The Historic Landmarks Preservation Center
THE CULTURAL MEDALLION PROGRAM
The Historic Landmarks Preservation Center addresses many aspects of the built environment in New York City, and beyond, by publishing books, articles and pamphlets. The HLPC also creates and produces television programs, organizes lectures, symposia, and traveling exhibitions that concern historic preservation and history, as well as presenting public art exhibitions.
Dr. Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, the founder/chair of the HLPC has created numerous new programs including the Historic District Street Name signs that delineate each and every street of the designated 156 Historic Districts (as of January, 2024) of New York City, and the porcelainized Historic District Markers and Map program, that offer the history of those Districts; both of these programs were adopted as official standards by the City of New York. The HLPC also created the Cultural Medallions program, to document notable occurrences, individuals, and other important aspects of New York City's cultural, economic, political, and social history. The Cultural Medallions program celebrates the lives of such diverse individuals as James Baldwin, George Gershwin, Babe Ruth, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jonas Salk, Dawn Powell, I.M. Pei, Bernard Baruch, and Alfred Butts, the inventor of Scrabble. The Historic District Street Name Sign program, and the Cultural Medallions program have been adapted in other U.S. cities, and the latter was also employed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, in collaboration with Parade Magazine, in May 2007.
Barbaralee is also the author of The Landmarks of New York, the first comprehensive publication on New York City’s landmarks, originally published in 1988 by Harry N. Abrams, and updated since then with five more editions. The most recent editions were published by SUNY Press (Fifth Edition, 2011) and NYU Press (Sixth Edition, 2016). Her 25 publications also include Notable New Yorkers: HLPC Cultural Medallions Program (G.H. Soho, 2018), a guide to and history of the Cultural Medallions program.
Brooklyn Bridge photo credit: Robert Linton
NYC250
Notable New York: An Exploration of People, Places, and Things
Commemorating America at 250
NYC 250 is a new program created by the Historic Landmarks Preservation Center Chair, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, to commemorate the 250th Anniversary of New York City, and our nation, in 2026.
This tripartite program includes Notable New York, a publication of sixty brief essays honoring significant people, places, and things that are part of New York City’s history. Written by 49 distinguished critics, scholars, musicians, activists, preservationists, architects, and artists, the publication offers a unique cross-section of New York City history. For more information, click here. And to read a copy of Notable New York, click here.
NYC250 also includes three video programs, highlighting a selection of honorees drawn from Notable New York. These programs are available to the public through the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Video Archives YouTube Channel, maintained by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book and Manuscript Library of Duke University.
In addition to Notable New York, and these new video programs, eleven commemorative medallions will be installed in New York City this year. These distinctive medallions, especially created for the historic 250th anniversary year by designer Harrison Carter (also the designer of Notable New York), are a toast to New York City, and use the New York City flag colors of blue and orange. As the medallions are fabricated and installed, dates of their installations will be made available to the public on this website. Please check back, as more information becomes available.
America at 250, Video Program 1: Celebrate the arts with a discussion of National Dance Institute founder and renowned dancer Jacques d'Amboise; and two remarkable New York places: the Astor Library/Public Theater and the High Line.
America at 250, Video Program 2: Learn about the lives and contributions of remarkable entrepreneurs, literary lights, and political dynamos, with conversations about Founding Father Governeur Morris; poet Walt Whitman; poet and activist Langston Hughes; and craftsman and entrepreneur Heinrich Engelhard Steinway.
America at 250, Video Program 3: The struggle for justice and equity in New York City is discussed as part of the history of The First Baptist Chinese Church, The Chinese Community Center, UPROSE in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and the remarkable mosaic that is "We the People.”
About The Cultural Medallions Program
New York has been at the forefront of highlighting its rich cultural, economic, political and social history. Nearly 30 years ago, in 1995, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel created the Cultural Medallion program for the not-for-profit Historic Landmarks Preservation Center, which she chairs.
The Cultural Medallions Program was initiated to create a sense of pride in history and of place among New Yorkers and visitors, to document significant individuals, and notable occurrences related to the economic, political, and social history of New York City.
Cultural Medallions are placed on buildings associated with distinguished New Yorkers in the arts, sciences, the law, business, education, sports and politics. The elegant oval terra-cotta, black and white plaques, designed pro bono by award-winning graphic designer Massimo Vignelli, recognize that history is about more than bricks and mortar, but what people have accomplished under city roofs is what truly matters. "Not only do they help bring history alive," Barbaralee says of the medallions, "they are meant to illuminate how New York City became as diverse and vital, as energetic and dynamic as it is. They are meant to motivate you in your own life. This program honors the past, and by sharing these multiple histories, we hope to inspire people in the future."
Past News
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![Beyond Architecture Book Cover]()
Beyond Architecture: The NEW New York
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Editor
“This slender volume discusses a range of critical issues and plausible concerns as we seek to craft a forward-looking vision of New York City that honors our past, celebrates the present, and imagines a resilient future.”
Publication date 12.10.24
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Beyond Architecture: The NEW New York - Villa-Albertine Museum Talk
October 14, 2025 6:00PM
SPEAKERS: Vishaan Chakrabarti, Paul Goldberger, Muriel Mauriac
Villa-Albertine
Cultural Services of the French Embassy
972 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10075 -
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Beyond Architecture: The NEW New York at The Skyscraper Museum
Two contributing authors, Justin Davidson and Nat Oppenheimer, will discuss the themes of their essays, "The Long View: Building for Rebuilding" and "Engineering Landmarks," and join in dialogue with Skyscraper Museum director Carol Willis.
Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
39 Battery Place, Manhattan -
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Beyond Architecture: The NEW New York at Temple Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El and NYC Landmarks60 Alliance invite preservationists, congregants, colleagues, friends, and members of all communities to join us, as our guests, for a special program.
Monday, 28 April 2025 6:30 PM
Temple Emanu-El
Fifth Avenue at East 65th Street, Manhattan -
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Beyond Architecture: The NEW New York at The Public Theater
PROGRAM: Andrew Dolkart, “The Past of the Public” and a rare conversation between informed critics Paul Goldberger and Adam Gopnik. Moderator: Oskar Eustis
Friday, May 9, 2025 7:00 PM
The Public Theater/The Anspacher
425 Lafayette Street, Manhattan -
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The 1657 Flushing Remonstrance at the New York Public Library
This special evening is presented in partnership with the NYC Landmarks60 Alliance and New York State Archives Parnership Trust, marking the rare display of this watershed document.
Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at 6:30 P.M.
Edna Barnes Salomon Room (3rd Floor) -
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Empire State Building Celebratory Lighting
On April 19, 2025, the renowned Art Deco masterpiece will be lit in the colors of the NYC Flag to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the passage of the NYC landmarks law. That law, which created the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and ushered in an era of historic preservation, has helped our city retain its unique historic diversity.
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NYPL Fellowship Opportunity
The Diamonstein-Spielvogel Fellowships at The New York Public Library’s Vartan Gregorian Center for Research in the Humanities are four-month fellowships including a $26,000 award to support researchers in the humanities and the history, literature, and culture of peoples represented in the extensive collections held at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
Deadline for applications: January 20, 2025
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CFR Welcomes Acclaimed Historian Timothy Snyder as a Senior Fellow for Democracy
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Timothy Snyder as a senior fellow for democracy. At CFR, Snyder will play a key role in the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy including writing on democracy-focused issues and convening roundtables on topics related to the future of democracy.
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Zoom Cultural Medallion Dedication for two Cultural Medallions to honor three Notable New Yorkers
Please register for our upcoming presentation:
Designers MASSIMO
and LELLA VIGNELLI
and sculptor LOUISE NEVELSONTuesday, September 24, 2024 -- 4:00 PM ET
EVENTS FOR “BEYOND ARCHITECTURE: THE NEW NEW YORK”
February 20, 2025
The New York Library Society
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Thomas Dyja, and Rosemary Vietor
53 East 79th St
. New York, NY 10075
Event Information
March 17, 2025
Brooklyn Public Library/Center for Brooklyn History
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Lisa Switkin
128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201
Event Information
April 15th, 6PM
The Skyscraper Museum
Nat Oppenheimer, Justin Davidson
39 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280
To Register Click Here
April 28th 2025 6:30PM
Temple Emanu-El
Adam Gopnik, Paul Goldberger, Justin Davidson, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Lisa Switkin
1 E 65th St, New York, NY 10065
To Register Click Here
May 9th 2025 6:30PM
The Public Theater/The Anspacher
Adam Gopnik, Paul Goldberger, Moderator: Oskar Eustis
425 Lafayette St, New York, NY
To Register Click Here
October 1, 2025 6:00PM
The Colony Club
Paul Goldberger, Rosemary Vietor, Vishaan Chakrabarti
564 Park Ave, New York, NY
October 14, 2025 6:00PM
Villa-Albertine
Cultural Services of the French Embassy
Vishaan Chakrabarti, Paul Goldberger, Muriel Mauriac
972 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10075
Website
November 18, 2025 6:00PM
Henry George Society
Thomas Dyja, Lisa Switkin, Anthony Wood
Moderator - Guy Nordenson
149 E 38th St, New York, NY
Website
