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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Giulietta Fiore, Representative of Historic House Trust of New York City
3:21:34
ยท
123 sec
Giulietta Fiore, representing the Historic House Trust of New York City, advocates for increased funding and support for historic houses and other park resources. She emphasizes the importance of preserving these sites for future generations and their unique value to New York City.
- The Historic House Trust oversees 23 historic houses across all five boroughs, attracting over 1 million visitors annually.
- Fiore stresses the need for long-term preservation, aiming to maintain these sites for 50-200 years.
- She also highlights the importance of investing in other park infrastructure, such as rec centers and sports courts, for a livable future city.
Giulietta Fiore
3:21:34
Good afternoon.
3:21:35
Thank you so much chair Krishna for calling this.
3:21:38
I've testified at this hearing a few years in a row now and I will submit a formal testimony as well, but I kind of just wanted to speak off the cuff since I have this opportunity.
3:21:47
I'm here representing the Historic House Trust of New York City.
3:21:49
We help preserve and promote 23 historic houses that operate as public house museums.
3:21:55
They're located across all five boroughs of New York City from the southernmost tip of Staten Island to the easternmost reaches of Queens and the northernmost reaches of the Bronx and even under the GW Bridge, the Little Red Lighthouse.
3:22:06
Yeah.
3:22:07
I guess I just want to kind of these places mean a lot to a lot of people.
3:22:12
We have over 1,000,000 people visiting these houses annually, and that number is growing.
3:22:17
Half of those are schoolchildren who utilize these places in in the five boroughs in their own backyards to learn about New York City history.
3:22:25
All of these places are publicly owned and they're on they're on public park land.
3:22:30
They're they're park zoned.
3:22:32
We we as historic preservationists are playing the long game, and we are not looking to just preserve these historic houses for another five years.
3:22:40
We're looking to preserve them for fifty, one hundred, two hundred years.
3:22:44
And when I say that we want these resources to be around for another two hundred years, that shouldn't be a radical prospect.
3:22:50
We should have the investment now that we need to ensure that something like that is possible.
3:22:55
If these historic sites in public parks go away, you're depriving people of something that's really special and it's one of those resources that you can't find anywhere else in the world, anywhere else, any other city in in America.
3:23:06
This is really unique to New York City.
3:23:08
And it's also not the only, you know, infrastructure that needs to be supported.
3:23:12
Love my historic houses.
3:23:13
It's a mission that's very close to my heart, but there are a lot of other resources that the Parks Department maintains rec centers, handball courts.
3:23:20
I know people love pickleball courts.
3:23:22
And if those things aren't invested in today through maintenance and staff positions, there's just no way that we'll have a livable city in the future.
3:23:30
So I really can I really hope that you all are able to push for additional funding for the Parks Department and I appreciate your time?