The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission will soon decide far more than the fate of West Park Presbyterian Church on the Upper West Side. It will decide whether a NYC landmark designation still means protection — or whether an owner who lets a historic building decline can claim “hardship” and win permission to demolish it.

New York adopted its landmarks law because historic buildings are part of what makes New York great. Today, more than 38,000 landmarked buildings provide homes, jobs, and cultural spaces and spur economic activity, while occupying less than 4% of the city’s land. In more than 60 years, demolition under the law’s hardship provision has been allowed fewer than 15 times, because the standard is intentionally demanding — the rare exception, not an escape hatch.

The owners of West Park want to make it the next exception. They have not come close to meeting the legal standard.

Built in 1889 and........

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