The Forest Park Carousel could be designated as a landmark if it is approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the City Council. File photo.
The Forest Park Carousel could receive a designation that isn’t common for a structure like the merry-go-round.
An application has been submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) that would designate the carousel as a historic landmark.
According to a LPC spokeswoman, the city agency has received that application and it is currently undergoing its review process.
The spokeswoman said that three things must happen before the carousel could receive that designation. The agency must vote whether or not to have a public hearing on the proposal, and then it must hold a public meeting to give residents a chance to comment on the issue, then the LPC will vote again, this time to decide if the carousel will get that designation or not.
The possibility of the merry-go-round getting that designation was discussed at a local civic meeting earlier this month.
Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) said that land marking the carousel would be a first for New York City, because the carousel isn’t a tradition building.
“Everybody knows that it is a one of a kind carousel,” said Crowley, speaking at the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association (WRBA) meeting earlier this month. “It truly is a work of art and we want it to stay here serving our community.”
WRBA member Maria Thomson was elated that the structure could get landmarked, saying that she has been trying to push that through for the last 25 years.
According to LPC’s website, the process to get a building designated as a landmark includes passing votes by the LPC, the City Planning Commission submitting a report to the city council on how the designation would affect the surround area, specifically in terms of zoning in that neighborhood and projected public improvement projects.
The city council would then need to give a proposal its final approval before it is officially a landmark. It would have 120 days after the LPC’s vote to either deny or change the proposal.
The LPC spokeswoman said that the vote to determine whether or not a public hearing will take place regarding the carousel has not been scheduled yet, but they hope to have that sometime in October.
Other neighborhoods that have received a landmark status includes Forest Hills, when it had its firehouse, Engine 305 on Queens Boulevard, getting that designation back in May of this year. Two sections in Ridgewood are also designated as historical districts. Ridgewood north, which is sections of Gates Avenue, Palmetto Street and Woodbine Street, which are all off of Forest Avenue and the Ridgewood south historical district, which is parts of Madison Street, Putnam Avenue and Cornelia Street, right off of Onderdonk Avenue.
By Luis Gronda
