Urban preservationists strive to landmark the city’s architecture from change or destruction, but Richard Kessler’s battle is a little more quixotic: He wants to protect a view.
Leaning against a lamppost near the entrance of Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Kessler has found a sightline where the Empire State Building’s spire is perfectly framed by the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza. He calls it the Brooklyn Mirador.
The view is threatened by Bruce Ratner’s $5 billion plan to raise towers at Atlantic Yards, he said.
“People have been around this park thousands of times and never even seen this view,” said Kessler, 63, a retired computer programmer. “Some people know about it. It was a little in-secret.”
Building No. 6 of the planned 16 skyscrapers at Atlantic Yards would rise between the arch and the skyscraper. Kessler has tilted at windmills to get landmark status. When asked if the developer would move the tower to preserve the view a Forest City Ratner spokesman replied, “You are kidding, right?”
Kessler has self-published a booklet laying out his theory that the sightline was created intentionally.
“Every morning, I call over whoever I can and tell them about the Mirador,” Kessler said. “My push is to get the neighborhood aware of it.”
