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151:, she helped lobby on behalf of the landmarks preservation law of 1965. Gayle was the founder of many advocacy and preservationist groups in the New York City area, including the Victorian Society in America, the Friends of Cast-Iron Architecture, and the Friends of the City's Historic Clocks. She was especially interested in public clocks, and successfully fought to get many of them protected, including the Yorkville Clock at 85th St and Third Avenue (landmarked in 1981) and the Sun Clock, near City Hall at Broadway and Chambers Street.
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361:'s Landmarks Lion award in 1993. A limited edition of a special beer was created and brewed in her honor In 2020 (and again in 2022). It was brewed by the Torch and Crown Brewing Company of SoHo New York and was named "Magnetic Energy." The name refers to the magnets she gave to participants on her tours of SoHo. The magnets were used to identify the cast iron components in each building's facade.
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In 1973 Gayle convinced the New York City
Department of Water Supply, Gas, and Electricity to save 24 examples of the original 1896 "Bishop's crook" gas street lamp designed by Richard Rogers Bowker. They were later reproduced and became the standard street lamp model for historical projects in New
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through TriBeCa and SoHo. The expressway project was abandoned in 1971 and the 26-block SoHo Cast Iron
Historic District was established in 1973. It preserved important buildings and protected the neighborhood from the rapid development that was occurring in neighboring areas of
206:. They first worked to get the stopped clocks on each side of the building back into working condition, holding meetings in Gayle's apartment at 44 West Ninth Street and called themselves the Committee of Neighbors To Get The Clock on the Jefferson Market Courthouse Started.
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and now houses a branch of the New York Public
Library. This renovation was one of the first significant historical preservation projects in New York City, and set a precedent for a preservationist movement that would gain strength in the following decade.
243:. To increase public appreciation of cast-iron architecture, Gayle and other FCIA members led walking tours of architectural landmarks in SoHo, handing out magnets to demonstrate that the facades really were made of iron.
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Gayle's involvement in city politics introduced her to the issue of historical preservation, which would become her life's work. In 1956 she became the only woman member on the historic buildings committee of the
357:(1997); the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Medal from the Municipal Arts Society (1997); and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State Historic Preservation Office (2000). She also received the
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The E.V. Haughwout
Building, which Gayle called "the finest of existing iron-front commercial buildings produced by the Architectural Iron Works (or any other foundry for that matter)."
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Margot Gayle described cast-iron architecture as her "all-consuming passion." In 1970 she founded the group the
Friends of Cast Iron Architecture (FCIA) as part of the opposition to
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was being considered for sale by the city, Gayle began a community effort calling for the preservation of the building. The group included other local activists and luminaries like
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Lucy G. Moses
Preservation Leadership Award (1993); the General Tools Award for Distinguished Service to Industrial Archaeology from the
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bid as a reform candidate running with the slogan "We need a woman in City Hall." She lost that election to
Republican incumbent
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that were meant to suppress voter registration, and was so active on that issue that she earned the nickname Poll Tax Margot.
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GAYLE, CAROL; WAITE, JOHN G. (2013). "Margot Gayle: Passionate
Crusader for Cast-Iron Architecture".
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691:"Streetscapes/The Jefferson Market Courthouse; A Stopped Clock Sired the Preservation Movement"
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in New York City until their divorce in 1957. She had two daughters, Carol and
Gretchen.
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Margot Gayle with an enlarged photograph of the
Jefferson Market Courthouse building.
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After the preservationist groups gained the support of Manhattan Borough President
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was named Rapkin-Gayle Plaza after Margot Gayle and urban planner Chester Rapkin.
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Button distributed by Gayle's organization the Friends of Cast Iron Architecture
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Gayle also worked to get landmark status for individual buildings including
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30:(Born Sarah Margaret McCoy May 14, 1908 – September 28, 2008) was an
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425:"Margot Gayle, Urban Preservationist and Crusader With Style, Dies at 100"
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389:"Margot Gayle, 100, led effort to landmark Soho, 'Old Jeff' | amNewYork"
620:"NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: UPPER EAST SIDE; Familiar Face Back on 3d Avenue"
724:"The Preservation of Greenwich Village's Jefferson Market Courthouse"
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Cast Iron Architecture in America: The Significance of James Bogardus
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The Margot Gayle Papers 1959-2005 at the New York Historical Society
84:. Gayle married accountant William T. Gayle and the couple lived in
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Jefferson Market Courthouse with "Bishop's Crook" lamp post at left
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Gayle was a lifelong Democratic Party activist and a member of the
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757:"A Long-Needed Restoration for a Victorian Gothic Masterpiece"
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Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation Archives
100:. While studying in Atlanta, she lobbied for repeal of the
845:"Public Lives; A Polite Defender of SoHo's Cast-Iron Past"
519:"PUBLIC LIVES; A Polite Defender of SoHo's Cast-Iron Past"
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Gayle first moved to New York City as a script writer for
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Cast Iron Architecture in New York: A Photographic Survey
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Margot Gayle Fund for Preservation of Victorian Heritage
270:, New York City's largest cast-iron-fronted building.
489:"Remembering a Pioneer of the Preservation Movement"
587:"A Woman's Fabled Soft Spot for the Cast-Iron City"
812:"Landmark Potential Confuses Plans for a Building"
41:, and writer. She led the effort to designate the
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878:"T-Arms and Teardrops: Restoring Street Lights"
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72:. She earned an undergraduate degree from
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653:"With a Hand or 2, an Old-Timer Revives"
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332:Guide to Manhattan’s Outdoor Sculpture
326:Metals in America's Historic Buildings
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974:"The Legend of Margot Gayle Lives On"
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355:Society for Industrial Archeology
16:American historic preservationist
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909:Gray, Christopher (1995-12-10).
722:Gray, Christopher (2014-10-31).
689:Gray, Christopher (1994-04-03).
618:Stevens, Kimberly (1999-09-19).
349:Margot Gayle received the first
175:In 1958, after hearing that the
43:SoHo Cast Iron Historic District
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291:. She wrote a talk show called
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1079:University of Michigan alumni
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951:. 2015-09-10. Archived from
843:Wadler, Joyce (1998-05-29).
557:Hansen, Laura (1996-07-23).
517:Wadler, Joyce (1998-05-29).
320:with Edmund V. Gillon (1974)
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1064:Historical preservationists
559:"Margot Gayle Oral History"
299:neighborhood of Manhattan.
180:Jefferson Market Courthouse
163:Jefferson Market Courthouse
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359:Historic Districts Council
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76:and a master's degree in
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61:Early life and education
35:historic preservationist
1084:Emory University alumni
340:with Carol Gayle (1998)
293:The Margaret Allen Show
274:Bishop's Crook Lamppost
131:Historical preservation
260:David and John Jardine
226:Cast iron preservation
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149:Pennsylvania Station
111:In 1957, she made a
1035:Margot Gayle papers
387:amNY (2008-09-30).
215:Mayor Robert Wagner
92:Career and activism
915:The New York Times
882:The New York Times
849:The New York Times
816:The New York Times
728:The New York Times
695:The New York Times
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624:The New York Times
591:The New York Times
523:The New York Times
451:The New York Times
219:Giorgio Cavaglieri
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345:Honors and legacy
264:90–94 Maiden Lane
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66:Margot McCoy
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1059:2008 deaths
1054:1908 births
279:York City.
188:Jane Jacobs
1048:Categories
1008:2022-12-28
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959:2019-08-05
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862:2020-09-06
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375:References
236:expressway
106:poll taxes
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289:CBS Radio
241:Manhattan
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283:Writing
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