Film director, producer, historian, and fellow New Yorker Martin Scorsese recently registered his “full support of the initiative to landmark 99 Ryerson” with Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Sarah Carroll. Widely regarded as one of the most significant and influential filmmakers in cinematic history, Mr. Scorsese shares with Whitman a coming-of-age story in New York City. “As a lifelong New Yorker, I realize the importance of preserving this site, which plays a foundational role in the cultural heritage of our city as well as our country,” writes Mr. Scorsese in his letter to Chair Carroll, sent on August 13, 2019. “Landmarking 99 Ryerson will help ensure that future generations are inspired by the remarkable rise of America’s poet from the streets of New York.” Among the more than 45 groundbreaking films directed or produced by Martin Scorsese is Hugo, based on the Caldecott Award-winning children’s book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. Mr. Selznick, whose most recent publication is Live Oak, with Moss, a new edition of Whitman’s secret same-sex love poems (Abrams, 2019), also supports the Whitman Initiative’s campaign to landmark the house on Ryerson Street. “Walt Whitman is an essential part of the American artistic tradition and the home where he lived when he first published Leaves of Grass should be designated a landmark,” Selznick said.