The following is a petition to the Chairman of the New York City Landmarking Preservation Commission concerning the proposal requesting designation of the Lower East Side as a historic district: Dear Chairman Tierney, I am writing to support the designation of the proposed Lower East Side Historic District. This historic district will commemorate the urban, working class, poor immigrant/migrant experience and pay homage to the importance of affordable housing. It will be a permanent reminder of the importance of immigration to this City, past and present, and is vital to our sense of ourselves as a people, as New Yorkers, and as Americans. The Lower East Side community is already reeling from the destruction of precious examples of its cultural heritage. Should the Lower East Side tenement streetscape be lost, New Yorkers and national and international visitors to the neighborhood will lose all context for the rich cultural history of immigrants and migrants to New York City. I urge the Landmarks Preservation Commission to speedily designate a Lower East Side Historic District, the first tenement district. This neighborhood has such an important past, please preserve it for our future! If you agree with the above statement, sign our petition and help preserve the Lower East Side!