Studio Principal and PLNYS Vice Chair Angel Ayón and his wife Sarah attended the Preservation League of New York State’s Pillar of New York Awards on Thursday, March 14, at the iconic Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center. Congratulations to honorees Peggy King Jorde, Richard J. Moylan, and Melissa Auf der Maur & Tony Stone, who presented heartfelt and inspiring speeches. The evening’s festivities also included an auction in support of the newly launched Preservation Opportunity Fund, which will provide capital funding to New York State nonprofits that steward historic properties.
The League, founded in 1974, also premiered its 50th Anniversary video at the event, which featured an interview with Angel. “It must be more diverse. It must include other voices, other people who look different, who are more representative of the variety of stories, people, skin colors, accents, and backgrounds that really make up the people of New York,” he shares. (1:17)
In addition to diversity, the video also discusses how the Preservation League is poised to support local communities now and into the future, in the face of an affordable housing crisis and the increasing effects of climate change. He adds, “We need to have more in-depth conversations about how we treat historic properties and adapt them for a changing environment.” (2:12)
PLNYS President Jay DiLorenzo, Board Chair Anne Van Ingen, League Trustee Liz McEnaney, and former Executive Director Diana Waite all join Angel in a collective call for preservation advocates to band together. “Upstate, downstate, New York City – bring all these people together and be the focus of a conversation about heritage, conservation, and preservation, and what it means in New York State,” says Angel. “It’s something that only the League has been able to do at that level.” (2:43).