Bedford Park residents are trying another tactic to ward off overdevelopment in the neighborhood: preservation.

Kelly Carroll, who works for the Historic Districts Council (HDC), a landmarks advocacy group, met with neighborhood residents at the April 4 Bedford Mosholu Community Association (BMCA) meeting to discuss the prospect of landmarking certain sections of the neighborhood. Apart from making sure “the landmarks preservation commission behaves itself,” HDC educates the public, and meets with communities to address their concerns about preservation.

“So what we can help with is getting to know the neighborhood. If there’s an active interest in preservation here it would be great for this association to determine which buildings you would want for landmarking,” said Carroll. “And then we can offer support such as writing letters, meeting with your councilperson, getting in touch with other electeds, and using our email lists to put pressure on those various entities including the landmark’s preservation commission.”

Bedford Park began to develop in 1869 and was intended to be built as a suburb in the city. Overdevelopment has been a key concern for the neighborhood in recent years. Developers have been attracted to Bedford Park’s proximity to public transportation and relatively low crime.

Carroll said one of the biggest challenges facing landmark preservation is fear. The idea that the cost of landscaping will have personal repercussions, or that people will lose the ability to make changes to their homes, are often concerns. Carroll explains that this is counterintuitive.

“[T]he landmark’s law is actually supposed to stabilize neighborhoods, not to gentrify them. If anything, communities are desiring landmarking more than anything because it takes the incentive away from developers to tear things down and then build them taller,” Carroll said.

Right now Bedford Park is just considering their options. Community members in Bedford Park showed some interest in specific possibilities, such as creating walking tours of the area.