Archive: Henry Hudson Parkway- National Register of Historic Places (2017)

In 2017, Preservancy and SHPO will work to advance the application to list the Henry Hudson Parkway in the National Register of Historic Places.

Planning and preservation projects can take years, even decades, to complete.

We will in 2017 re-engage with the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to achieve a final step to preserving the historic features of the Henry Hudson Parkway.

SHPO determined in 2009 that the Parkway north of 129th Street in Manhattan is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and urged the Preservancy to sponsor its nomination.

While developing the nomination materials, the Task Force conducted substantial additional research which supported arguments for broadening both the time frame and the geographic boundaries of the area of significance. The nomination package was submitted in 2012 (see below) and may need additional documentation.

The Determination of Eligibility protects a narrow definition of the Parkway’s historic resources. Broadening the nomination will protect more of the resources that the community cares about, and we will open conversations with SHPO to move forward in this area.

Application to the National and State Registers of Historic Places submitted in August 2012

In August 2012, the Preservancy submitted to the New York State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) an application to have the Henry Hudson Parkway from West 72nd Street to the city line listed in the New York State and National Registers of Historic Places. The application was developed with assistance from the National Park Service, and its submittal marks 12 years of work by the Preservancy Henry Hudson Parkway Task Force to acquire the tools to preserve the Parkway—the bridge, highway, service roads, overpasses, sidewalks, retaining walls and landscaping and adjacent parks—as the linear park and scenic drive it was meant to be.

Beginning in early 2013, the application will be reviewed by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation (State Review Board), after which it will be submitted to the National Park Service for final approval and listing.

Entire length of Henry Hudson Parkway determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places – February 2009

The State Historic Preservation Officer’s determination of eligibility, available below, recognizes the Parkway as significant for planning, transportation, recreation and parkway design.

State Historic Preservation Officer HHP

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At the Preservancy’s request, the New York State Office of Parks and Historic Preservation (SHPO) agreed to evaluate the parkway’s eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. SHPO has determined that the parkway does indeed retain enough of its design integrity to make it eligible, and urged the Preservancy to sponsor its nomination.

The parkway below 129th Street was listed in the Register as well as designated a NYC Scenic Landmark as part of Riverside Park in the 1980s. This new determination recognizes the parkway in its own right and its entirety.

The determination of eligibility protects the parkway’s roadway, service roads, parks, bridges, tunnels, and landscape – some 1,000 acres in all. The Henry Hudson Parkway is the first state road (and first Moses parkway) in New York City to receive this distinction.

The SHPO’s determination is not a silver bullet but it is a powerful tool to restore the parkway as a linear park as well as scenic drive. All projects that use federal or state funds will now be subject to scrutiny for their impact on its natural and built features and its character, all of which are now defined. The city will be able to take advantage of new sources of funding for greenways, landscapes and infrastructure. Most important of all, it awakens the city to the value of this incredible asset in its midst.