Roberta brandes gratz the battle for gotham new yor obs (v5 0)

Table of Contents ALSO BY ROBERTA BRANDES GRATZ Title Page Dedication Epigraph Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Chapter - THE WAY THINGS WERE THE PUSH-PULL EFFECT PUSHED TO LEAVE SUBURBIA IN FORMATION DEFINING PROGRESS THE SHOCK OF THE NEW SUBURBS ARE DIFFERENT BACK TO NEW YORK FOR GOOD THE NEWSPAPER DIVERSITY IN THE CITY ROOM THE LUCKY BREAK PROMOTED TO REPORTER THE APPEAL OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION THE 1960S THE 1970S FROM BAD TO WORSE SMALL STEPS, BIG CHANGE REBIRTH’S BEGINNINGS Chapter - LANDMARKS PRESERVATION THE TIDE TURNED PRESERVATION ACCELERATES CHANGE A PROBLEM GROWS IN BROOKLYN MOSES INCREASED MAYOR WAGNER’S PROBLEMS A MOVEMENT GROWS A LOT LEFT UNPROTECTED PROTECTION CAME SLOWLY THE MANHATTAN FOCUS A WEST SIDE LANDMARK THE LAW CHANGES, BUT THE COMMISSION DOESN’T JACKIE KENNEDY ONASSIS MAKES THE DIFFERENCE SIGNIFICANT LANDMARK BATTLES WERE MANY TWEED COURTHOUSE: AN OLD CONTROVERSY RAISING PRESERVATION AWARENESS AMONG STUDENTS Chapter - GREENWICH VILLAGE THE STATE OF THE NEIGHBORHOODS A DIFFERENT KIND OF CRIME LITTLE ITALY TODAY AS MUCH AS THINGS CHANGE STILL A WORLD APART LANDMARK PROTECTION WORKS THE PARK THE MOSES ROAD TRAFFIC DISAPPEARS TIDE TURNING AGAINST CARS? NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ENHANCING THE STREET, OR NOT THE POE HOUSE CONTROVERSY THE WEST VILLAGE EIGHTH STREET WEST VILLAGE HOUSES: KNOWN AS THE JANE JACOBS HOUSES FARTHER WEST JACOBS MAKES THE CASE AGAIN THE EAST VILLAGE—ANOTHER WORLD Chapter - SOHO THE DEATH-THREAT SYNDROME THE EXPRESSWAY FIGHT NEW AMENITIES PROMISED ARREST THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS EXPRESSWAY KILLED; SOHO EMERGED INDUSTRIAL USES DISPLACED CHANGING ART JANE JACOBS VERSUS ROBERT MOSES SOHO BROADENED THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION MOVEMENT SOHO’S EXPORTS HELP REJUVENATE OTHER PLACES ONE LAST STAND ON A NEW YORK CITY CONTROVERSY Chapter - RECONSIDERING ROBERT MOSES THE PARK DEFENSE HIS WAY OR NO WAY THE URBAN RENEWAL BULLDOZER THE HUMAN TOLL LEARNING BY LISTENING THE HUMAN TOLL A REFORMER TO START THE IMPACT OF THE WORLD’S FAIR THE COUNTRY FOLLOWS MOSES NEW ORLEANS PORTLAND, OREGON HARTFORD, BALTIMORE, DETROIT PITTSBURGH SAN FRANCISCO MOSES LISTENED TO NO ONE MOSES IS BUILT INTO THE SYSTEM TODAY WHOSE URBAN VISION? DENSITY IS NOT THE PROBLEM THE SOCIAL AND PSYCHIC DIMENSION THE RESURGENT CITY Chapter - THE FACTORY MANUFACTURING: EVER CHANGING THE CHANGING ART WORLD CHANGED US THE INDUSTRIAL NETWORK IS COMPLEX URBAN RENEWAL INTERFERES TO LONG ISLAND CITY INDUSTRIAL SPACE IS BEING NIBBLED AWAY INDUSTRY NURTURED AND SUSTAINED NEW YORK POSTWAR OPPORTUNITIES MISSED FALSE GOD OF EFFICIENCY LONG ISLAND CITY ESCAPES FOR A WHILE THE PAST IS PAST CREATIVE CONVERSIONS TRUE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS A RENEWABLE PROCESS OFFICIAL LOGIC IS ELUSIVE Chapter - THE UPPER WEST SIDE A NEW URBAN RENEWAL PARADIGM THE ERA OF FEAR URBAN RESETTLEMENT THE WEST SIDE: THE HAPPENING PLACE CATACLYSMIC CHANGE KICKS IN THE LINCOLN CENTER MYTH WEST SIDE STORY THE REAL DRAW OF THE WEST SIDE POSITIVE CHANGE, NEGATIVE CHANGE DEFINING PROGRESS Chapter - WESTWAY THE HEART OF THE ARGUMENT FIGHTING CITY HALL HIGHWAY AS CURE FOR DECAY TIDE TURNING AGAINST CARS? THE INTERNAL CONTRADICTION PROPONENTS CHANGE THE ARGUMENT NEW LAND PLUS PLANNED SHRINKAGE MORE DIFFERENCES Chapter - BIG THINGS GET DONE TRANSIT REINVESTMENT WAS HUGE REINVESTMENT PAYS SHOW ME THE MONEY THE BIG DIG FACTOR STEEL-WHEEL JOBS VERSUS RUBBER-TIRE JOBS BEYOND TRANSIT: REGENERATION OR REPLACEMENT? ORGANIC REGENERATION GETS A CHANCE THE NEW PARK—BIG IS BIG THE TRANSPORTATION DEBATE VEHICULAR DOMINATION STILL PREVAILS BIG PROJECTS DO GET DONE GOVERNMENT CAN DO IT BIG AND WELL LOW-DENSITY MISTAKES STILL HAPPEN IN A BIG WAY MORE BIG THINGS GETTING DONE DEFEAT WITH GOOD REASON CONCLUSION EPILOGUE Appendix: - Jacobs’s Arrest in Her Own Words Notes Bibliography Index The Center for the Living City Copyright Page ALSO BY ROBERTA BRANDES GRATZ The Living City: Thinking Small in a Big Way (1989) Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown (1998) A Frog, A Wooden House, A Stream and A Trail: Ten Years of Community Revitalization in Central Europe (2001) Oakes, John Obama, Barack Obama, Michelle Observation direct O’Connell, Gregory O’Dwyer, Paul O’Dwyer, William Office of Industrial and Manufacturing Business Zones Ohrenstein, Manfred Olcott, Richard Old House Journal Olmsted, Frederick Law O’Malley, Walter Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy O’Neill, Tip Opotowsky, Stan Organic process Ortner, Everett and Evelyn Ouroussoff, Nicolai Overdevelopment Owens, Gwinn Page, Scott E Papp, Joe Park Avenue Park East Freeway Park Slope(photo) Park West Village Parking Parking facilities Parking lots Parks development of Moses and Pataki, George Paula Cooper Gallery Pedestrian Pei, I M Pelleck, Carl J Penn Central Penn Station Pennsylvania Railway Company People’s Development Corporation People’s Firehouse Percent For Art Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Philadelphia Piano, Renzio Pier A, battle over Pier 45 Pilates equipment Pittsburgh Planned Shrinkage Planners’ blight Planning advocacy centralized changes in community-based large-scale misguided process rational Planning Department PlaNYC Playgrounds Plaza Hotel Poe, Edgar Allan Poirier, Norman Police Headquarters Politics Pollan, Michael Pollock, Jackson Pollution Polshek, James Pomander Walk Port Authority Portland bicycle industry in highways for transit in Posten, Ted Poverty Power Broker, The (Caro) Pratt Center for Community and Economic Development Precursors highlighting historic preservation and lost maturation of recognizing Preservation awareness battles for change and conservation and culture and environment and green movement women’s groups and Preservation League of New York State Preservationists Progress Promenade Theater Prospect Park Public Development Corporation Public housing Public participation Public spaces Public transit Pueblo Nuevo Housing and Development Association PUKAR Purnick, Joyce Push-pull effect Queens Queens-Manhattan Tunnel Queens West Queensborough Bridge Raab, Jennifer Rabinowitz, Richard Radio City Music Hall Rail freight Rampell, Catherine Rapkin, Chester Ratner, Bruce development and proposal by Ward’s Bakery and Rauschenberg, Robert Ravitch, Richard Reagan, Ronald Real estate development market Rebuilding Recycling Red Hook development in gardens in Ikea and Red Hook Houses Redlining Reed, John Regeneration authentic downtown organic potential for precursors of preservation and process spontaneous Regional Plan Regional Planning Association (RPA) 1929 Plan of Rehabilitation Reinvestment Renovation Replacement plans Resettlement, urban Restoration Richardson, H H Riots Rittenhouse Square Riverside Drive Riverside Park Robert Moses Urban Renewal Plan Roberts, Sam Rockefeller, David Rockefeller, John D Rockefeller, Laurence Rockefeller, Nelson A Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Foundation Rogers, Betsy Barlow Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D Roth, James Rothstein, Karla Rowhouses Russianoff, Gene Rypkema, Donovan Saarinen Arch Sadik-Khan, Janette St Louis urban renewal and St Vincent’s Hospital San Diego highways for light rail and San Francisco highways for regeneration and transit and San Francisco earthquake (1989) Sann, Paul Sassen, Saskia Savannah regeneration and urban renewal and Saypol, Irving Scale Schur, Robert Schwartz, Joel Seagram Building Seattle Second Avenue subway Seeds of recovery Seeger, Pete Self-help Self-organized Seltzer, Ethan Separating uses Service-based economy Shapiro, John Shapiro, Michael Shea Stadium Sheridan Expressway Shiffman, Ron Siegel, Gwathmy Silent Spring (Carson) Singer Building Single Room Occupancy (SRO) Sixth Avenue Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Sloan, Alfred P Slum clearance Slums causes of cleaning up Moses and Smith, Alfred E Smith, Chris Snell, Bradford Social change, patterns of Social networks SoHo battle over historic preservation movement and impact of investment in Jacobs and Lower Manhattan Expressway and revival of transformation of SoHo Syndrome Son of Sam Sorkin, Michael South Bronx clearance and devastation for inner city collapse and Moses and regeneration of South Central Los Angeles South Street Seaport Museum South Village Southern State Parkway Srivastava, Rahul Stadiums Starr, Roger Starrett-Lehigh Building State Council of Parks, Moses and Staten Island Statue of Liberty Stein, Clarence Stern, Isaac and Vera Stern, Robert A M Stevenson, Adlai Stokes, William Earl Dodge Stone, Edward Durrell Straphangers Campaign Streetcar systems Stuyvesant, Peter Stuyvesant Town Styron, William Subsidies Suburban development Suburbs differences in transition to Subways investment in Sun Building Sunset Park Sustainability Sweeney, David Sweet’s Construction and Renovation Catalogue Synagogues Taconic Parkway Taft, Robert A Talese, Gay Tallamy, Bertram D Tavern-on-the-Green Tax breaks Taylor, Marilyn Tenements Third Water Tunnel Thirty-fourth Street Armory Thirty-second Street Thomas, Dylan Time Piece (Lin) Time-Warner Center Times Square Tisch Foundation Tools for Schools Top-down plans Toronto Tourist attractions Trade-ins Traffic accommodation of behavior decline of problems with Traffic congestion Traffic engineers Transit bus destroying highways and investing in mass public traffic and Transit advocates Transportation alternatives balanced debate over environmentalists and improving Jacobs and legislation links planning urban development and Travolta, John Treitel-Gratz Triangle Shirt Waist Fire building Tribeca boardwalk Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Trillin, Calvin Trucks Trump, Donald Trump International Hotel Tugwell, Rexford G Tully Construction Company Tweed Courthouse Union Settlement House Union Square Union Square Greenmarket Union Square Park U.S Conference of Mayors U.S Department of Transportation U.S Supreme Court Unslumming Upper East Side Upper West Side change for clearance projects for Columbia and Moses and slum clearance and urban renewal and Upzoning Urban assets Urban change Urban decay Urban fabric Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB) Urban Husbandry Urban philosophies Urban pioneers Urban renewal density and federal funds for fighting impact of low-income housing and Moses and problems with push of Upper West Side and Urban resilience Urban resurgence Urban strategies Urbanism density and preserving regeneration of Vacant land Values Van Arsdale, Harry Van Cortlandt Park Van Wyck Expressway Verrazano Bridge Viable urban fabric Vignelli, Masimo and Lila Village Voice Villard Houses Wagner, Robert F Jacobs and Moses and Wagner, Robert F., Jr Walkable streets Wall Street Wallace, Deborah Wallace, Mike Wallace, Rodrick Ward, Robert Ward’s Bakery Warhol, Andy Washington, D.C Washington Square changes for Washington Square Arch Washington Square Park Moses and NYU and redesign of road through urban philosophies and Washington Square Village Waterfront Waters, Alice Wechsler, James Weisbrod, Carl Weiss, Ted West End Avenue West Side brownstones on draw of landmarks on Lincoln Center and low-income residents and Moses and renewal on zoning in West Side Highway rebuilding West Side Story West Side Urban Renewal West Village fight for Jacobs and West Village Houses West Village Urban Renewal Westbeth Westport Westway battle over defeat of Jacobs and proponents of White, Kevin Whitney Museum Whyte, William H., Jr Willets Point Williams-Derry, Clark Williamsburg Wilson, August Wolf, Dan Wolfe, Tom Women’s groups, preservation and Wood, Anthony C Wood, Ed Woolworth Building Works Progress Administration World Trade Center World’s Fair (1939, 1964) Wright, Henry Yampierre, Elizabeth Yankee Stadium Yarmolowsky, Sendor Young, Bob Youth Ministries for Truth and Justice Zeckendorf, William Zographos, Nicos Zoning changes in Zoning bonuses Zoning breaks The Center for the Living City For several years before she died, Jane and I discussed ways in which she would like to see her work carried on In 2004, in collaboration with her, a small group of her friends established The Center for the Living City, a name she suggested In varying ways in the years to come, we will build on her work and seek to expand the already substantial population that observes and advocates on behalf of urban life in her tradition Copyright © 2010 by Roberta Brandes Gratz Published by Nation Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group Nation Books is a co-publishing venture of the Nation Institute and the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews For information, address Nation Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810 Books published by Nation Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext 5000, or e-mail special.markets@perseusbooks.com Some of the images in this book have been reprinted with permission: photograph of my apartment building, reprinted with permission of New York University Archives; “Ford to City: Drop Dead” Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gratz, Roberta Brandes The battle for Gotham : New York in the shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs / Roberta Brandes Gratz p cm Includes bibliographical references and index eISBN : 978-1-568-58646-5 Urban renewal—New York (State)—New York City planning—New York (State)—New York Urbanization—New York (State)—New York Moses, Robert, 1888-1981 Jacobs, Jane, 1916-2006 I Title HT177.N5G73 2010 307.3’41609747—dc22 2009047501 ... PROGRESS THE SHOCK OF THE NEW SUBURBS ARE DIFFERENT BACK TO NEW YORK FOR GOOD THE NEWSPAPER DIVERSITY IN THE CITY ROOM THE LUCKY BREAK PROMOTED TO REPORTER THE APPEAL OF HISTORIC PRESERVATION THE. .. to the late 1970s, I reported for the New York Post on the impact of the great social and economic dislocations in the city There were the urban renewal projects in Greenwich Village and the. .. AS THE JANE JACOBS HOUSES FARTHER WEST JACOBS MAKES THE CASE AGAIN THE EAST VILLAGE—ANOTHER WORLD Chapter - SOHO THE DEATH-THREAT SYNDROME THE EXPRESSWAY FIGHT NEW AMENITIES PROMISED ARREST THE