By Sarah Carroll, Chair, Landmarks Preservation Commission
The preservation community has lost an avid scholar, distinguished author, tireless advocate for broad representation, dedicated public servant, and friend, Christopher Moore. Christopher Moore was a passionate and respected historian who made significant contributions to the work of the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, as a researcher and writer and then as the longest-serving Commissioner in the history of the LPC. His expertise in Native American, African American, and New York City history informed and inspired the Commission’s work, ensuring that the agency was recognizing landmarks that help tell the city’s full story.
He was first appointed to the Commission in 1995 and served for 20 years until 2015. He also served as a researcher for the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1993, writing designation reports for several landmarks, including Mother A.M.E. Zion Church and Abyssinian Baptist Church (NYC’s two oldest black churches).
He was curator and research historian for the New Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Co-author of The Black New Yorkers: 400 Years of African American History (John Wiley and Sons, l999) and Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Celebration of Black Prayer (The Free Press, 2003), he has served as curator or co-curator of several Schomburg Center exhibitions including The Buffalo Soldiers: The African American Soldier in the U.S. Army (2004), Ralph Bunche Centennial (2003), Africana Age: African and African Diasporan Transformations in the 20th Century (2002) and lest We Forget: The Triumph Over· Slavery (2001 ), which was published as Jubilee: The Emergence of African American Culture published by National Geographic in 2003.
Notable designations during his time at LPC include several New York Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library branch libraries, the Charlie Parker Residence, Williamsburgh Houses, Brown Building (Triangle Shirtwaist Fire), 565 and 569 Bloomingdale Road Cottages and Rossville A.M.E. Zion Church in Sandy Ground, public pools and recreation centers, Grand Concourse Historic District, South Village Historic District, and the Central Ridgewood Historic District.
I had the privilege of working with Chris Moore in various roles at LPC since 1994, and he was a remarkably kind and warm person, who was generous with his time and his expertise as a historian. I will miss him greatly.
About the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC)
The Landmarks Preservation Commission is the mayoral agency responsible for protecting and preserving New York City’s architecturally, historically and culturally significant buildings and sites. Since its creation in 1965, LPC has granted landmark status to more than 37,000 buildings and sites, including 1,443 individual landmarks, 121 interior landmarks, 11 scenic landmarks, and 152 historic districts and extensions in all five boroughs. For more information, visit www.nyc.gov/landmarks and connect with us via www.facebook.com/NYCLandmarks, www.twitter.com/nyclandmarks and https://www.instagram.com/nyc.landmarks/.
