Enduring Culture
Supporting, celebrating, and preserving diverse cultural heritage throughout NYC
The Enduring Culture initiative is a multi-year effort that aims to expand New York City’s approach to preservation; to protect and celebrate more of the places, cultural activities, and histories that make our neighborhoods and communities unique.
Historic preservation, as traditionally structured and practiced, protects physical places and buildings with a focus on material architectural integrity and strict rules for maintaining a structure in time. However, defining a sense of place involves a larger set of layered histories, narratives, cultural traditions and practices, and community anchors — from legacy businesses to public artworks, to the havens of urban gardens.
These stories, practices, and sites are intimately related to community identity, yet often lack resilience in the face of change. As our policies and practices shift to adapt our built environment to meet the needs of our climate crisis, address our housing crisis, and deconstruct the legacy of racist planning and marginalizing policy, the field of preservation can evolve to do more than one thing for more than one purpose.
Shifts in urban policy and frameworks for support will ensure that the benefits of preservation are broadly and equitably distributed, celebrating a fuller understanding of New York City’s diverse cultural heritage and making communities more resilient.
The Enduring Culture Initiative’s Goals:
● Lay the groundwork for an expanded field of historic preservation that is more inclusive, equitable, and supportive of multivocal perspectives.
● Support community-based organizations in their efforts to tell and preserve their stories and sites.
● Elevate sites of cultural significance connected to underrepresented histories.
● Advocate for legislation, policies, and programs that will help preserve and maintain sites of historic and cultural significance, while also contributing to citywide climate and housing goals.
Guiding Questions:
● How can preservation practiced in non-traditional forms provide the opportunity for our urban fabric to be flexible, adaptable, and reflect layers of history to support multiple communities over time?
● How can preservationists better use data to represent cultural legacies to advocate for innovative & inclusive change?
● How can our systems better support practitioners across New York City who are creatively building ways to support historical and cultural heritage in the ever-shifting landscape of our city?
● What city policies and practices, in addition to landmark designations, could support the preservation of culture and sites that provide neighborhoods with unique character, history, and a sense of place?
The Enduring Culture Initiative is made possible with generous support from the Mellon Foundation and the New York Community Trust.
Call for Community Partners 2025-2026
APPLY – DEADLINE MAY 18, 2025 (11:59pm)
ACCESS INSTRUCTIONS AND BUDGET TEMPLATE >
Note: Completing the budget template is required for completing the Community Partners application.
Virtual Info Session
Join us on May 9, 2025 at 12 PM ET for an information session about the open call. RSVP is Required.
About the Open Call
For the 2025–2026 season, MAS seeks Community Partners from across New York City’s five boroughs who are leading local cultural preservation efforts to join the next phase of the Enduring Culture Initiative. Seven (7) $10,000 grants are available to support Community Partners’ ongoing work.
These grants support the expansion of community engagement, research, and advocacy for underrecognized or at-risk cultural practices and places that anchor neighborhoods and communities across New York City.
MAS offers funding, mentorship, and technical assistance to support and grow these efforts. Community Partners and MAS will also collaborate to identify barriers in current preservation systems and advocate for citywide changes that are more inclusive and community centered.
Key Dates:
● Virtual Info Session: May 9, 2025
● Application Deadline: May 18, 2025 (11:59pm)
● Grantees Notified & Orientation: June 2025
● Program Timeline: July 2025 – September 2026
What Community Partners Receive:
● $10,000 grant (dispersed in two phases across 2025–2026)
● Mentorship and technical workshops in urban planning and preservation strategies
● Opportunities to present at MAS public forums
● Promotion through MAS outreach channels
● Peer learning and networking as part of a citywide cohort
● 2-year MAS Cosmopolitan Membership (2025–2027, $1,000 value)
Who Can Apply:
● 501c3 community-based nonprofits and mission-driven, grassroots groups
● Groups without nonprofit status are welcome to apply (must identify an individual or incorporated entity to receive funds, and manage applicable taxes)
● Active for 4 or more years
● Demonstrates prior experience with and commitment to community-driven solutions
● Supports underrepresented/underserved communities, cultural practices, or places
● An interest in urban planning, preservation, and policy
Guidelines for Proposals:
● Builds on an active community-engaged project or advocacy initiative
● Planned activities occur between July 2025 – July 2026
● Identifies a pressing need or challenge
● Aligns with ECI’s goals
Types of Activities That May Be Funded:
● Forums, panel discussions, workshops, focus groups
● Tours and cultural activations of sites and neighborhoods
● Mapping, archiving, or design projects
● Community surveys or data collection
● Advocacy and awareness campaigns
Participation:
● June 2025: Orientation & announcement of Community Partners
● July 2025 — July 2026: Community Partner Projects, 1:1 mentorship hours & technical workshops
● August 2026: Community Partners’ final report survey
● September 2026: Community Partner presentations at a MAS public forum
Final Reporting, a short survey that includes:
● Recap of successes and challenges
● Photo/video documentation
● Use of grant funds (budget report)
● Communities and audiences reached/served
● Future goals and needs
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Graphic Capture via Zara Fina Stassi, Good for the Bees.photo 1 of 9 -
Street vendors in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Photo: Kade Van Meeteren. A dragon dance at a parade in Chinatown, Manhattan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Rhododendrites.photo 2 of 9 -
Nathan's in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Photo: Kade Van Meeteren. MoRUS hosts a film screening in a community garden, East Village, Manhattan. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, The Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space.photo 3 of 9 -
Break dancing and a garden party in the South Bronx. Photos: Edwin J. Torres.photo 4 of 9 -
Ray's Candy Store in the East Village, Manhattan. Mamoun's Falafel in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. Photos: James and Karla Murray.photo 5 of 9 -
A lamp post mosaic in Alphabet City, Manhattan. Photo: Aislinn Klein. Lefferts Place Community Garden in Lefferts Place, Brooklyn. Photo: Keri Butler.photo 6 of 9 -
Hi-Tech Electronics Service Center in the Lower East Side. Photo: Keri Butler. Nuyorican Poets Cafe in the East Village, Manhattan. Photo: Aislinn Klein.photo 7 of 9 -
An outdoor performance at the City Reliquary Museum in Williamsburg. Photo: courtesy of City Reliquary Museum. Socrates Sculpture Park in Astoria, Queens. Photo: Stephen Albonesi.photo 8 of 9 -
"Photoville," in Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn. The Weeksville Heritage Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Photos: Stephen Albonesi.photo 9 of 9
Enduring Culture Initiative Advisory Committee
- Erica Avrami: Professor, Historic Preservation, Director, Urban Heritage, Sustainability, and Social Inclusion initiative, Co-Director, Adapting the Existing Built Environment Earth Network, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning (GSAPP)
- Angel Ayón: Principal, Ayon Studio; Vice President, Save Harlem Now!
- Amanda T. Boston: Professor, African Studies, University of Pittsburgh; Visiting Scholar, Urban Democracy Lab, New York University
- Andrew Dolkart: Professor, Historic Preservation, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning (GSAPP); NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, Project Director
- Paul Farber: Director, Monument Lab; Senior Research Scholar, Center for Public Art & Space, University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
- Molly Garfinkel: Co-Director, City Lore
- Natalie Milbrodt: Director, Queens Memory Project
- Cassim Shepard: Distinguished Lecturer, The Bernard & Anne Spitzer School of Architecture; Principal, SQ Projects; Urbanist Storyteller
- Cynthia Tobar: Associate Professor, Head of Archives, Bronx Community College; Artist, Oral Historian
- Frampton Tolbert: Executive Director, Historic Districts Council
- Vicki Weiner: Professor, Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment, School of Architecture, Academic Director, Historic Preservation, Pratt
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Supporters
This project is supported by the New York Community Trust and the Mellon Foundation.
