ABSTRACT
This chapter debunks some commonly held myths about New York City’s role in the development of historic preservation in the US—namely, that the demolition of Penn Station in 1963 was the birth of historic preservation in New York and the US and that historic preservation is necessarily pitted against change as an antidevelopment movement. Instead, a brief history of New York’s nascent preservation movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is outlined, including the creation of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society within the context of a broad moment of urban reform. Broad types of preservation ideology are outlined—curatorial and urbanistic approaches—and illustrated with detailed case studies of some notable preservation efforts in the early twentieth century, principally St. John’s Chapel and City Hall Park.
