It was a landmark event.
At one point, Igor Stravinsky, a tan Havanese, stretched out in front of a Steinway beating his tail like a metronome as a Juilliard pianist, Zhu Wang, played pieces by Mozart, Chopin and Schubert, ending with the perfect coda — “New York, New York.” And, a toast to Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel.
“To the Queen of New York!” said the celebrants.
On Dec. 12, Ms. Diamonstein-Spielvogel kicked off the 60th anniversary of the 1965 New York City Landmarks Law, a little early but just in time for the holidays, at a book party for “Beyond Architecture: The New New York” at the home of her longtime friend Judith Pisar on the Upper East Side.
At 92, her dedication to the culture, the arts, architecture and preservation of New York City is unwavering.
Ever notice terra cotta medallions for notable New Yorkers on buildings around the city? One for Antonin Dvorak, who wrote part of the “New World” Symphony at 327 East 17th Street? Another for Jack Kerouac at 133-01 Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens? How about the one for Jimi Hendrix at his 52 West Eighth Street recording studio?
She is responsible for creating 146 medallions as of Apr. 9, 2025, and counting — through the Cultural Medallions program at the Historic Landmarks Preservations Center.
As well as programs for the historic district street markers, and historic district signs. All the medallions, street signs and markers are terra cotta, black and white.
At the book party, she greeted guests — writers, musicians, architects, architectural engineers and those in public life — as she sat by a Rothko painting, and wore one of her signature black velvet headbands (“It’s fashionable all over again,” she said.) and eyeglasses tinted a light purply mauve.
The book, which she edited, was published by New York Review Books, and she had commissioned essays from a dozen deep thinkers, through the NYC Landmarks60 Alliance, which she chairs.
“I’ve known her a long time, and whenever she puts out the call, I immediately answer,” said Adam Gopnik, the writer, who slipped a Greek goddess into his essay entitled “A Tract for Tyche: From Brownstones and Bookstores.”
“Barbaralee represents the classic model of New York,” he said.
Other contributors included the architecture critics Michael Kimmelman and Paul Goldberger, the structural engineers Guy Nordenson and Nat Oppenheimer; and Rosemary Vietor, a 15th generation member of the Bowne family, whose historic house stands as a landmark of religious freedom in Flushing, Queens.
“When she first proposed it,” said Mr. Goldberger, who wrote the essay entitled “The State of Play: Landmarks at Sixty,” “I thought it was a little crazy. And, I wasn’t sure it was going to come off. As always, of course, Barbaralee pulled it off.”
Karen Persichilli Keogh, the secretary to the governor in New York, described her as a “national treasure.”
“There is no one who has more passion and grit, drive and ideas,” she said. “She’s completely transformed and saved the city.”
Ms. Pisar, the host, a doyenne to the arts and music in New York and Paris, couldn’t agree more.
“As New Yorkers, we are all deeply grateful for what you have done to this city,” she said in her tribute that evening. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe the impact of the NYC Landmarks Law?
It was the greatest engine that permitted us to move forward in a way that has a rational basis and enduring impact. The commission, though one of the smallest agencies, is the bellwether of our nation. No other city has 38,000 structures in 158 historic districts, 1,464 individual designated landmarks — 123 are interiors that must be opened to the public — and 12 scenic landmarks including Central Park.
When did you become interested in landmarks?
Where I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, it had what was considered one of the finest Victorian main streets in the country. And, later while I lived in Charlottesville, Va, which itself is steeped in history. It’s all about Thomas Jefferson. I then lived in Tidewater, Va., next to Williamsburg in the ’50s and ’60s. There are 89 original buildings and hundreds of reconstructions. Traveling and living abroad fostered my interest in studying and preserving our own intriguing and peculiarly interesting history.
You were the first director of Cultural Affairs under Mayor Lindsay in 1966?
A department that didn’t exist in New York City, and when I took the job it was part of the Department of Parks. I got them on the New York City budget.
What did you do as its director?
First an exhibition of outdoor sculpture in Bryant Park, and I took over a movie theater, the Regency, for a weeklong festival of films with talks by a film critic after each — Vincent Canby, Brenden Gill, Pauline Kael. Also a poetry festival.
Then you were appointed to the Landmarks Preservation Commission?
I didn’t know we had one. It was in its nascent days. I served under four mayors, from 1972 to 1987.
As chair of the Landmarks Preservation Foundation, from 1987 to 1995, how did you come up with the historic street signs?
Person after person accused of violating the law over the wrong kind of window, or the color of their paint, testified and said, ‘I didn’t know I lived in a historic district.’ I thought, there must be some way to inform them. So I got this idea for the historic street-name signs. Then I realized it wasn’t one sign. Every street has four corners.
What happened next?
I got Massimo Vignelli to design the street signs.
How many books have you written?
Twenty-four.
Could you tell me about your book “The Landmarks of New York?”
It was the first rational and detailed citation for every building that was designated.
Tell me a little about your cultural medallions, the terra cotta color for example?
It’s Pantone No. 182, Uncoated. Massimo and I spent so much time trying to decide on a universal color. It’s the most compatible with limestone, brownstone, brick, steel and wood frame. Glass is the most recent.
Which are your favorites?
Always the last one and then the next one. The last one was Walter Cronkite, the next will be Edward Albee in April.
What were a couple of memorable dedications?
The assistant to Leonard Bernstein, Craig Urquhart, reminded me at the book party of the medallion at the Osborne seven years ago honoring a “genuine genius” the composer and conductor, Leonard Bernstein. The entire lobby, the staircase, the balconies were filled with admirers who listened to the speakers — Clive Gillinson, the executive director of Carnegie Hall; archivists of the New York Philharmonic; Hal Prince who produced “West Side Story” on Broadway; and Chita Rivera, who played a central role as Anita.
The dedication for Stephen Sondheim, the remarkable theatrical composer and lyricist over Zoom (done that way since the pandemic) in February 2024 for his Turtle Bay House on East 49th Street. The speakers were Patti LuPone visibly moved to tears Jonathan Groff, the actor and singer, who came directly from his matinee lead performance in Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” and James Lapine, responsible for the book of the Pulitzer-prize winning production of “Sunday in the Park With George,” and Sondheim did the lyrics.
What are these plaques made of?
Porcelainized enamel over steel made by hand. Also, we have an approved installer not to destroy the fabric of any buildings.
Who are the key players in preservation today? It’s the neighborhood organizations that really count. The 158 historic districts are the heart and soul because it’s all about community involvement.
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