The Spanish Camp Preservation Coalition

Nominates The Spanish Camp Historic District for Landmarks Designation

-- Calls for Preservation of Reminders of a Unique Way of Life --

The Spanish Camp Preservation Coalition (Friends of the Dorothy Day Cottages, the Preservation League of Staten Island, Historic Districts Council, Place Matters) has today submitted a Request for Evaluation to the Landmarks Preservation Commission for a significant portion of Spanish Camp, on the South Shore of Staten Island, for designation as a historic district. The proposed district would include the site of the lost Dorothy Day Cottages.

The Coalition was joined by Public Advocate Mark Green who said, "Spanish Camp has a sense of history and community that deserves to be preserved. In 1997, when the camp’s residents and I worked together to protect the community, we were promised that some of Spanish Camp would be protected. That promise is being broken. Today, I call on the Buildings Department to issue no new permits for construction or demolition in Spanish Camp until both Buildings and the Department of Investigation have completed their investigations.

Furthermore, the Landmarks Commission should move quickly to preserve parts of Spanish Camp—including the site of Dorothy Day’s now destroyed home so her legacy can live on and inspire future generations to care for the forgotten."

Public Advocate Mark Green speaks at Spanish Camp while
Mark Kiley, President of Friends of Dorothy Day Cottages,
Tony Pochia, Councilman Jay O'Donovan and
David Goldfarb, Chair of Preserve & Protect, listen.

Developer John DiScala
orders attendees at the Feb. 24th press
conference off of Spanish Camp.
[pictures by Linda Jones]

The wanton demolition of the Dorothy Day Cottages has galvanized preservation groups throughout the city in a united effort to preserve the remainder of this important historic and cultural landmark. On February 9, 2001, developer John DiScala razed the cottage once occupied by Dorothy Day, along with two other cottages. The three cottages had been under evaluation by the Landmarks Preservation Commission for landmarks designation. As a result of the questionable permits used to justify this reckless act, Councilman Jerome X. O'Donovan has asked Staten Island District Attorney William Murphy to investigate.

The proposed Spanish Camp Historic District encompasses several key features: the site of the demolished Dorothy Day Cottage, four of the former Camp's cottages (typical examples of the some 40 cottages demolished during the last two years); "Broadway," an unpaved lane dividing the main concentration of cottages, which served as the primary pedestrian route to both the beach and Seguine Pond; pond and beach frontage that create Spanish Camp's unique setting, and the area of the Camp's communal gathering space at the north end of the property. Together, these elements embody the sense of place created by Spanish Camp during its seventy-year history.

Few places like the beach cottages at Spanish Camp are left to represent the full range of what New York City's cityscape has been. For Staten Island, Spanish Camp is a rare example of a vanishing way of life, in which people of modest means had access to the countryside and beachfront. The historic fabric of Spanish Camp includes the modest scale and vernacular style of the remaining cottages; their clustering near a narrow, unpaved lane; the communal grounds and beachfront; and the site's history of cooperative living -- all in deference to the rich natural setting. Significantly, the remaining cottages include one owned by the Catholic Worker and frequented by Dorothy Day.

The property's natural assets include wetlands, an abundance of fish and shorebirds, and Sequine Pond, a wetland terminus and the last remaining brackish outlet to Raritan Bay (Seguine Pond is not included in the proposed district's boundary).