Rethinking Preservation in Urban Settings
For this panel, we invited people working across the state, from Buffalo to Queens, who are thinking outside the preservation box to work with their communities. We wanted to look at how practitioners take a more holistic approach to preservation in urban centers — not just relying on tried and true preservation tools like landmark designation and historic tax credits. From cultural districts to building shell stabilization, there are so many ways preservationists can engage with the complicated realities of their city's built environment to better serve the people who call these places home.
This program was part of the League's Future of Preservation webinar series. Thank you to our program sponsors, the Peggy N. & Roger G. Gerry Charitable Trust.
About the Panel
Christopher Cirillo became the Executive Director/President of Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation in July 2012. Based in East Harlem, Ascendant has preserved and developed over 800 affordable rental apartments in Northern Manhattan. The organization currently has over 2,100 affordable rental apartments in its development and rehabilitation pipeline. Since arriving at Ascendant, Chris has expanded the organization’s work to include neighborhood planning, historic preservation, and asset management. Chris helped to establish Landmark East Harlem, an alliance of local historic preservation advocates. Before joining Ascendant, he spent 6½ years as Vice President for Development at The Richman Group Development Corporation. Chris also held several positions at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) over a ten-year period, including Director of Large Scale Development and Assistant Commissioner for Neighborhood Planning. Chris is a graduate of Brown University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies. He completed his Master of Science in Historic Preservation at Pratt Institute. He now serves as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Historic Preservation and Real Estate Practice programs at Pratt. Chris currently serves on the Board of Directors for Friends of La Marqueta and the Board of Advisers for the Historic Districts Council.
Xenia Diente is a NYC Queens based artist, cultural organizer, and public art administrator that specializes in the field of public art. She oversees NYC Department of Design and Construction's public art program as Public Art Deputy Director with over twenty years of public service. She works extensively with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for Art Program supporting visual artists to design, fabricate and install public art in civic facilities and infrastructure. Additionally, she serves as a liaison to the NYC Public Design Commission. Xenia also works on temporary art at construction sites, artwork conservation, Public Artist in Residence, and worked on BUILT/NYC, a design pilot program for furniture and industrial design. In 2021, she was invited to serve on the cultural committee on the Urban Design Forums “Streets Ahead” Working group to advance ideas and proposals to envision a more vibrant, equitable streetscape. In 2011, Xenia was a social practice artist in residence led by master artist Rick Lowe at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, 2020 Create Change Artist in Residence through The Laundromat Project supporting creative placekeeping efforts in Little Manila, Queens to 2021-2022 a team member of the Tandang Sora Project supported by Re:Generation, a nationwide participatory public art and history project organized by the Monument Lab. Xenia is active in her neighborhood of Woodside Queens, and is the founder of Little Manila Queens Bayanihan Arts, a collaboration between artists and cultural workers who support community-based arts and creative placekeeping efforts by and for the diasporic Filipino community in Woodside, Queen, as well as the greater New York City area. She serves on the executive board of the Filipino American National Historical Society Metro NY chapter. Xenia holds a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art and Coro Leadership NY.
Christiana Limniatis is the Director of Preservation Services at Preservation Buffalo Niagara (PBN), in Buffalo NY. At PBN, Christiana oversees all technical and community services which work to expand and strengthen the reach of preservation education and best practices in Western New York. Originally from Albany, NY, Christiana began her preservation career at Historic Albany Foundation and has also worked as a preservation consultant in Louisiana and Tennessee. Christiana holds a BA in History/Political Science from The College of Saint Rose and completed her coursework towards an MA in Historic Preservation Planning at Cornell University.
Liz McEnaney is a preservationist and nonprofit leader. She is a co-founder of the Hudson Valley Collaborative (HVCo), a woman-led design collaborative that works with communities on design, planning, and preservation projects in the Hudson Valley region and beyond. Previously, Liz served as Executive Director of Sir John Soane’s Museum Foundation. Prior to this, she was the Executive Director and later a Board Member of the SS Columbia Project, a nonprofit organization restoring a 1902-built National Historic Landmark steamboat. Liz is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. She is active in preservation efforts in Newburgh, NY and is a founding trustee of Awesome Newburgh and on the board of The Fullerton Center. She is also on the board of Project Hello World and the Historic Districts Council.