441 Willoughby Ave was a 120-year-old building. Now it’s rubble.
The historic Bed-Stuy neighborhood is home to rich culture, iconic architecture, and a tight-knit community. Since learning about the intended sale and demolition of the Jacob Dangler building, which was home to community gatherings and celebrations for decades, our BIPOC-led group of neighbors have rallied together in an effort to preserve the space and prevent further harm in our community.
The Jacob Dangler building may have been demolished but our efforts to preserve this area will continue. Please join us in our fight to protect this space, and our community from predatory developers.
Our Neighbors are Petitioning to Landmark the Neighborhood to Prevent Further Destruction.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE AND JOIN US FOR A TOWN HALL/Q&A JUNE 8TH!
Throughout the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant, brownstones and tree-lined streets are being destroyed to make way for anonymous glass new luxury buildings, whose skyrocketing rents displace neighbors and further contribute to the neighborhood's gentrification.
In the northwest corner of Bed-Stuy, Willoughby Ave and Hart St between Nostrand and Marcy Aves stand alone as the two remaining blocks of exclusively brownstones. They should be landmarked and should be protected.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission and Chair Sarah Carroll previously neglected their duty by allowing the Jacob Dangler Mansion at 441 Willoughby Ave to be demolished while awaiting a vote on landmark status. Neighbors in this effort came so close to success, and continue to seek accountability from LPC and the developer, Tomer Erlich. Their attempts to landmark this area as a Historic District seeks to protect the neighborhood from further destruction and displacement by other developers like him.
Many brownstones in this pocket of Brooklyn have been passed down through family lineage, raising many generations of New Yorkers. It is this familiarity with this place and dedication to continuing the spirit of community here, in addition to its exemplary position alongside the rest of “brownstone Brooklyn”, that contribute to this area’s significant sense of place, making it perfect for landmarking.
This proposal is specifically for landmarking the numbers 441-511 Willoughby Aves on the north side of the street, 444-510 on the south side of the street (including the Red Gate Garden to the east), as well as 1-75 Hart St on the north side of the street, and 2-76 Hart St on the south side of the street. The site of the former Dangler Mansion at 441 Willoughby should be included in this list as Landmarks was unable to protect the structure as it stood, despite overwhelming support at the public hearing dated July 12, 2022. The rest of the block is comprised of contiguous brownstones, some three stories and some four stories, which were all constructed in the late 19th century.
