2024-05-05T21:56:31-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150292516/donald-h-elliott-former-nyc-planning-commissioner-has-passed-away-aged-89 Josh Niland 2021-12-30T18:07:00-05:00 >2021-12-31T15:12:27-05:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/6b/6be55ba55b7acca21da73c6d057dcbe7.png?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>More sad news to pass along in the closing days of <a href="https://archinect.com/news/article/150292261/in-memoriam-those-we-lost-in-2021" target="_blank">another tragic year</a> as <em>The New York Times</em> is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/27/nyregion/donald-h-elliott-dead.html" target="_blank">reporting</a>&nbsp;that influential preservationist and urban planner Donald H. Elliott passed away at his home in Brooklyn this past Thursday.</p> <p>Elliott was chairman of New York&rsquo;s City Planning Commission for a number of years <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1973/01/28/archives/elliott-is-leaving-city-planning-post-commissioner-zuccotti-is.html" target="_blank">through the early 1970s</a> and was instrumental in leading a shift away from the <a href="https://archinect.com/news/tag/439106/robert-moses" target="_blank">Robert Moses</a>-led planning mandates that were a hallmark of the region in the decades following World War II.</p> <p>As chairman of the commission, Elliott oversaw the successful effort to save the South Street Seaport from redevelopment in addition to spearheading a host of other significant initiatives including the rezoning of midtown&rsquo;s retail-friendly Fifth Avenue and the division of the city into over 60 individual community districts, the legacy of which is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_boards_of_New_York_City" target="_blank">still in place today</a>.&nbsp;</p> <p>Elliott was born to socially-minded parents in Manhattan in 1932 and later went on to study at Carleton College before obta...</p>