2017 Chairman’s Award

Dick Anderson, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and Joseph Tortorella, President of SILMAN photo by Noel Sutherland

May 24, 2017
Chairman’s Award Luncheon Honors Special New York Leaders

A capacity crowd filled The Metropolitan Club on May 24 for the Chairman’s Award Luncheon honoring Richard T. “Dick” Anderson, president emeritus of the New York Building Congress, SILMAN, a premier preservation engineering firm and Timothy Cardinal Dolan.

The award is given to an individual or firm who has demonstrated a commitment to historic preservation.

Cardinal Dolan, honored for the restoration of St. Patrick’s, commented on the large crowd. “At the Cathedral, we’d call this a two-collection crowd,” he joked. Several firms who worked on St. Patrick’s restoration were at the luncheon and the Cardinal thanked them for their dedication. He remarked that one worker he spoke with told him his job was “rebuilding a Cathedral.” “What a beautiful sense of pride and ownership,” the Cardinal said. “St. Patrick’s doesn’t belong just to Catholics,” he added, “it belongs to all of New York. And to have the Landmarks Conservancy say that touches my heart.”

Richard Anderson, a nationally respected planner, presided over the New York Building Congress for 22 years. He worked with the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Conservancy, and other groups on securing initial federal funding for creating a train hall in the landmark Farley Post Office, and still supports what will be the Moynihan train hall. He also worked with the Conservancy to save Eero Saarinen’s iconic former TWA terminal at JFK.

Anderson said his first boss in New York felt deeply about regional planning and landmarks preservation and “the need to work together on both was never lost on me.”

President Joseph Tortorella of SILMAN thanked the firm’s founder Robert Silman for setting the tone and the firm’s interest in preservation. SILMAN has helped preserve a number of iconic New York landmarks including Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, and St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

Tortorella said working on St. Patrick’s was special and thanked the Cardinal for overseeing the extensive restoration. He added that the Conservancy “is a valued client” even when we can’t pay for their expertise.

Conservancy Chair Lloyd Zuckerberg said the honorees illustrated something he always knew, that good preservation is good business.

The Chairman’s Award
The New York Landmarks Conservancy inaugurated the Chairman’s Award in 1988 to recognize exceptional individuals, organizations, and businesses that have demonstrated their dedication to protecting New York’s architectural heritage.

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Chairman’s Award, the Landmarks Conservancy is pleased to honor: Dick Anderson for his distinguished service to the New York Building Congress; His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan for his visionary leadership of the recent restoration of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and Silman on their 50th anniversary as one of the world’s premiere engineering firms.

Honorary Co-Chairs
Eric Rudin, Rudin Management
Carlo Scissura, New York Building Congress
Richard Southwick, Beyer Blinder Belle

Leadership Committee Chair
Frank J. Sciame, Jr., Sciame Construction and Development

Leadership Committee
Jeffrey Berman, Jeffrey Berman Architect
Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President
William T. DeCamp, III, Gilbane Building Company
Michael De Chiara and Michael Zetlin, Zetlin & De Chiara
Victoria A. Dengel, General Society of Mechanics & Tradesmen
Carole Bailey French, St. Bartholomew’s Conservancy
Ken Langone, Invemed Associates, Inc.
Jeffrey E. Levine, Douglaston Development
Christine Miller Martin and Stuart Siegel, Engel & Völkers
Stephen J. Meringoff, Meringoff Properties
Joseph Mizzi, Sciame Construction and Development
Jeff Murphy, Murphy Burnham and Buttrick
Ray Pepi, Building Conservation Associates
Jonathan Plotkin, Colliers International NY
John Powers, Boston Properties
Milo Riverso, STV
Richard Tomasetti, Thornton Tomasetti
Stephen Schwarzman, Blackstone Group
Elizabeth Stribling, Stribling & Associates
Elise Wagner, Kramer Levin
Carl Weisbrod, HR&A Advisors
Marty Zubatkin, Zubatkin Owner Representation