Conservancy Hosts 20th Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards
American Museum of Natural History
Ellen Futter, President of American Museum of Natural History and Conservancy President Peg Breen
Peg Breen thanks Joe Fishman of the Henry and Lucy G. Moses Fund as well as long time Conservancy Board Member, Stephen Lash, for reaching out two decades ago to his friend Lucy Moses, resulting is these awards, which commemorate her passion for preservation and the city.
Public Leadership Award Winner, Kenneth Cobb
Public Leadership Award Winner, Kenneth Cobb
MacIntyre Building
President of The Co-Op Board, Reed Robins, accepts the award for the MacIntyre Building
President of The Co-Op Board, Reed Robins
Convent of the Sacred Heart School
Head of Convent of the Sacred Heart School, Joseph Ciangalini, accepts the Moses Award
Head of Convent of the Sacred Heart School, Joseph Ciangalini, with the Moses Award
Beacon Theatre
Vice President of Facilities for Madison Square Garden, Marc Tarozzi, accepts the award for the Beacon Theatre
Vice President of Facilities for Madison Square Garden, Marc Tarozzi
Flushing Friends Meeting House
Gerald Pollack, Trustee of the Flushing Friends Meeting House, accepts the Moses Award
Roosevelt House
President of Hunter College, Jennifer Raab, accepts the Moses Award for the Roosevelt House
President of Hunter College, Jennifer Raab
President of Hunter College, Jennifer Raab
Empire State Building Lobby
Peter Malkin, Chairman of Malkin Holdings, accepts the award for the Empire State Building Lobby
Peter Malkin, Chairman of Malkin Holdings
Robert Silman, Founder and President of Robert Silman Associates, accepts the Lucy Moses Award for Preservation Leadership
Robert Silman
Robert Silman and Peg Breen
Ellen Futter, President of American Museum of Natural History accepts the Moses Award
Ellen Futter, President of American Museum of Natural History
Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe and Executive Director Frank Vagnone accept the Moses award for the Historic House Trust
Executive Director Frank Vagnone and Parks Department Commissioner Adrian Benepe
Park Lane at Sea View
Allan Arker of The Arker Companies accepts the award for Park Lane at Sea View
St Andrew’s Episcopal Church
The Rev. Alan Jackson accepts the award for St Andrew’s Episcopal Church
36 Grace Court
Owners of 36 Grace Court, Trena Keating and David Pitofsky, accept the Moses Award
Friends of The High Line Co-Founder Joshua David, accepts the Moses Award
Friends of The High Line Co-Founder Joshua David
A reception followed the awards ceremony
Peg Breen and Conservancy Board Chair, Stuart N. Siegel
Robert Silman Receives Preservation Leadership Award
Under a suspended 94-foot-long blue whale model, roughly 400 people filled the American Museum of Natural History’s spectacular Milstein Hall of Ocean Life to take part in the Conservancy’s 20th Lucy G. Moses Preservation Awards on April 21.
The coveted awards, nicknamed the “Preservation Oscars,” laud outstanding preservation efforts by individuals and projects. They are named for Lucy Goldschmidt Moses, a dedicated New Yorker whose generosity benefited the City for more than 50 years.
“The awards are a celebration of outstanding restoration projects throughout the City as well as some extraordinary individuals,” said Peg Breen, President of the Conservancy. “The time and care that went into completing these projects demonstrates New Yorkers’ commitment to preserving the entire range of the City’s architecture.”
This year marked the 20th presentation of the Awards, which have recognized nearly 200 individuals, organizations, and building owners for their extraordinary contributions to the City.
Surrounded by the Museum’s stunning display of biodiversity on the eve of the 40th celebration of Earth Day, the ceremony also highlighted the connection between preservation and sustainability as award winners included sustainable work practices and green technology in their projects more than ever before.
“This year, the conservancy’s awards committee decided to bestow fourteen awards—two individuals, one organization and eleven outstanding projects completed in 2009. That’s more than usual, but we had an unusually large and impressive number of nominations and our awards committee just couldn’t narrow it down,” said Breen.
Robert Silman received the Preservation Leadership Award for being a leader in the preservation-engineering field for more than 50 years, working on nationally-known buildings such as the Museum of Immigration at Ellis Island, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, the Jefferson Memorial, and the Washington Square Arch.
“Our work happily wears a smiley face. I think we get to do the positive work. We actually do preservation and build stuff, the fun stuff. Often structural intervention requires difficult, if not dangerous construction techniques and we are often thought of as heroes because of some of the things we’ve been able to accomplish. Whether it is saving Fallingwater, which was very dramatic, or the less dramatic, such as saving the brownstone in Brooklyn as mentioned in last week’s New York Times, which Peg was so instrumental in bringing to the forefront. We are constructors. Thank you all for recognizing us. We still have a lot of work to do though. Let’s do it together. Onward,” Silman said in his acceptance speech.
Kenneth Cobb received the Public Leadership Award for securing and making available to the public a remarkable collection of “tax photographs,” which provided documentation of nearly every building that stood in the City in 1939-42. Historic House Trust received the Preservation Organization Award for providing essential support for historic buildings of architectural and cultural significance located within city parks and open to the public. Owners, managers, architects and restorers responsible for 11 outstanding preservation projects completed in 2009 accepted the awards.
This year’s project award recipients included: High Line, Beacon Theatre, American Museum of Natural History, Empire State Building Lobby, 36 Grace Court, Convent of the Sacred Heart School, Flushing Friends Meeting House, MacIntyre Building, Park Lane at Sea View, Roosevelt House and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.
“We are here tonight thanks to the vision of long time board member Stephen Lash. He reached out two decades ago to his great friend Lucy Moses – the result is these awards that commemorate her passion for preservation and the city. We are grateful for that initial generosity and for the continued friendship of the Henry and Lucy G. Moses fund,” the Conservancy President said.
