The New-York Historical Society has an application before the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission for a $20 million improvement project, and the right move for the commission is to approve it without further delay, so the work can begin and the city can begin to benefit from the improvements. The society’s plan would add ramps for handicapped access, improve fire safety by making exits wider, and create a new entrance oriented to Central Park West that would join the Museum of Natural History’s storied steps as a gateway to knowledge and entertainment.

At a meeting last month, the Landmarks Commission heard from neighborhood residents alarmed at the prospect that a sale of air rights by the society would mean the construction of a new residential tower on the park. We think such a new tower would be an example of exactly the sort of dynamism that makes New York City vibrant, and there certainly appears to be a strong market for residences bordering the park. But that is beside the point, as the plan now before the Landmarks Commission, which is scheduled to vote on the matter today, includes no residential tower, only improvements to the historical society.

A group devoted to history has a keen consciousness of the history of its own building, and the plan takes care to improve the facility while preserving its character. The volunteer leaders of the society include some of the owners of the Sun, but even if they did not, we’d remark on the contributions that the organization has made with recent exhibitions on Alexander Hamilton and on slavery in New York. The plans for change will help the organization accommodate a surge in visitors and draw even more by adding kiosks that inform passersby of what is going on inside. The resurgent historical society is the sort of institution that we’d think the city’s landmarks commissioners would want to help, not hamper.