St. Francis College welcomed back Professor Emeritus Francis J. Greene, Ph.D. for a talk on Landmark Preservation in New York City on November3, 2016.

(Watch Frank Greene on Landmark Preservation)

Dr. Greene was chair of the College's Department of Fine Arts and former head of the Duns Scotus Honor Society before he retired from full-time teaching in 2014.

Dr. Greene talked about the enormous task the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission must undertake and looked back at some recent successes as well as failures. He talked about how many architecturally significant buildings have been saved from the wrecker's ball and entire neighborhoods have been spared overdevelopment.

But Dr. Greene cautioned that new challenges to preservation have taken hold, like; the City Council's new proposed guidelines for the Commission, increased pressure from developers for exemptions, and more frequent waiving of zoning requirements.