioration of many of New York City’s outdoor statues and limited resources to preserve them, MAS initiated the Adopt-A-Monu-ment Program in 1987 in collaboration with the Art Commission of the City of New York and the Parks Department. The program was born as a plea to cor-porate and private donors to support the conserva-tion of 20 of the city’s most neglected public statues. Following the success of this project, the Adopt-A-Mural Program was created in 1991. More than $3 million has been raised to restore and maintain 50 works of public art.

Last summer, George Trescher’s legacy gift to the Adopt-A-Monument Program made the major conservation of the James Gordon Bennett Monu-ment (The Bellringers) possible. Once again, passersby in Herald Square can watch as two mus-cular blacksmiths strike the historic bell, resonating hourly chimes. The monument, designed in 1894 by sculptor Jean-Anton Carles (the granite pedestal was reconceived by architect Aymar Embury II in 1940), was restored in November. The bronze

Below left: Men play bocce at William F. Moore Park in Corona, Queens, one of hundreds of locations recorded in the Place Matters Census. (Martha Cooper) Below right: The James Gordon Bennett Monument, The Bellringers, was restored through the Adopt-A-Monument Program in November. (Wilson Conservation, LLC)

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figures were conserved by Wilson Conservation and the stone cleaned and repointed by Integrated Conservation Resources.

Tribute in LightOn March 11, 2002, six months after the attacks on the World Trade Center, two great beams of light rose from Lower Manhattan and filled the night sky. The Tribute in Light honors those who were lost on September 11 as well as those who worked so hard to get our city through that terrible trial. The idea for the lights was independently conceived by several artists and designers, who were brought together under the auspices of MAS and Creative Time. The Tribute in Light is now produced annually by MAS on the September 11th anniversary.

MAS will produce the Tribute in Light memorial on September 11, 2008, for the seventh and final year under our current contract with the Lower Manhat-tan Development Corporation, although we will be renegotiating an extension with them in 2009. We also expect to be negotiating a new maintenance contract with Space Cannon Italia, the manufactur-

ers of the lights. MAS will begin to strategize about the future of the lights after the Memorial Museum is completed. If they are to continue, in line with public sympathies, a plan for their ultimate location, opera-tion, and financing will need to be developed.

Laurie Sexton


Community Planning Assistance

Livable NeighborhoodsWhile the neighborhood experts are the people who live there, lack of training can be an obstacle to public participation. To help New Yorkers participate in shaping their neighborhoods, MAS held the second annual Livable Neighborhoods Program, Resources and Training for Community-Based Planners, at Hunter College this spring. Livable Neighborhoods addresses the needs of both community board members, whose votes on land use issues are strictly advisory but who are not given adequate resources to make critical planning decisions, and members of the public who want to engage more deeply with their communities.

100 New Yorkers participated in a one-day training program that provided materials and workshops on everything from zoning regulations, to how to create a community plan that elected officials will take seri-ously. Participants received a “toolkit” that includes chapters on community organizing, data collection, 197-a planning, “brownfield” planning, historic and cultural resources preservation, electronic map-

Imagine Flatbush 2030PlaNYC 2030 is New York City’s bold attempt to ad-dress climate change. But while it lays the citywide groundwork, does PlaNYC 2030 adequately address sustainability at the neighborhood level? Our experi-ence shows that planning can’t come strictly from the top, leaving communities wondering what they will be expected to shoulder, and at what cost. Neighborhoods that will eventually absorb the land-use implications of this initiative must participate in the creation of the plans.

Imagine Flatbush 2030 is our attempt to bridge the gap between PlaNYC 2030’s goals and consensus-driven planning. The goal of the project was to empower people with planning tools that will allow them to respond as an organized neighborhood to PlaNYC 2030. During the past year, MAS has worked with residents, business owners, youth, community leaders, social service providers, and clergy in Flat-bush, Brooklyn, to assist them in creating a neighbor-hood sustainability and livability agenda, and tools to measure progress toward consensus-based goals.

A community’s own citizens are the best cham-pions for its future development and should have an active voice in planning their physical sur-roundings. The MAS Planning Center provides tools and training to strengthen the role of citi-zens and the capacity of communities to actively engage in the planning process.

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ping, and the budget process. Membership in an online Practitioners Network enables participants to continue the dialogue and exchange information and resources after the program.

MyCITI MyCITI, an online mapping program, is another tool designed to bolster the planning resources for com-munity boards and community-based organizations. Coupling CITI with recommendations made by the Community-Based Planning Task Force to involve youth more directly in community boards, MAS launched CITI Youth in 2004. The CITI Youth Pro-gram trains students in both the use of the website and the organization and operation of community

boards. As “Map Technicians,” selected high-school students are given internships to attend monthly community board meetings and each meeting of the board’s Housing and Land Use Committee for the duration of the fall and spring semesters of school. Students display maps from the MyCITI website of areas being discussed at the meeting with equipment provided through CITI.

The program is currently in operation in 12 com-munity boards, and next year, MAS plans to expand to 16 community boards and work to increase public awareness of the value of the program, especially at a time when the community boards are facing deep budget cuts.

Far left: Imagine Flatbush 2030 participant presents neighborhood sustainability goals during a workshop at Brooklyn College. (MAS) Left: Imani Aegedoy won the children’s art competition at the Flatbush Frolic last fall to design the logo for Imagine Flatbush 2030. Below: Peejay Howard and Victoria Taylor are CITI Youth Map Technicians for Brooklyn Community Board 3. (Peter Putka)


Public Policy InitiativesThe public policies and laws that regulate a city’s built environment should be vigilantly guarded and maintained. MAS seeks to strengthen and improve the policies that affect the quality of New York City’s built environment and public realm.

State and City Environmental Quality Review Acts (SEQRA and CEQR) The future of New York City will rely on urban planning that prioritizes sustainability. In announc-ing PlaNYC 2030, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said “you can’t formulate a land use plan… without think-ing about global warming.” Now, after several years of abundant urban development, projects in the city are moving forward with little analysis of how they affect climate change. To help address this deficiency, MAS is drafting guidelines that would require de-velopers and governmental agencies to analyze and disclose their impacts on climate change, including a project’s greenhouse gas emissions and vulnerabil-ity to the effects of climate change. It is our hope that this analysis and disclosure will encourage better and more sustainable development.

Environmental impacts are usually disclosed in state-ments required under the state and city Environmen-tal Quality Review Acts (SEQRA and CEQR). With the State Department of Environmental Conserva-tion (DEC) currently working on the issue, MAS will

send its protocol to DEC with the hope of influencing their work.

Nasty NewsracksThe sidewalks of New York City play unwilling hosts to many illegally placed and poorly maintained newsracks that are both eyesores and a hazard to New Yorkers. To combat the proliferation of these newsracks, MAS has taken the lead within the NYC Newsrack Committee, a coalition of civic organiza-tions and BIDs, to change the current laws regulat-ing newsracks. The Committee is calling for the City Council to hold an oversight hearing on the current law to determine how it could be changed to improve current conditions.

To illustrate how poorly maintained and widespread these newsracks are, MAS also held a photo com-petition that garnered more than 200 submissions depicting multiple violations of the city’s ordinances regulating newsracks. The best photographs are featured in a short video on the MAS website: www.mas.org/streetscapes.

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Google Earth


Outdoor AdvertisingLast year the Department of Buildings (DOB) wrote the rules for the law on outdoor advertising signage that the City Council and the Department of City Planning enacted in 2001 and 2005. Since the city was profiting from advertising on street furniture, DOB was promptly sued by several outdoor adver-tising companies who complained that the city was taking unfair advantage of their right to advertise. DOB has since stopped enforcing the new rules and advertising signage has increased. In hopes of a favorable ruling on this issue, MAS recently filed an amicus brief in support of the city’s right to regulate advertising billboards on its arterial highways.

Illegal advertising and unkempt newsracks pervade throughout the city. (Photos—Far left, Liberty Rees. Middle and near left: MAS. Below: Joie Anderson)

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Education and Dialogue

More than 11,000 people viewed the exhibition, 5,000 visited the Jane Jacobs website, and an additional 1,700 participated in the sold-out tours and public programs. In addition, MAS assisted the Rockefeller Foundation in the nomination process for the first annual Jane Jacobs Medal, which recognizes two living persons whose accomplishments represent Jacobsean principles and practices in New York City. The 2007 winners were Barry Benepe, co-founder of Greenmarket, and Omar Freilla, founder of the Green Worker Cooperatives.

ToursStaten Island: Beyond the Boat and Bridge, a six-tour series funded by the Richmond County Savings Bank, explored the often-surprising borough, home to ex-ceptional historic neighborhoods and sites. A reprise of the first MAS bus tour in 1958 included a memo-rable visit to the Vanderbilt Mausoleum, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, the first president of MAS. Alfred Vanderbilt graciously welcomed surprised tour participants, who had not been told in advance that the visit was part of the day’s itinerary.

Jane Jacobs and the Future of New YorkThe highly acclaimed Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York was the centerpiece of our mission to energize a new generation of New Yorkers to observe and recognize the best of their city and become activ-ists for positive change. Sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York initiated a citywide dialogue concerning the rapid pace and breadth of urban development and neigh-borhood change in New York City today.

Faced by similar circumstances in her own era, renowned New York City activist and writer Jane Jacobs articulated the magnitude of the social destruction that can be caused by ill-conceived urban planning. Through a text and multimedia exhibition, an interactive website, public programs, and tours, Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York aimed to broaden discussions of environmental sustainability, community planning and urban vitality using Jacobs’ legacy and values as a powerful model for those who want to take immediate action to ensure New York City’s livability for generations to come.

Broad awareness of the issues that affect a city’s built environment is critical to maintaining an engaged citizenry. MAS seeks to inform the public and build awareness around issues of planning, development, heritage and quality of life in the built environment.


Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York initiated a citywide dialogue concerning the rapid pace and breadth of urban development and neighborhood change in New York City today.

Left: Kent Barwick, President of MAS, and Darren Walker, Vice President of the Rockefeller Foundation, attend the opening of Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York. (All photos this page: Jefferson Siegel)

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A highly-successful series of walking tours related to Jane Jacobs complemented the exhibition, Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York, and illustrated Jane Jacobs’ dictum that to understand what will work for our cities, “…you’ve got to get out there and walk.” These tours took participants to Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Midtown in Manhattan, Green-point in Brooklyn, and Forest Hills, Queens.

A number of walking tours this year focused on neighborhoods where MAS is involved, from Prospect Park, Flatbush, Red Hook and Coney Island to the Farley Building and the Far West Side. MAS tours and programs will continue to align with its advocacy campaigns.

CoursesThis year’s Urban Genealogy course, taught by Anthony Robins, former director of survey at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, drew highly enthusiastic reviews for its “…thorough, clear, comprehensive and entertaining…” presentation of complicated material on how to research historic buildings in New York City. Even a gentleman who came to the sessions “in tow” with his wife found the subject matter interesting due to its “charm, intelli-gence, and depth of knowledge.” At the suggestion of participants, MAS will illustrate online research tools during future seminars.

Due to the high attendance at last year’s program on small and locally-owned retail, MAS opened up one

Photo: Edward A. Toran


of its Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses to the public this past fall: Mom and Pop Among the Chains: Law, Policy and Urban Retail Diversity. This CLE course addressed legal issues relating to maintaining urban retail diversity in New York City, including the concentration of uses in major business and residential districts, the resulting loss of small stores, the economic and legal factors that promote the current conditions, case-studies and zoning initiatives taken by New York City and other mu-nicipalities to promote retail diversification, and the economic value of small-scale retail.

The MAS Reference LibraryThe MAS Reference Library, incorporating the Greenacre Reference Resource, is becoming a much-used source of information on New York City’s built and natural environments. The heart of the library remains its immense collection of clippings which are culled primarily from 33 city dailies and neighborhood weeklies. Following the city’s spate of real estate development, clipping activity in the past year has been especially robust, with thousands of stories added about Brooklyn’s Industrial Waterfront, Manhattan’s Far West Side, and preservation battles and community activism everywhere.

Patricia McHugh, Library Administrator, organizes the 1,600 volumes in the MAS Reference Library. (Joshua McHugh)


The project to catalog MAS records is now in its third year, with some 1,000 items archived—a small beginning for this long-range initiative to preserve MAS history and many achievements for posterity. Again this year, library operations were aided greatly by funding from the Greenacre Foundation and the Reed Foundation.

Urban Center BooksUrban Center Books has been a valuable resource for professionals and laypersons alike since 1980, stocking books on a wide range of architecture and related subjects. It maintains a vital role in the

discussion of architecture in the city and around the world through lectures, discussions and book launches featuring renowned architects and authors. In the past year, it has held programs on architectural design competitions, the changing use of architectural models, urban sprawl, and the character of public space in an age of globalization, privatization and segregation.

The Urban Center Books is an exceptional resource for professionals in New York City, stocking books on a wide range of architecture and related subjects. (Paul Soulellis)


Last summer during East River Day, MAS and the Metropolitan Water-front Alliance premiered their new documentary about the future of New York City’s waterfront, City of Water. Two years in the making, City of Water explores the aspira-tions of public officials, environ-mentalists, academics, community activists, recreational boaters and everyday New Yorkers for a diverse, vibrant waterfront at a time when the shoreline is changing faster than at any other time in New York City’s history.

City of Water

Opposite: stills from the MAS film City of Water


MAS Annual Awards

the accessibility of Long Island City through the publication of maps, street signage, and hosting cultural events.

American Ballroom Theater’s Dancing ClassroomsFeatured in the highly acclaimed documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, Dancing Classrooms’ mission is to build social awareness, confidence, and self-esteem in children through the practice of social dance. Dancing Classrooms now encompasses 18,000 stu-dents in approximately 180 New York City schools.

Solar OneLocated in Stuyvesant Cove Park on the East River, Solar One is a solar-powered environmental learn-ing center that hosts extensive cultural and educa-tional programming to raise money for the steward-ship of the park. Built on a former brownfield site, Stuyvesant Cove Park and Solar One are an excellent example of waterfront reclamation and the public/private management of public space.

311Launched in 2003, 311 now receives more than 40,000 calls per day. Whether it is locating a wallet left in the back of a cab, getting graffiti removed, or complaining about a pothole, 311 is New York City’s one-stop-shop for information about government services from a live operator and for hands on results.

José the Beaver (Bronx River Alliance)In early 2007, the return of a North American beaver to the Bronx River symbolized the success of an enormous rehabilitation effort that has extended over three decades. The beaver was named José after United States Representative for the Bronx José E. Serrano, to recognize his efforts in obtaining $15 mil-lion in federal funds to clean up the river.

Long Island City Cultural AllianceJoining together six premier visual and performing arts destinations, including the Noguchi Museum, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and Socrates Sculpture Park, The Long Island City Cultural Alliance has increased the visibility and promoted

Each year, MAS celebrates New York City’s public art, spaces and streetscapes with public recognition, awards and honors for those who contribute to our quality of life.

33 MAS Annual Awards

The Long Island City Cultural Alliance has increased the visibility and promoted the accessibility of Long Island City through the publication of maps, street signage, and the hosting of cultural events.

Annual Awards CommitteeLewis B. Cullman ChairLarry CondonKitty HawksJustin RockefellerAlison Tocci

Left: A glass-enclosed queen sized bed in Socrates Sculpture Park looks out onto the East River. Socrates Sculpture Park is one of six members of the Long Island City Cultural Alliance. (Flickr/Saitowitz) Below: The Citibank tower in Long Island City is visible through the installation of Liquid Sky, by Ball-Nogues Studio, which was featured at MoMA’s P.S.1—one of the six members of the Long Island City Cultural Alliance. (Wally Gobetz)


Located in Stuyvesant Cove Park on the East River, Solar One is a solar-powered environmental learning center that hosts extensive cultural and educational programming to raise money for the stewardship of the park.

Far left: Built on a former brownfield site, Stuyvesant Cove Park is an excellent example of waterfront reclamation and the public/private management of pub-lic space. (Solar One) Left: The return of a North American beaver to the Bronx River symbolized the success of an enormous rehabilitation effort that has extended over three decades. (Wally Gobetz) Below: Children race solar pow-ered cars at Solar One, a solar-powered environmental learning center located in Stuyvesant Cove Park on the East River. (Solar One) Opposite: The Dancing Classrooms program of the American Ballroom Theater teaches children self-esteem through the practice of social dance. (American Ballroom Theater)

35 MAS Annual Awards


W. Allison and Elizabeth Stubbs Davis AwardAnnually, the W. Allison and Elizabeth Stubbs Davis Award recognizes a New York City Department of Parks and Recreation employee who has shown extraordinary dedication to serving the users of the park system. This year, we salute Andrea Williams for her devotion to the youth of Brooklyn and New York City. As the Recreation Director at St. John’s Recreation Center, Ms. Williams consistently goes the extra mile to support and encourage youth to par-ticipate in the countless recreation, education, and arts opportunities she manages.

Yolanda Garcia Community Planner AwardThe Yolanda Garcia Community Planner Award acknowledges the often-unsung leaders of grassroots, community-based planning. The award was created to commemorate the work of Ms. Yolanda Garcia, a community activist in the South Bronx. Under Ms. Garcia’s leadership, the residents of Melrose challenged the city, created an alternative to an urban renewal plan, and transformed a neighborhood. The organization created by Ms. Garcia, We Stay/Nos Quedamos, is bringing that community’s vision to life through planning, design, construction, and programming.

W. Allison and Elizabeth Stubbs Davis Award winner Andrea Williams (center) stands with New York City Department of Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe (right). (New York City Department of Parks and Recreation)

37

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis MedalMAS proudly presented the 2007 Jacqueline Kenne-dy Onassis Medal to Wade F.B. Thompson and Elihu Rose for their tremendous contribution to New York City and its cultural life: the restoration of the Park Avenue Armory.

In 1993, unable to tolerate further deterioration of the historic armory—with rooms designed by Stan-ford White, Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Herter Brothers—Wade F. B. Thompson, a businessman, phi-lanthropist and neighbor, urged MAS to form a com-mittee aimed at rescuing the building and securing its future for the citizens of New York City. Soon after, his good friend Elihu Rose, a real-estate executive

Prizes

and military historian, joined the campaign, and the Seventh Regiment Armory Conservancy was born.

Together they enlisted a group of distinguished New Yorkers to join the Conservancy board, marshalled the resources for the building’s restoration, and re-cruited its talented leadership and staff. In Novem-ber 2006, after more than a decade of negotiation, the Conservancy signed a 99-year lease with New York State.

The transformation is already splendidly visible. The grand 125-year-old entry doors and iron gates have been restored, the central tower has been cleaned, the historic military paintings have been lit for the

The MAS Annual Benefit was held at the historic Park Avenue Armory where Wade F.B. Thompson and Elihu Rose were honored with the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal for their tremendous contribution to its restoration. (All photos this page: Steven Tucker)


first time in decades, and the surrounding gardens are being tended. The restoration and rejuvenation of the majestic structure is a gift Messrs Thompson and Rose have given back to New York City, and MAS is especially proud to have helped them get started with the creation of Seventh Regiment Armory Conser-vancy in 1997.

MASterwork AwardsLaunched in 2001 to recognize the best of the city’s new architecture and design, this year’s MASterwork Awards were presented at the IAC Building in early May. We thank Helaba, an international commercial bank, for sponsoring the awards. The winners were:

Best New Building• The New York Times Building sets new standards

in innovative green technology and public space for commercial office towers. The curtain wall of glass cloaked by a delicate veil of ceramic tubes allows light to penetrate, while deflecting sun and heat, reducing the building’s total energy consumption. People walking through the lobby and passersby

on Eighth Avenue are drawn to the building by the visible oasis of birch trees on moss, sprouting from its interior atrium.

• Frank Gehry’s brilliant vision of billowing white sails along the Hudson River, manifest in the IAC Building, is a beacon for the exciting architectural renaissance of the West Chelsea waterfront area. New feats in engineering were accomplished to integrate the technological needs of this modern office building with its unique sculptural quality.

• Expert craftsmen took painstaking care to re-store the severely deteriorated late 19th century synagogue for the Museum at Eldridge Street, revealing the original design and function while preserving the effects of time. Every detail, from the stained-glass windows to the undulations in the flooring left from years of people praying, was integrated into a cohesive preservation project.

Best Historic Restoration • Located in New York City’s up-and-coming high-

fashion quarter, the new Diane von Furstenberg (DVF) Studio Headquarters retains two late 19th

Left: The 2008 MASterwork Awards were held at the IAC Building (Peter Parris). MASterwork’s Best New Buildings: the New York Times Building (below left) (Flickr/RNicola), designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop in association with FXFOWLE and the IAC Building (below right) designed by Gehry Partners, LLC (Esto Photographics). Opposite: One of MASterwork’s two Best Historic Restorations: the Museum at Eldridge Street, by Walter Sedovic Architects. (Kate Milford)

MASterwork Awards CommitteeJerry SpeyerJohn BelleRick BellGregg PasquarelliJudith Saltzman

39 Prizes


Timothy Schenck

41 Prizes41 Prizes


century buildings that lent the Meatpacking Dis-trict its name. With the restoration of the façades and cast-iron columns of the buildings, the DVF Studio Headquarters respects the historic fabric of the neighborhood while introducing creative green technology elements like the ‘stairdelier’ which reflects sunlight from mirrors and crystals to bring light throughout the building.

Neighborhood Catalyst• Built within an existing barge, the Floating Pool

made a big splash during its premiere last summer at Brooklyn Bridge Park, drawing in visitors from the borough and beyond. Taking a historical cue from New York City’s former “floating baths,” the Floating Pool provides recreational opportunities in under-served communities, draws people to the waterfront, and will continue to do so at its new location each summer.

• The New Museum is both the anchor and catalyst for the burgeoning contemporary art scene on the Lower East Side. The art of envisioning galleries is taken to a new level as the shifting floor plan gives

way to irregularly placed skylights that subtly af-fect how the art is viewed. Stamping a new shape on the Bowery skyline, the innovative design of the New Museum proves that great new architecture can be produced on a smaller scale and reasonable budget.

Brendan Gill PrizeThe 2007 Brendan Gill Prize honored playwright and poet Sarah Jones for her Tony-award winning one-woman show “Bridge & Tunnel.” The play’s sweeping celebration of New York City’s diversity with all its idiosyncrasies, conflicts and humor, was represented in fourteen different characters Ms. Jones created. As a work of art, the play, together with the process that fueled it and the talent that abounds within it, attests to the artistic energy that is the essence of the Brendan Gill Prize. Named for late The New Yorker drama and architecture critic, keen cultural observer, and former MAS chairman, the Brendan Gill Prize, now in its 20th year, is awarded annually to encour-age innovative artistic responses to urban life.

Below left: The Diane von Furstenberg Studio Headquarters, by Work Architecture Company. (Elizabeth Felicella) Below right: MASterwork’s Best Neighborhood Catalysts, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, design by SANAA (Dean Kaufman), and The Floating Pool (previous spread), designed by Jonathan Kirschenfeld Associates (Timothy Schenck).

Brendan Gill Prize JuryRandall Bourscheidt ChairmanJessica ChaoKinshasha Holman ConwillTom FinkelpearlJane Gullong

Paul GuntherJohn HaworthSuketu MehtaHelen S. Tucker

43 Prizes

The 2007 Brendan Gill Prize honored playwright and poet Sarah Jones for her Tony-award winning one-woman show “Bridge & Tunnel.” As a work of art, the play, together with the process that fueled it and the talent that abounds within it, attests to the artistic energy that is the essence of the Brendan Gill Prize.

Brendan Gill jury member Kinshasha Holman Conwill; Brendan Gill’s daughter, Kate Gill; actor and winner of the 2007 Gill Prize, Sarah Jones; and chair of the Gill jury, Randall Bourscheidt. (Jefferson Siegel)


Membership and SupportMAS members are a vital part of our 115-year effort to promote visionary urban planning, historic preservation and design. Throughout the year, members get a behind-the-scenes look at the forces that are shaping the future of New York City and discover a host of fascinating exhibitions and programs that celebrate this great city.

45 Promote MAS—Donor/Membership Opportunities

Richard Morris Hunt PatronsNamed for the first president of MAS, the Patron’s pro-gram is an inner circle of our most dedicated supporters whose financial assistance is critical to our efforts. Our Patrons not only make a philanthropic commitment to MAS, but also have an abiding interest in the issues and people that shape our urban landscape. We create op-portunities for our Patrons to get an even closer look at the work that we do through our exclusive “Shaping the City” evenings with the city’s foremost urban planners and master architects, invitations to our annual Livable City Luncheon and Patrons-only cocktail events with board members and MAS policy directors that give an inside view on our crucial issues of architecture, urban planning and historic preservation. Richard Morris Hunt Patrons make annual contributions to MAS of $1,000 and up.

MAS MembersMAS welcomes members at levels ranging from Stu-dent Members ($20) to Sponsoring Members ($500.) Each membership program offers special benefits and features tailored to each level. All MAS members

receive discounts on walking tours and our evening pro-gram series, as well as discounts at Urban Center Books.

MAS UrbanistsThe MAS Urbanists are New Yorkers in their 20s and 30s who are passionate about improving the quality of the city’s built environment and preserving the best of its architectural and cultural past. Urbanists get an insider’s view of some of the biggest issues in New York City by visiting and assisting the MAS senior advocacy staff in the core campaigns of MAS. Last year, Urbanists photographed buildings and conducted interviews as part of a survey of buildings on Manhattan’s 125th Street, prepared to give tours of Moynihan Station, and had an exclusive roundtable discussion with world-renowned architect David Childs. Saturday afternoon “Pub Crawls” of historic bars in New York City with MAS tour guides, as well as the popular “Urban Hour” happy hour receptions hosted at unique venues throughout the city, offer the Urbanists a chance to get to know each. Urban-ist members make annual contributions of $250.

MAS members gather at the Annual Benefit in the historic Park Avenue Armory (opposite) (Steven Tucker) and at the Urban Center for a panel discus-sion on design and architecture in New York City (below). (Lisa Alpert)


Professional CommitteesPlanning CommitteeEugenie L. Birch Co-ChairBrendan Sexton Co-Chair

Marijke Antonia SmitRichard BassAlbert K. ButzelJocelyne ChaitDavid M. ChildsJerome DeutschWilliam DonohoeKenneth FisherJohn FontillasAdam FriedmanHugh HardyPhilip K. HowardEllen R. JosephAnthony C. M. KiserEric S. LeeMarilyn W. LevyDorothy M. MinerFrederic S. PapertStuart PertzCharles A. PlattZevilla J. PrestonStephen M. RaphaelMildred F. SchmertzSally SmithJohn ShapiroEthel ShefferRobert SpeyerJane StanickiStephen C. SwidJoe WeisbordJohn Pettit WestBarbara Wilkes

Preservation CommitteeCharles A. Platt Co-ChairJudith Saltzman Co-Chair

Norma BarbacciFrancis BoothPeg BreenRichard Wilson CameronDarby R. CurtisWard Dennis

Mary B. DierickxAndrew DolkartFranny EberhartRenee Christine EppsAnne FairfaxHarold FredenburghMargot GayleJoan GeismarMichael GeorgeCharles A. GiffordDiane KaeseJohn KriskiewiczJeffrey KroesslerKen LustbaderHermes MalleaJonathan MarvelDorothy M. MinerEdward T. MohylowskiChristopher NevilleOtis Pratt Pearsall, Esq.Jean Parker PhiferStephen M. RaphaelNina RappaportMarci ReavenJohn T. ReddickJacob TiloveSusan TunickKevin Wolfe

Law CommitteeVicki Been Co-ChairRoss Sandler Co-ChairEarl D. Weiner General Counsel

Antonia Levine BrysonAlbert K. ButzelChristopher CollinsEdward N. CostikyanGordon J. Davis Robert DavisRichard EmeryStephen P. FoleyMichael B. Gerrard Michael S. GruenPhilip K. HowardBrad M. HoylmanSteve Kass

Charles B. KatzensteinHolly M. LeichtMarilyn W. LevyAndrew M. ManshelNorman MarcusJohn E. MerowNancy MillerEileen D. MilletDorothy M. MinerDavid NissenbaumDennis C. O’DonnellOtis Pratt PearsallStephen M. RaphaelChristopher RizzoNicholas A. RobinsonCarol RosenthalRoss SandlerAlan SiegelBruce H. SimonE. Gail SuchmanDavid P. WarnerPhilip Weinberg

Streetscapes CommitteeAlbert K. Butzel Co-ChairAndrew M. Manshel Co-Chair

Frank AddeoBarbara AdlerMark BunnellMichael S. GruenBarbara KnechtNicholas QuennellGregg Solomon

47

MAS StaffStaffKent L. Barwick PresidentNancy AllerstonLisa AlpertAnn AnielewskiMelissa BaldockEve BaronClaire BurkeAl CastriconePhyllis Samitz CohenTamara CoombsKeenan HughesJasper GoldmanVanessa GruenSharmaine Guy-ThompsonGavin KeeneyLisa KersavageKatie KendallRandy LawsonJames S. J. LiaoRobin LynnPatricia McHughAlexis MeiselsOscar MorantaMaia MordanaBenika MorokumaMatthias NeumannKathy O’CallaghanJuan Camilo OsorioGloria ParrisLinda G. Rajotte Dale RamseyFrank E. Sanchis IIISusanna SchallerGenevieve ShermanSideya ShermanJonathan SillsCarlos SolisJo SteffensJean TatgeLacey TauberElizabeth Werbe

Interns Chelsea KubalFran O’SheaSara WalmsleyHans Yoo

VolunteersJennifer BarrettWillemine DassonvilleRobert IngenitoNaomi IwasakiLelis Marquez Janice McQuade Sue NicholsNorman OdlumLydia ThomasSharon TillmanEdward ToranIlona Wells SambasivanJane Woodbridge Kate Zidar

Fellowship

Kress/RFR Fellow for Historic Preservation and Public Policy

Melissa Baldock

MAS is delighted to have been joined by Melissa Baldock this spring as the Kress/RFR Fellow for Historic Preservation and Public Policy. Melissa has worked extensively in preservation advocacy in New York City. Most recently, she was the Director of Preservation and Research for the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP). Melissa has also worked for the Historic Districts Council and Landmark West, and she serves on the Board of the Metropolitan Chapter of the Victorian Society in America. Melissa graduated from Columbia University’s Historic Preservation program in 2003, where she wrote her Master’s thesis on the revitalization of Coney Island. (Photo: Melissa Baldock)


ContributorsUrban Champions ($25,000+)Altman FoundationThe Estate of Giorgio CavaglieriChanel Inc.Douglas Durst & The Durst OrganizationGreenacre FoundationWilliam and Mary Greve FoundationAgnes Gund Marc Haas Foundation, Inc.Frederick J. IsemanHelaba, Landesbank Hessen-ThüringenAlexandra and Philip K. HowardSamuel H. Kress Foundation Thomas and Leslie MaherasJohn E. MerowMizuho USA Foundation, Inc.New York City Department of Cultural AffairsNew York Community TrustNew York State Council on the ArtsRFR Realty LLCAmanda and Richard RiegelThe Rockefeller FoundationSusan and Elihu RoseJoanna and Daniel RoseThe Estate of Arthur RossJanet C. RossRobert S. RubinAmy and Jeffrey SilvermanAngela and Wade F.B. ThompsonHelen S. TuckerPaul UnderwoodH. van Ameringen FoundationRobert W. WilsonNorman and Rosita Winston Foundation

Advocates ($10,000 - $24,999)Elizabeth H. AtwoodPaul R. BeirneEugenie and Robert BirchBloombergCon EdisonCovington & Burling LLP Dorothy and Lewis CullmanCheryl Cohen Effron and Blair EffronHeidi EttingerDeborah and Kim Fennebresque

Barbara G. FleischmanKaren J. Freedman and Roger E. WeisbergNina P. Freedman and Michael L. RosenbaumSusan K. Freedman and Richard JacobsGoldman, Sachs & Co.Hagedorn FundGurnee F. and Marjorie L. HartKitty Hawks and Larry LedermanMichael HoffmanJujamcyn TheatresMelvyn KaufmanMrs. Stephen M. KellenRocco LandesmanJames T. Lee FoundationThe Liman FoundationMusa and Thomas MayerJulie and Bruce MeninRonay and Richard MenschelMetLife FoundationAudrey and Daniel MeyerDamon MezzacappaMoynihan Station VentureNew York City CouncilThe New York Times Company FoundationBeverly and Peter OrthweinThe Reed Foundation, Inc.The Related CompaniesCandice Bergen and Marshall RoseDonna and Marvin SchwartzSilverweed FoundationSkidmore, Owings & Merrill LLPHoward SolomonJerry I. SpeyerAllison S. Cowles and Arthur O. SulzbergerTishman Speyer Properties, Inc.Verizon FoundationVornado Realty TrustWachtell, Lipton, Rosen & KatzWachovia Foundation

Chairman’s Circle ($5,000 - $9,999)Angelo Gordon and Co.Barker Welfare FoundationHoward Bayne FundJudy and Howard BerkowitzThe Bonnie Cashin Fund

49 Contributors

Lisa and Dick CashinDavid M. ChildsGreta Weil and Richard F. ConwaySharon S. DavisMichael P. DonovanFlorence D’UrsoInger and Osborn ElliottThe Blanche Enders Charitable TrustEverett FoundationDebbi GibbsHellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Inc.J.M. Kaplan FundFrederick KlingensteinLeonard A. LauderLawrence LedermanArthur L. LoebNovak Charitable TrustShafi and Alexander RoepersPeter Jay Sharp FoundationMay and Samuel Rudin Family Fund, Inc.Sotheby’sSulzberger FoundationTishman Construction Corporation of New YorkHope and Michael Wolkowitz

President’s Circle ($2,500 - $4,999)Acheson Doyle PartnersArquitectonicaBernstein Global Wealth ManagementBeyer Blinder Belle Architects & PlannersMildred C. BrinnCook + Fox ArchitectsMary Billard and Barry CooperGordon J. DavisDavis Polk & WardwellFlack + KurtzFXFOWLE Architects PCPatricia and George GrunebaumIsrael Discount BankSaul B. HamondDuane HamptonAshton HawkinsPriscilla and Ronald HoffmanRobin and William HubbardCary KoplinSamuel H. Kress Foundation

Lee Harris Pomeroy Arch., P.C.The Leon Levy FoundationDouglas J. ListerJudith and Michael MarguliesRichard Meier & PartnersSusan and Joel MindelGillian and Sylvester MiniterMoed de Armas & Shannon ArchitectsRichard J. MoylanNewmark Knight FrankPatricia C. O’GradyPei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLPPolshek Partnership ArchitectsJoan and Charles PlattJennifer J. RaabSheila and Joseph RosenblattRobert D. SantosBrendan SextonKatherine and William SchrenkS.H.o.P Architects PCMike and Janet SlosbergDavid K. SpecterRobert A.M. Stern / Robert A.M. Stern ArchitectsMichael B. StubbsTiffany & Co.Turner Construction CompanyEarl D. WeinerShelby WhiteWilliam H. Wright, IIGary J. Zarr

Richard Morris Hunt Patrons ($1,000 - $2,499)Mr. and Mrs. Richard AbronsGillis M. AddisonMr. and Mrs. O. Kelley AndersonCharlotte P. ArmstrongDavid N. AuthDavid L. BankerKent BarwickLaurie BeckelmanBrook and Andrew BergerWendy McCary and Henry R. BreckWilliam F. CaplanDiana D. ChapinNeil D. ChrismanChristie’s


Diane M. CoffeyAnne and John CoffinHenry S.F. CooperThe Cowles Charitable TrustJ. Christopher DalyDolores C. DanzigJoan K. DavidsonMary and Maxwell DavidsonElinor and Jerome DeutschJohn di DomenicoMs. Sheila Mahoney and Dr. R. Gordon DouglasLili B.L.D. ErvinFairfax & Sammons ArchitectsLuke FichthornElinor T. FineLynn A. FosterHelen FrankenthalerSusan K. FreedmanAndrew FriedmanKathryn Mullen and Michael K. FrithMr. and Mrs. Clayton W. Frye Jr.Paul GangseiGensler Architecture, Design & Planning WorldwideMichael B. GerrardMichele van Deventer and Charles A. GiffordGruzen Samton Architects Planners & Interior Designers LLPBette-Ann Gwathmey and Charles GwathmeyWalter J. HandelmanHugh HardyMrs. Andrew HeiskellIsabel Thigpen HillMark S. HochbergJudith and Walter HuntAmie and Tony JamesRobert D. JoffeSusan H. Jones and Rick EatonHarry KamenGeorge S. KaufmanFrancoise Bollack and Thomas KillianKinney Memorial FoundationCostas A. Kondylis

Marilyn W. LevyDorothy LichtensteinAmbassador Earle I. Mack and Mrs. Carol MackEdward A. MainzerIsabel and Peter MalkinLynne and Burton ManningPeter Marino & Associates ArchitectsJonathan MarvelKaren L. McDonaldPatricia and Peter McHughRenee McKeeJoyce F. MenschelPamela and Michael MilesLynden and Leigh MillerAchim MoellerHenriette MontgomeryMargaret MoriartyEnid and Lester MorseJane and Jerry MountJim C. NimmichDavid P. NolanThe Old Stones Foundation, Inc.Abby and George O’NeillClaudia and Gunnar OverstromRafael PelliPeter Pennoyer ArchitectsRaymond PepiLecia Harbison and Aubrey PetersonJean Parker PhiferHelen and Robert PilkingtonPlatt Byard Dovell White Architects, LLPAnnabelle PragerQuadrangle Group LLCBridget RestivoGenie RiceJulie and Luis RinaldiniDavid Rockefeller, Sr. Peter E. RothLinda R. SafranFrank E. Sanchis IIIMargot Wellington and Albert SandersSuzanne R. SantryGil ShivaCathy and Robert ShyerSandy and Alan Siegel

Juliet SinghLaurence T. SorkinJennifer and Edmund A. StanleySterling National BankScott M. StuartNan and Stephen C. SwidMarcy SymsDouglas H. TeesonDonna L. ThompsonGeoffrey A. ThompsonPamela and David ThompsonBarbara ToberScotti and William TomsonLitsa D. TsitseraCalvin TsaoJoy and Senen UbiñaRichard R. VietorMiriam G. WallachChristopher O. WardFred WistowGeri and David WolfLois and Bruce ZenkelStephen ZoukisLloyd P. Zuckerberg and Charlotte Triefus

Sponsors ($500 - $999)Paul F. BalserThomas BalsleyClay H. BarrJohn BerendtElizabeth H. BergerElissa and Matthew BernsteinToni and Seth BernsteinPaul BrochesVin CipollaAndrew ClunnKinshasha Holman ConwillJudy CormierChristina R. DavisGeorge de BrigardJohn Howard DobkinRobert E. DoernbergEugenia G. DooleyElaine M. DrewPeter DuchinLinda A. Ellis

51 Contributors

Mrs. Jules EnrichRenee C. EppsRuth and Arthur FederMartha J. FleischmanMiriam FondPeter FrelinghuysenSuzanne FryeDawne M. GrannumMolly B. Hart and Michael D. GriffinGeoffrey GundMaureen HackettAlvin HampelSusan T. HermansonTerry HermansonValentin E. HernandezSuzanne C. HoytKarl KatzRoy B. KleinRonny and Robert A. LevineMrs. Mortimer LevittJudith H. LewisVirginia S. LyonHeidi Waleson and Andrew ManshelPatricia P. MarcoAaron MarcuJoseph F. McCrindleSandra E. MintzNBC Broadcast and Network OperationsCoco Hoguet NeelNew York Women Executives in Real EstateGuy NordensonPeter M. PennoyerMarie-Noelle and John PierceMike PlumleyFrederic C. RichNathan RileyAlexandra RoseDavid RosenbergSally and Blair RubleThe Estate of Mr. Salvatore SaracenoRosalie T. SaylesJoyce P. SchwartzMr. and Mrs. Martin E. SegalThe Honorable Felice K. SheaMr. and Mrs. Constantine Sidamon-Eristoff

Salli J. SnyderJane Ginsburg and George T. SperaBenjamin F. StapletonWilliam C. SterlingLois TeichNatalie TrojanKaren E. WagnerSteadman H. WestergaardDonna and Robert WhitefordNancy Wong

Friends ($250 - $499)Harriet AlpertMary Anne and Frank ArismanWilliam M. AyresJeannette G. BamfordPauline Gray and Edward S. BarnardVicki BeenLisanne Beretta and Hans-Christian RitterR. O. BlechmanRobin Lynn and Larry BlumbergNancy B. BoweMary and John BrownBen BrownDeborah and Jonathan ButlerRobert L. CahillBarney CatalanottoMarch and Philip CavanaughNancy M. ChaseGerard B. DagesHenri M. De FournierPaula DipernaSusan G. DobanArthur D. EmilGail EricksonMichael J. EwingPatricia H. FalkBarbara E. FischerRobert Frear and Tim KennedyPeter FrishaufMark GallopsClaudia L. GanzBeatriz GarciaStephanie GelbLee P. GelberAbby P. Gilmore

Jane and Charles GoldmanElaine GrahamPaul GuntherGraham HansonGeorge HargreavesMarjorie HeinsSteven Holl ArchitectsArlyn ImbermanSteven L. IsenbergBridget Thexton and Robert IuloPamela JeromeMary Margaret JonesWendy Evans JosephEllen and Lawrence JosephMichele and Thomas KahnPaula A. Moss and David I. KarabellKennedy & Violich ArchitectureMargaret and Henry KingVictor A. KovnerTerese and Alvin LaneVirginia S. Clark and James S.J. LiaoWilliam LloydRichard H. MaidmanHermes MalleaRobert E. McCueDeborah McManusKellie MelindaAlan MelnikerFriedrike MerckJonathan MerrillPauline C. MetcalfRobyn MewshawEileen D. MillettMary A. MitchellLisa and Thomas NewellDaniel A. NickolichJeffrey S. NordhausBarbara E. Champoux and Richard O’ConorClaudia OberwegerChauncey ParkerJennifer ParsonsJames R. PepperHarold S. PerlmutterJeanette and Stuart PertzJoseph PiersonJay Polonsky


Elise M. QuasebarthGrace and Nicholas QuennellRand Engineering & Architecture, PCElese ReidRockwell GroupMerrill RoseGeorgina and John RowleySteven SachsPatricia E. SaigoJudith SaltzmanAlice and Ross SandlerMrs. Frederick Bakwin SelchShirley M. WeissJamil SimonWilliam M. SingerLouisa C. SpencerSusan SpringerMarie-Monique SteckelJill Pliskin and John SteinbergJames J. StorrowEmily H. SusskindJack TaylorRobert ThillWellington S. TichenorSuzanne ToddStewart UpsonGilbert J. VeconiJames R. WachtCynthia C. WainwrightSusan and Kenneth WallachMrs. William B. WarrenJames B. WaufordMary M. Habstritt and Gerald P. WeinsteinMarcy Brownson and Edwin J. WeselyGwendolyn M. WidellRichard M. WinnPatricia S. WiseHoward S. YarussBrett I. ZbarBeth and Marty Zubatkin

UrbanistsSteering CommitteeAndrew I. BartSarah CornellJennifer R. Curry

George de BrigardJeremy S. EdmundsSarah EisengerLawrence J. FabbroniJulia NoranSally J. SmithNancy WongSapna AdvaniAnita AguilarMichael AradChristine CachotColleen CarneyDavid CunninghamTimothy W. DanielsChad W. DiStefanoWill ElkinsLuke FichthornMark N. FogginJonathan GhassemiDawne Marie GrannumAlison GreenbergMark S. HochbergJacqui HogansChristine E. HongWilliam HuberS. B. HueyRush Jenkins and Klaus BaerGene A. JohnsonThomas A. KalvikRobin KemperMatthew B. KirbyAltan KolsalJoseph LaszloTrent LethcoAndrew G. LewisMatthew A. LynchMark ManninoTimothy MartinGregory J. MasonJustin R. MillerTerri MillsSusannah MillsKathryn R. O’DonnellPatricia O’KickiKatherine PalmKaren A. Philips

Daniel PopadynecJoel RaminDonald RiderAndrew RigieThomas RivkinFrank RuchalaEllen P. RyanKelly ScheerMarcus T. SeguiJeffrey C. ShumakerWilliam M. SilvermanRandall I. StemplerDavid E. StutzmanLiza TraftonJeffrey TreutNatalie TrojanValerie TrujilloD’Juro Villaran-RokovichCaleb J. WeinsteinMark N. WiglerJames M. WolinRobert B. Zapp

53 Friends

1 James Sanders, Marijke Smit 2 Sandra Ripert, Christine Cachot, Gillian Miniter 3 Genie and Robert Birch, Coco and Arie Kopelman 4 Julie Lawrence, Ron Schiffman 5 Hugh Hardy, Dan Kaplan, Philip Howard 6 Giles Ashford, Erica Eudoxie 7 Julie Menin, Larry Lederman, Kitty Hawks, Marian Heiskell 8 Kent Barwick 9 Kitty Hawks, Yeohlee Teng, Agnes Gund 10 Laurie Beckelman, Paul Goldberger 11 Phyllis Cohen, Billy Wright 12 Wade Thompson, Susan Rose, Elihu Rose, Angela Thompson 13 Adam Flatto, Joe Rose, Marshall Rose, Jerry Speyer 14 Ronay Menschel, Kate Levin 15 Amale Andraos, Diane von Furstenberg, John Belle, Dan Wood (Photos: Jefferson Siegel 1, 4, 6; Patrick McMullen 2, 9; Steven Tucker 3, 5, 7, 10, 12, 14; Peter Paris 8, 11, 13, 15)Friends

1

7

10

13

4

2

8

11

14

5

3

9

12

15

6


“The great city can teach something that no university by itself can altogether impart… a vivid sense of our absolute dependence on one another.” SETH LOW

55 Consolidated Statement of Activities

“The great city can teach something that no university by itself can altogether impart… a vivid sense of our absolute dependence on one another.” SETH LOW


Consolidated Statement of ActivitiesAssetsCash and money market funds

Investments

Accounts and contributions receivable, net

Prepaid expenses

Inventory

Leasehold improvements, equipment and furniture, net

Assets held for Tribute in Light project

Custodial fund investments

Cash held for tenants’ security deposits

Deposits and other assets

Liabilities and Net AssetsLiabilities

Accounts payable and accrued expenses

Funds held as custodian for others

Assets due to Tribute in Light project

Deferred revenue

Tenants’ security deposits

Total liabilities

Net assets

Unrestricted

Temporarily restricted

Permanently restricted

Total net assets

2007

$ 1,033,748

9,635,532

745,299

69,594

248,415

291,320

909,600

749,539

146,367

121,067

$ 13,950,481

$ 490,609

749,539

909,600

64,324

146,367

2,360,439

2,401,693

3,533,058

5,655,291

11,590,042

$ 13,350,481

2008

$ 305,243

11,642,255

782,245

59,869

235,855

280,651

909,600

778,687

67,991

121,067

$ 15,183,463

$ 664,266

778,687

909,600

55,405

67,991

2,475,949

1,763,232

3,288,991

7,655,291

12,707,514

$ 15,183,463

57 Consolidated Statement of Activities

Operating Support and RevenueGrants and gifts

Memberships

Tours, courses and special events (net of special event expenses)

Gross profit on book sales

Allocated investment income

Interest on short term deposits and other income

Rental (loss) income (net of related expenses)

Miscellaneous income

Net assets released from restrictions

Total operating support and revenue

Operating ExpensesProgram

Administrative

Fundraising

Membership

Total operating expenses

Change in net assets from operations

Other Changes in Net AssetsNon-operating investment income

Change in net assets

Net AssetsBeginning of year

End of year

Unrestricted

$ 1,463,110

127,230

747,944

200,806

320,920

4,724

(373,664)

4,615

1,791,510

4,287,195

3,488,089

721,569

599,007

191,623

5,000,288

(713,093)

74,632

(638,461)

2,401,693

$ 1,763,232

Temporarily Restricted

$ 1,407,568

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

( 1,791,510)

( 383,942)

–

–

–

–

–

( 383,942)

139,875

(244,067)

3,533,058

$ 3,288,991

Year Ended March 31, 2008 (With summarized comparative totals for 2007)

Permanently Restricted

$ 2,000,000

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

2,000,000

–

–

–

–

-

2,000,000

–

2,000,000

5,655,291

$ 7,655,291

2008 Total

$ 4,870,678

127,230

747,944

200,806

320,920

4,724

(373,664)

4,615

–

5,903,253

3,488,089

721,569

599,007

191,623

5,000,288

902,965

214,507

1,117,472

11,590,042

$ 12,707,51

2007 Total

$ 4,244,494

117,611

559,112

249,744

280,295

5,935

136,809

13,702

–

5,607,702

2,860,150

689,799

503,277

114,368

4,167,594

1,440,108

467,713

1,907,821

9,682,221

$ 11,590,042

Design Soulellis Studio Printer Monroe Litho Monroe Litho is a Forest Stewardship Council certified printer using 100% renewable, non-poluting wind power. www.monroelitho.comPrinted on Domtar Lynx Opaque. Typography: Knockout and MercuryText by Hoefler & Frere-Jones, Brooklyn, NY.

Opposite page: A bird’s-eye view of Brooklyn against the Manhattan skyline. (Jasper Goldman)

2 The Municipal Art Society of New York 2007–08The Municipal Art Society Of New York457 Madison AvenueNew York, NY 10022t 212 935 3960MAS.org

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