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 The ceremony on June 11, 2008 at the
Municipal Art Society was a sold-out success, featuring 10 great
honorees, music by renowned cuatro player Yomo Toro, a wonderful
talk by New York Times reporter David Gonzalez, and, as
icing on the cake, a proclamation from City Council member Rosie
Mendez declaring June 11, 2008 "Place Matters
Appreciation Day." Mendez commended the project for
"work that refreshes our own ideas about our city and
ourselves."
We hope you were there with us, but if you couldn't be,
we've posted some of the highlights.
 Made possible by the
American Express Historic Preservation Fund
 Federation of Black Cowboys members
are dedicated to teaching city kids the fundamentals of
horsemanship and the history of Black cowboys in the American West.
Since 1994 they've been practicing these arts at Cedar Lane
Stables on land leased from the Parks Department. The members come
by once or twice daily to feed and groom upwards of 40 horses. The
cowboys ride publicly at high-profile parades and marches,
including the African American Day Parade in Harlem and the
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and hold semi-annual rodeos.
They also offer field trips, barn tours, educational activities,
and riding lessons, and are particularly proud of their successful
"high risk" program with the Board of Education. The 2008
rodeo begins tomorrow! June 12, 13, 14. For rodeo information, call
Earl Washington or CC at the numbers below.
Stencil "Doctor D" Stokes, President
Erick "Little Red" Jackson, Events Coordinator
83-11 South Conduit Avenue, Howard Beach, Queens 718-925-0180 or
925-0777.
www.federationofblackcowboysnyc.com
federation7@verizon.net
 The premier
not-for-profit industrial developer in NYC, GMDC has rehabilitated
five vacant North Brooklyn manufacturing buildings for occupancy by
small manufacturing enterprises, and is currently in construction
on a historic spinning house. Rehabilitation of the buildings has
brought online more than 700,000 square feet of space for more than
100 tenants, resulting in the preservation and creation of more
than 500 blue collar jobs. The first and largest project was the
gut renovation of the former Chelsea Fiber Mills complex, which the
City took over in a tax foreclosure in the 1970s. A collaboration
between a nonprofit, existing tenants, the City, and local elected
officials, the project involved GMDC's purchase of the complex
in 1994. As the New York Times reported, "Every time you open
a door, it's a new story. You could wander in here for a week,
and every person you meet is speaking a different language and
doing something different.''
Brian Coleman, CEO
Paul Parkhill, Dir., Planning & Development
1155 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint, Brooklyn, 718-383-3935
info@gmdconline.org; www.gmdconline.org
 JCR Percussion, owned by Calixto
Rivera, is where many Latin musicians buy the percussion
instruments which form the rhythmic backbone of Latin music. There
is no other establishment like it in New York City. In a small
unassuming workshop not far from Yankee Stadium, Caly, as he is
known to his customers, makes his instruments by hand -- cowbells,
congas, bongos, timbales, among other instruments. Before he
established his shop almost 35 years ago, Latin musicians were in a
quandary about where to get something like a good cowbell. In fact,
it was this instrument in particular that prompted Caly to start
his business, and it remains his signature item. Caly doesn't
advertise his wares; word-of-mouth keeps him busy. Musicians come
to him from all over the world to place new orders or repair broken
instruments.
Calixto Rivera, proprietor
948 Ogden Ave, Highbridge, Bronx, 718-293-6589
 Created in 1976 as La Plaza Cultural,
this is a storied place, known for its large and lovely garden
(26,000 s.f.), and as a performance space for amateurs and
professionals. Once buildings stood on-site, but the burning and
devastation that swept the Lower East Side in the 1970s left only a
rubble- and garbage-strewn gap. CHARAS and other community members
and activists cleared and reclaimed the lot. Mavericks like
architect Buckminster Fuller, artist Gordon Matta-Clark, and Green
Guerillas founder Liz Christy helped local volunteers seed the
garden and build the public plaza. La Plaza is botanical marvel,
bird habitat, and community center all in one. After skirmishes
with development over the years, the garden is now protected and
part of the NYC Parks Department. In 2003, its name was changed in
memory of CHARAS founder and community leader Armando Perez.
Darrin Arremony or Ross Martin
Ave. C & E. 9th St.
laplazacultural@earthlink.net; www.laplazacultural.org
In memory of musician, teacher, and La Plaza Cultural Executive
Director Robert Blumenthal
 Mandolin Brothers of Staten
Island is home to an outstanding collection of the world's
finest guitars, banjos, mandolins and ukuleles. Many consider it to
be the center of the American fretted instrument universe.
Customers travel to Forest Ave. from all points on the globe. Stan
Jay and Harold "Hap" Kuffner founded the place in 1971;
Jay has been the sole proprietor since 1982. Everyone who visits
the store is invited to play all of the vintage, used and new
instruments in stock - some of them quite valuable. Customers are
also welcome, says Jay, to "ask up to 1 million
questions." Their "mandolin and banjo" room boasts
not only a fantastic selection of instruments, but one of the best
natural reverberation chambers around -- the banjos
"resonate" in concert to provide unparalleled echo!
Stan Jay, president/owner
629 Forest Avenue, West New Brighton, Staten Island, 718-981-8585
mandolin@mandoweb.com;
www.mandoweb.com
 One of the city's
great charity stories is the bequest of Manhattan farmland to
create a Sailor's Snug Harbor for "aged, decrepit &
worn out sailors." The valuable gift purchased 130 beautiful
Staten Island acres, and in 1833, the first generation of sailors
moved into magnificent buildings by architect Minard Lafever and
others. Skip forward to the 1970s. To retrieve some 80 acres
of woods, streams and meadows, sold by Sailor's Snug Harbor to
a residential developer, New York City purchased the property as
parkland. The remaining portion of the site was acquired by the
city as the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, a fascinating preservation
story, starring the new Landmarks Preservation Commission, the
Municipal Art Society, and many others. Today, the Snug Harbor
Cultural Center hosts landmarked buildings, the remarkable Chinese
Scholar's Garden, Staten Island Botanical Garden, Noble
Maritime Collection, Staten Island Children's Museum, and the
Staten Island Museum.
Frances X. Paulo Huber, President & CEO
1000 Richmond Terrace, Livingston, Staten Island, 718-448-2500
info@snug-harbor.org; www.snug-harbor.org
 In 1994, Bronx residents
Maria Torres, Paul Lipson, Steven Sapp, and Mildred Ruiz founded
The Point to organize for comprehensive revitalization, and social
and economic justice in the surrounding Hunts Point neighborhood.
With shared experience working at a local settlement house, the
founders determined to make a difference in the lives of local
youngsters by offering a rich array of arts, environmental, and
business-oriented programming. What has been accomplished is
remarkable. In two, creatively re-used industrial buildings (one
now designated as a landmark), after-school programs, theater and
dance troupes, photography and art programs, advocacy and planning
initiatives, environmental justice efforts, and much more, all
thrive.
Maria Torres, Pres. & CEO; Kellie Terry-Sepulveda, Executive
Managing Director
940 Garrison Ave., Hunts Point, Bronx, 718-542-4139
www.thepoint.org, thepointcdc@hotmail.com
 339 Lafayette Street is best known as
home to the War Resisters League, the oldest secular pacifist
organization in the country, founded 1923. In 1969, the League
bought this three-story building at the corner of Lafayette and
Bleecker to secure a place for itself and other like-minded groups.
In 1974, activists from the League helped establish the A.J. Muste
Memorial Institute to carry on the legacy of pacifist leader A.J.
Muste. The League transferred the building to the Institute in
1978. Here, in the "Peace Pentagon," progressive groups
plan for social change in deeply discounted office space made
possible by higher rents charged for ground-floor storefronts. In
addition to the League and the Muste Institute, the building houses
the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom,
Metropolitan Council on Housing, Paper Tiger, Deep Dish Television,
and other groups.
Murray Rosenblith, Executive Director, Muste Institute
339 Lafayette St., NoHo, Manhattan, 212-533-4335
info@ajmuste.org; www.ajmuste.org
 Four wood-frame houses on the
former Hunterfly Road are the last remaining residential artifacts
of a nineteenth-century African American community, built in the
years of slavery's demise in New York. The community was named
for James Weeks, an African American who bought a parcel of
Brooklyn land in 1838. The late, remarkable Joan Maynard led the
struggle to save the houses and obtain landmark status. The houses
were completely restored in 2005 to three different time periods -
the 1870s, 1900, and 1930s. The organization is now constructing a
new Education and Cultural Arts Building to enhance its programming
and strengthen it mission and vision to be a cultural nexus rooted
in historic preservation and African American history - one that
offers socially conscious programming that responds to the needs
and interests of visitors and neighborhood residents.
Pamela Green, Executive Director
1698-1708 Bergen Street, Crown Heights, Brooklyn 718-756-5250 http://www.weeksvillesociety.org
 This basketball court, at the corner
of West 4th St. and 6th Ave., draws basketball lovers from around
the city, and even around the world. They come to a court just
half-regulation size -- literally encaged by a 20-foot high
chain-link fence -- to play ball and watch some of the best street
basketball there is. During the summer months, "The
Cage," as the court is known, hosts the West 4th St.
Pro-Classic League. Started during the Lindsay years and sustained
by volunteer commissioners, the League is the oldest
summer-basketball program in NYC. This year's season started in
late May with four teams. The Cage is a training ground for those
who may eventually make the jump to the pros, but also a place
where amateurs who love the game can play at the highest level.
Operated by the Parks Dept., the courts also host a vibrant
handball scene.
Kenneth Graham, West 4th St. Pro-Classic League founder and
Commissioner
West 4th St. & Ave. of the Americas
k_graham1@hotmail.com
All of these wonderful places need your support and patronage to
thrive. We have included contact information to encourage you to
get to know them and support them as often as you can.
The honorees were selected from nearly 650 great places
nominated by members of the public to our Census of Places that
Matter. The 10 honorees celebrate 10 ways that places contribute to
our city. Click here for
more information about the Census of Places that Matter.
We extend our deep appreciation to the place-enthusiasts on the
Selection Committee: Simeon Bankoff, Historic Districts Council;
Tenzing Chadotsang, CHHAYA CDC; Robert Guskind, Curbed.com &
GowanusLounge.com; Laura Hansen; Alexandra Herzan, Lily Auchincloss
Foundation, Inc.; Selma Jackson, 4W Circle; Madhulika Khandelwal,
Asian/American Center, Queens College, CUNY; Mercedes Narciso,
Pratt Center for Community Development; Christopher Neville,
Independent Historical Consultant; Betsy Wade, former writer,
Practical Traveler Column, New York Times; Rosten Woo, the
Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP).
To learn more about our other programs, select from the links to
the left. For info on our place-marking efforts, choose Cultural
Initiatives.
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