NYC Landmark Building – LPC

What is LPC?

LPS is short for Landmarks Preservation Commission and the most significant duty of this agency is to protect the historical, cultural, and architectural face of the city by listing the historical buildings and districts, then setting laws and regulations in order to protect them and make sure new constructions don’t affect them

According to the LPC website, we have 37,600 landmark properties in New York City so far ( post date 7/16/2022)

Imagine you have property or land and it is located in a landmark district, the first thing you need to know before taking any steps is you cannot make changes or design based on what you desire, you have to make sure everything you do is just to renew, replace to maintain the existing historical design and face even with the same color, material, texture.

Suppose you want to add new HVAC or technology equipment like surveillance systems. In that case, that’s really common these days, your architect needs to make sure these new era technologies don’t affect the historical face and spirit of the district by providing a full list of new devices, their colors, materials, model numbers, how to install, and before go through DOB process for plan examining and approval and finally be able to pull your permit, you need to get LPC certificate of approval, then submit your application with it to the Department Of Building.

When you submit your application to Landmark, it will be assigned to an LPC examiner, for interior renovations that don’t have any exterior work, it is easy to get approval, because as I mentioned before, Landmark’s concern is about the historic face of the area, not about the inside, but still you need to get LPC certificate