Palisades Joins List Of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places In U.S.

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - The iconic Palisades has a new dubious distinction: It has joined the list of 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in the United States.

The list is curated by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a non-profit group. The group says the Palisades is threatened by "inappropriate development," referring to the planned LG Electronics headquarters.

The building will rise to 143 feet and "spoil the scenic view of the New Jersey cliffs along the Hudson River," according to the group.

Watch the "11 Most Endangered" Announcement Video: 

"When new quarries and other development atop the cliffs threatened to degrade the landscape in the late 19th century, the Palisades became the focus of some of the country's earliest conservation and protection efforts," the group said in a statement. "If construction of the LG tower goes forward, it would represent the first breach of the viewshed in the 100-year history of protecting north of the George Washington Bridge."

Back in April, N.J. State Sen. Bob Smith introduced legislation that would force a redesign of the planned building. The bill would ban buildings higher than 35 feet within a half-mile of of the cliffs. That's the exact area where LG's building is set to be constructed.

The current planned building was approved by the borough of Englewood Cliffs in 2012.

A spokesperson said the company has previously tried negotiating the building size without success, and questioned whether negotiations were still possible.

"New Jersey needs the jobs now. To redesign the building would delay the project by a number of years and reopen the entire approval process again, and this project is going to create over 2,200 much-needed construction jobs," the spokesperson said in April.

Construction of the building could begin by the end of the year.

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