Current Work

The Preservancy monitors local development to ensure full compliance with zoning and historic preservation regulations.

Riverdale's bucolic setting has been crafted through the years by local residents who engage neighbors, organizations and city agencies to identify the kind of community they want and the tools they need to achieve it. Read the story of Riverdale's Roots.

Riverdale grows and lives within guidelines of the Department of City Planning and the Landmarks Preservation Commission:

Local land use plan
Zoning
Special Natural Area District
Riverdale Historic District
Fieldston Historic District

Several ongoing projects in Riverdale threaten open space, old growth trees and steep slopes. In comments to the Community Board 8 Land Use Committee on January 12, 2015, the Preservancy asks

"... what is the value of a SNAD if a property can be stripped of its glorious trees in such a manner? ...what is the role of the regulatory bodies if this occurred in the SNAD without proper oversight and with minimal opportunity for community review and input? The Preservancy believes it is time to review the SNAD regulations and modify and strengthen them where appropriate. To this end, the Preservancy asks that the Committee undertake a thorough review of these regulations, and offers to assist the Committee with this review."

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale

Hebrew Home proposes 300 new, independent-living apartments arranged in several mid-rise buildings. This 14-acre site is zoned R1-1, the lowest residential zoning district in the city.

Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy (SAR)

In December 2014, SAR submitted application N150210ZAX to the City Planning Commission for authorizations under the SNAD for changes to steep slopes, trees and other vegetation related to a proposal to enlarge its main school building and extend a playground.

The Preservancy's Jan. 12, 2015 comments to Community Board 8 Land Use Committee

Indian Pond (Bloomfield Development)

A 2010 proposal to develop three new houses in Fieldston, on the periphery of Indian Pond, was the most significant new addition to the historic district since its historic designation in 2006 and since approval of the strengthened SNAD regulations by the New York City Council in 2005