Historic Ithaca

05/25/2026

Thank you very much to all of the wonderful volunteers who came out this morning to the Ithaca City Cemetery and helped clean gravestones, trim branches, and put in several new Civil War veteran replacement markers.

05/25/2026

Save the date! Thursday, June 11 at 6pm in the BorgWarner West Room at the Tompkins County Public Library.

05/21/2026

Join us for Historic Ithaca's 60th Anniversary Open House!
When: Tuesday, June 23rd from 6-8pm
Where: Liquid State barrel room, 620 West Green St., Ithaca
Celebrate 60 years of Historic Ithaca serving Ithaca and Tompkins County! This is a buy your own drink event but there will also be free light fare and cake! Space is limited so RSVPs are required here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/historic-ithacas-60th-anniversary-open-house

05/20/2026

Summer is coming and that means the return of our Walk and Talks! Please visit our website for the list of dates and registration links: https://www.historicithaca.org/events -mak42ff02

05/19/2026

Come work with us! We're looking for a Program Manager and Executive Director. Job descriptions and application information can be found here: https://www.historicithaca.org/careers

05/19/2026

Join us on Monday, May 25 for the Ithaca City Cemetery Cleanup from 9:30 am-12:30 pm!
We will clear branches and trim trees as well as clean and upright selected grave stones. Please remember to wear your work clothes, closed-toe shoes, and hat. Please bring sunscreen, bug spray and a water bottle. Meet at the main entrance gates on University Avenue. Space is limited and registration is required. In case of thunder or lightning storm, the cleanup will not take place. Sign up here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/2026-memorial-day-ithaca-city-cemetery-cleanup

05/14/2026

Join us on June 11 for this historic tax credit workshop at the Tompkins County Public Library

05/11/2026

New York State is considering an important new tool to help revive some of our largest and most challenging historic buildings. Senate Bill S6021‑A, sponsored by Senator April Baskin, would establish the White Elephant Housing Historic Rehabilitation Projects Tax Credit, expanding the existing NYS Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit to support large‑scale, long‑vacant historic structures.

What the Bill Does

• Creates a new tax credit specifically for “white elephant” projects—historic buildings with $50 million or more in qualified rehabilitation costs that have been vacant for at least 10 of the past 15 years.

• Allows eligible projects to receive up to $15 million in state historic tax credits, allocated over five years.

• Permits a Phase II application for related follow‑up work submitted within five years.

• For white‑elephant projects that also qualify for low‑income housing tax credits, the bill:

• Lifts the census‑tract income requirement, and allows the credit to be transferred once, providing additional flexibility for financing.

• Requires annual public reporting on the amount of historic rehabilitation credits awarded.

Why It Matters
Across New York State, communities are burdened by massive, long‑vacant historic structures—too expensive to demolish and too costly to rehabilitate without additional support. Examples include the Richardson Olmsted Campus and the Central Terminal in Buffalo, as well as major sites in Albany, Batavia, Victory Mills, and Yonkers.

This bill would give developers and communities a powerful tool to bring these buildings back to life—supporting economic development, housing creation, and the preservation of irreplaceable historic resources.

Current Status
S6021‑A is currently in the Senate Budget and Revenue Committee. Let's support this effort!

This legislation, introduced by NYS Senator April Baskin (Buffalo) and Assemblymember Pamela Hunter (Syracuse), would enhance the NYS Rehabilitation Tax Credit to incentivize the redevelopment of “White Elephant” properties throughout New York State. Here are some of the details: White Elephant

05/10/2026

Historic Ithaca held its first ever Halloween graveyard tour in 1994. Many rural cemeteries have been toured since then, but by 2000, October had become a month of programming to celebrate Ithaca’s own City Cemetery. With its earliest burial dating to ca. 1790, the City Cemetery is the final resting place for centuries of Ithacans. Today, the landscape faces a range of natural and human threats, including vandalism, erosion, and general deterioration. Friends of Ithaca City Cemetery, an affiliate of Historic Ithaca, was created to advocate for and involve the community in the preservation of this historic resource. In Summer 2015, four students in HI’s job training program, Work Preserve, led by local historic masonry specialist Randy Ruth, worked to restore monuments throughout the ICC. Today, HI and FICC promote appreciation and enjoyment of the cemetery through tours and is annual Memorial Day cleanup.

05/08/2026

05/07/2026

More key people from Historic Ithaca's history! Professor Stuart Stein was a professor of City and Regional Planning at Cornell University and was deeply involved in local community planning. Over the span of his career, Stein was at the center of Ithaca's downtown revitalization and tourism planning and held a number of elected and appointed positions. In the late 1960s, he and a group of colleagues developed the plan for the Ithaca Commons, which was completed in 1974. He was one of the first supporters of Historic Ithaca and even chaired HI's first organizational meeting in January 1967. During his years as chair of the New York State Board for Historic Preservation, he kept Historic Ithaca informed about developments and funding opportunities in the preservation field. Stein passed away in 2014 and is remembered by Historic Ithaca as a generous teacher, public servant, and preservation hero.