Vote to Preserve Lower Manhattan History

Your vote can help to preserve history in Lower Manhattan.

New York City is the seventh metropolitan area to be selected to participate in Partners in Preservation, a program in which American Express, in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, awards preservation grants to historic places across the country.

The program previously made $6.5 million in grants for preservation projects in San Francisco, Chicago, New Orleans, Greater Boston, Seattle-Puget Sound and Saint Paul/Minneapolis.

The partnership seeks to increase the public’s awareness of the importance of historic preservation in the United States and to preserve America’s historic and cultural places. The program also hopes to inspire long-term support from local citizens for the historic sites at the heart of their communities.

Citywide, 40 projects from the five boroughs are competing in the contest, which runs until May 21. And in Lower Manhattan, you’ve got some great choices:

Restoration of the entrance area and statue of George Washington. Federal Hall National Memorial rests on the site of profound moments in American history, including the inauguration of George Washington and the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Honoring the founding of American democracy and the historic power of the Port of New York, this local treasure strives to advance civic education and promote tourism and economic development, in a still-revitalizing Lower Manhattan.

National Museum of the American Indian. Renovation of first-floor office space to create an education classroom.  Located at the foot of the historic Algonquin trade route (now, Broadway), the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House is home to the National Museum of the American Indian. One of the only free museums in the city, the Museum is attracting a growing number of visitors while meeting the needs of the community and contributing to growth in Lower Manhattan.

Ellis Island South Side Hospitals. Restoration of windows in connecting corridors. Ellis Island is the iconic symbol of America’s immigrant roots, having welcomed 12 million new Americans by 1954.The currently stabilized but un-restored buildings of the US Public Health Service on the island’s south side treated more than one million of those immigrants and are the only remaining example of a pavilion style hospital, designed to control the spread of disease.

You can vote more than once, but only once a day. Just visit www.PartnersinPreservation.com or www.Facebook.com/PartnersinPreservation

The four projects that receive the most public votes will have their grant requests fully funded, and the remainder of the $3 million in grants will be given to a number of the other sites after review by American Express, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and an advisory committee composed of civic and preservation leaders from New York.