Kent Barwick

Kent L. Barwick is a Historic Preservationist who lives and works in New York City. He is best known for partnering with Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to save Grand Central Terminal, upholding the New York City Landmarks Law in the 1970s, and working with the Municipal Art Society of New York and the Historic Districts Council.[1]

Kent L. Barwick
NationalityAmerican
OccupationHistoric Preservationist
Years active1970 - 2009
Known forPreservation of Grand Central Terminal

Early career

Barwick graduated from Syracuse University and also attended Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow.[2] Following graduation, he became involved in the Historic Preservation movement after telephoning The New Yorker's prolific writer Joe Mitchell regarding a project in Cooper Square. “In those days you could call The New Yorker and ask to speak to Joe Mitchell, and you could get him," explained Barwick in The New York Times. "Can you imagine?"[1]

Accomplishments

Barwick began a long professional relationship with The Municipal Art Society in 1969.[3] In February 1975, the New York State Supreme Court overturned Grand Central Terminal's New York City Landmark status, which opened the door to a demolition plan by the bankrupt Penn Central railroad.[3] Penn Central planned to demolish the structure, by then shabby, cluttered and dark, in favor of a Marcel Breuer-designed structure in an effort to raise desperately-needed funds.[4] Barwick and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis successfully campaigned to halt the plan and preserve the station by taking the case to the Supreme Court of the United States in Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City.[5]

Barwick proceeded to serve as the Municipal Art Society's executive director from 1970 to 1975 and as its president from 1983 to 1995. He returned as president from 1999 through 2009.[2] He also chaired the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and co-founded the Historic Districts Council, which awarded him its Landmarks Lion award in 1997.[6]

Personal life

Barwick resides in Manhattan's Little Italy neighborhood.

gollark: I don't really want to do very abstract mathy stuff for ages, which is also mentioned in my notes.
gollark: A 17x17 grid is small enough that you can probably get away with inefficiency, ubq.
gollark: I see.
gollark: Oops too many newlines.
gollark: Quoted from my notes:The relevant factors for course choice are probably something like this, vaguely in order: “personal fit” - how much I'll actually like it. This is quite hard to tell in advance. During the Y11 careers interview I was recommended some kind of trial thing for engineering, but I doubt that's on now, like many other things. Probably more important than other things, as I'd spend 3-5 years on said course, will perform better if I do enjoy it, and will probably not get much use out of studying a subject I would not like enough to do work related to. flexibility/generality - what options are opened by studying this stuff? Especially important in a changing and unpredictable world. how hard a subject is to learn out of university - relates to necessity of feedback from people who know it much better, specialized equipment needed, availability of good teaching resources, etc. Likely to decline over time due to the internet/modern information exchange systems and advancing technology making relevant equipment cheaper. earning potential - how much money does studying this bring? I don't think this is massively significant, it's probably outweighed by other things quite rapidly, but something to consider. Apparently high for quantitative and applied subjects. entry requirements - how likely I am to be able to study it. There are some things I probably cannot do at all now, such as medicine, but I didn't and don't really care about those, and there shouldn't be many. Most of the high-requirement stuff is seemingly available with more practical ones at less prestigious universities, which is probably fine.

References
  1. "Looking Out on Grand Central, and Looking Back on Saving It". The New York Times. 28 January 2013.
  2. "Kent L. Barwick". Archived from the original on 2015-12-21. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  3. "Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal (JKO) – The Municipal Art Society of New York". Archived from the original on 2015-12-31. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  4. "The New York City that Never Was: Grand Central Terminal Towers". Untapped Cities.
  5. "How Grand Central Terminal Survived the Wrecking Ball - And Lived to 100". WNYC. Retrieved 2015-12-31.
  6. "Landmarks Lion Award 2015-Pride of Lions". Historic Districts Council. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-31.


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