Stephen’s post on alleged corruption at the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission reminded me of a great scene from The Bonfire of the Vanities
“The bishop wants to sell St. Timothy’s to a developer, on the grounds that the membership is declining, and the church is losing a lot of money, which is true. But the community groups are putting a lot of pressure on the Landmarks Commission to landmark it so that nobody can alter the building even after they buy it.”
“Is this guy honest?” asked the mayor. “Who gets the money if they sell the church?”
“I never heard he wasn’t honest,” said Sheldon. “He’s a learned gentleman of the cloth. He went to Harvard. He could still be greedy, I suppose, but I have no reason to think he is.”
The mayor meets with the bishop to discuss the issue of preserving the church and realizes that Bishop Thomas is an ideal connection to improve his approval with the black community. The mayor agrees to prevent the church from being landmarked and the bishop is overcome with gratitude at the benefit selling the property will provide the congregation. Then the mayor tells the bishop that he wants him to serve on a new “blue-ribbon commission against crime.” When the bishop declines because the commission would conflict with his role in the church, the mayor says not to worry about the church remaining without landmark status:
“Don’t worry about that at all. As I said I didn’t do it for you and I didn’t do it for your church. I did it because I think it’s in the best interest of the city. It’s as simple as that.”
When the bishop leaves, the mayor immediately picks up the phone:
“Get me the Landmarks Commissioner.” Presently there was a low beep-beep, and he picked up the phone and said, “Mort? You know that church, St. Timothy’s? . . . Right . . . Landmark the son of a bitch!”
[Tom Wolfe, (1987) The Bonfire of the Vanities, Chapter 27]
While of course Wolfe’s portrayal of the interaction between city hall and historic preservation may not be realistic, he certainly captures the quid pro quo nature of development and the corruption that some accuse the Landmarks Commission of today.
Most of The Bonfire of the Vanities has little to do with urban development, but Wolfe also offers very vivid descriptions of both the Bronx and Park Avenue in the 1980s, so it might be interesting to many of you if you’ve not yet read it.
Francis says
October 10, 2011 at 1:47 pmThere was little that was fictional in the story Wolfe told. It was based on an actual event.
Emily Washington says
October 10, 2011 at 3:18 pmOh, interesting. Do you have any further information on the actual event? Is the church still there today?
Francis says
October 12, 2011 at 1:11 pmThe church is still there–and landmarked. I should be more precise and say that whether what Wolfe wrote was true or not, he did faithfully transcribe what was told him by a person intimately involved in the case.