City Lore and the Municipal Art Society founded the Place Matters project in 1998. City Lore is a cultural organization dedicated to advancing the living cultural heritage of New York and other cities through publications, media, and school and community programs. (www.citylore.org) The Municipal Art Society is a private, non-profit membership organization that is committed to enriching the culture, neighborhoods, and physical design of New York City. (www.mas.org)
Place Matters developed from the work of a committee on historical and cultural landmarks, spearheaded by Ned Kaufman, former Associate Director of Issues at the Municipal Art Society. City Lore and many other NYC organizations contributed to the committee and the report it issued in 1996. The report led to a successful conference called History Happened Here, organized in 1997 at the Museum of the City of New York by City Lore and the Municipal Art Society. We learned from the conference that many people shared our concerns about the places of value disappearing around us. Since few strategies existed for promoting or protecting such places, our two organizations decided it was time to mount an initiative dedicated to such aims.
The Place Matters mission is to foster the conservation of New York City's historically and culturally significant places. These are places that hold memories and anchor traditions for individuals and communities, and that help tell the history of the city as a whole. We are convinced that such places promote the well being of New York's many communities in ways that too often go unrecognized.