Partners In Preservation Announce the 40 Historic NYC Sites in Community-Based Funding Initiative

Walking Off the Big Apple always supports venturing off the beaten path to explore fascinating sites in the city. Beyond the well-known museums and thoroughfares, great hidden historical treasures are still to be discovered by residents and visitors alike. Many of these sites are tied to the everyday life of their communities, important social institutions such as libraries, schools, churches, cultural centers, and museums about local history. A lot of them are located in parts of the five boroughs underserved by the popular guidebooks. All tell an important story about the city.

At a morning press conference on April 26 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Partners In Preservation, a program of American Express in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, announced the names of the 40 NYC historical sites that will be the beneficiaries of $3 million in preservation funds. The list follows. All of the selected sites greatly expand our awareness of the living history in New York City, and I encourage readers to become familiar with the selected places across the city.

Katharine McPhee sings "New York, New York" as the sites are announced.
The Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum in the Bronx was one of the selections.
The location for the announcement was the auditorium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Katharine McPhee of the hit TV show SMASH highlighted the press conference by singing a rousing rendition of "New York, New York" to accompany a hologram-like unveiling of the historic sites.

Walking Off the Big Apple will be serving as a blog ambassador for the Partners In Preservation initiative. In the coming weeks look for special in-depth coverage of several of these sites here.

You are encouraged to participate by voting once a day through May 21, 2012 for your favorite on the list. The four projects receiving the most public votes will have their grant requests fully funded, and the rest will be distributed among the remaining sites. Visit the website Partners In Preservation.

Celebrate the sites at Open House weekend on May 5-6, 2012. The official website includes more information about visiting the sites, including useful maps of the boroughs.
Enjoy McPhee's full performance:

Watch live streaming video from americanexpress at livestream.com

Below see the New York City historic sites competing for the Partners In Preservation funds:

Alice Austen House Museum, Staten Island
Apollo Theater, Manhattan
Astoria Pool, Queens
Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum, Bronx
Brooklyn Public Library, Central Library, Brooklyn
Brown Memorial Baptist Church, Brooklyn
Caribbean Cultural Center, Manhattan
City Island Nautical Museum, Bronx (featured on this website)
Cleopatra’s Needle, Manhattan
Coney Island B&B Carousell, Brooklyn
Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn
Duo Multicultural Arts Center, Manhattan
Ellis Island Hospital Complex, Manhattan
Erasmus Hall Campus, Brooklyn (featured on this website)
Federal Hall National Memorial, Manhattan
Flushing Town Hall, Queens
Gateway National Recreation Area, Brooklyn
Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, Brooklyn
Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan
Helen Hayes Theatre, Manhattan (featured on this website)
Henry Street Settlement, Manhattan
High Line, Manhattan
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, Manhattan
Japan Society, Inc., Manhattan
Jefferson Market Library, Manhattan
Louis Armstrong House Museum, Queens
Lower East Side Tenement Museum, Manhattan
Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, Bronx
Museum of the City of New York, Manhattan
New York Botanical Garden, Bronx
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Society of Rosebank, Staten Island (featured on this website)
Queens County Farm Museum, Queens
Rocket Thrower, Queens
Rossville African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, Staten Island (featured on this website)
Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Manhattan
St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery, Manhattan
Staten Island Museum at Snug Harbor, Staten Island
Tug Pegasus & Waterfront Museum Barge, Brooklyn
Weeksville Heritage Center, Brooklyn
Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx (featured on this website)

Top image by Walking Off the Big Apple from April 26, 2012.

Disclosure: I have partnered up with Partners in Preservation to help promote their initiative and to raise awareness of select historical sites in all the five boroughs. While I am being compensated for my time, all opinions expressed here are strictly my own.

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