It had always been a wish of mine to landmark 151 Avenue B after I bought it in 1979. In 1992 Avenue B was renamed Charlie Parker place from 7th st to 10th st and at the same time the first Charlie Parker festival was held…the festival is still being produced in Tompkins Square park yearly on the closest Sunday to Bird’s birthday August 29th. In 1994 151 Avenue B was placed on the national register of historic places by the U.S. Department of the Interior…these were all big steps toward the city landmark which is the most difficult to obtain.
My wish to have 151 land marked was so it would be permanently protected by the city so that it could never be destroyed…every place Bird lived evidently no longer existed.
In 1999 after several years of working on the application, the New York City landmarks preservation commission designated 151 Avenue B The Charlie Parker Residence an individually land marked building. It was one of 1000 in New York City at the time and this was obviously a huge relief for me to know the building would be protected in perpetuity.
