Calif. parks, NYC neighborhood top list of 11 endangered sites

by Dave Keating | May 19, 2008 at 11:56 pm | 140 views | add comment | 0 recommendations

In an interesting twist, New York's Lower East Side has been listed as one of America's 11 most endangered places. The selections on this year's list are all quite interesting.

The entire California State Parks system, New York's Lower East Side, and a Topeka, Kan., elementary school that help foment the Civil Rights Movement are on the 2008 list of "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places," issued today by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
California's parks made the list in light of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposal in January to close 48 parks due to the state budget crunch. He reversed that position last week, however, requesting funding that would allow the parks to remain open. Regardless, National Trust president Richard Moe reiterated Monday that the parks still are suffering from $1 billion in deferred maintenance. The group's concern lies primarily with conditions in California's 51 historic parks, which, Moe said, is indicative of circumstances in other states.

"State historic sites are chronically underfunded. We're trying to dramatize what's happening in so many state park systems," he said.