Tag: Elaine Wong

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Gowanus Canal: A Future Venice?

In class, we briefly discussed about the gentrification that is occurring in the Gowanus Canal area. I found an article on CurbedNY that discusses the possibility of Gowanus Canal becoming a “Venice” in Brooklyn while maintaining housing prices low through rezoning.

I thought this article was significant because of the high hopes that this area has even though it’s one of the most contaminated bodies of water in the country. Bridging Gowanus, a nonprofit organization, has a blueprint for manufacturing and commercial areas, as well as affordable housing. After checking out Bridging Gowanus’s website, they seem to have a good plan for what is necessary to create a sustainable neighborhood in which all types of people can afford to live there, such as strengthening the manufacturing sector within the neighborhood, so the people can live and work in the same area. But as waterfront areas become more and more popular, I think it is more likely that it will become an area for tourists and young hipsters, as Williamsburg did. I have generally noticed this trend of neighborhood near a body of water being places of high interest for luxury and tourist development, such as Williamsburg and Hudson Yards.

The biggest problem with this area developing is that the slow cleanup is hindering the growth of the area. The EPA might run out of funds to clean up the area due to proposed budget cuts. Also, organizations who were responsible for polluting the area has not yet paid the requisite funds. The environment of Gowanus Canal was really neglected, and now it’s paying a price for it. This really highlights the necessity of putting environmental factors and effects into consideration when projects are being proposed.

 

Sugar, Rachel. “Gowanus Has Potential to Become the ‘Venice’ of Brooklyn, Experts Say.”Curbed NY. Curbed NY, 29 Dec. 2016. Web. 10 May 2017.

Warerkar, Tanay. “EPA’s Gowanus Canal Cleanup Will Move Forward despite Budget Cuts.” Curbed NY. Curbed NY, 31 Mar. 2017. Web. May 2017.

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Transportation to Hudson Yards

While looking at articles about Williamsburg and its land market prices for my research project, I came across this article about Hudson Yards and how it will be a “transportation torture center.” Right now, the only train that goes directly to the Hudson Yards is the 7 train and this article discusses why the 7 train simply can’t accommodate all the people going to and from Hudson Yards after everything is built. The author, Lois Weiss, writes that an expected amount of 37,335 people will be leaving at a peak hour in year 2025, but as of right now, only an expected 32,670 commuters can be moved each hour on the 7 train. This does not account for the fact that people will already be on the train and that the station can only hold 25,000 at its peak. It is said that by 2025, 170 new buses will be needed to serve Hudson Yards alone.

I find this article really interesting because, as discussed in class, Hudson Yards is the biggest public-private partnership project that is happening right now, but they managed to overlook how transportation will be affected. Many tourists will be visiting this place, and while it does have a lot of attractive sites and will bring in a lot of business, it will create a lot of congestion in both the area and on the 7 train line. The 7 train is not expected to run without any problems, now or even in the future after all the buildings go up in 2025. In the future, unexpected problems and congestion will further affect how people will view Hudson Yards. Similarly, this reminds me of Williamsburg and when it became popular, the L train definitely became more crowded as people started going there. However, when the L train shuts down in 2019, there will be a necessity of more buses or alternative train travel routes. While it seems like a small problem as we all wait for trains and buses that are not overly crowded so we can actually get on, extra money will have to be put into these areas to accommodate for the heavy masses of people travelling in and out of popular neighborhoods. As for the 170 new buses in Hudson Yards, it may cost around $50 million.

You can find the article here.

Weiss, Lois. “Hudson Yards Will Be A Transportation Torture Chamber.” Bisnow. Bisnow, 27 Mar. 2017. Web. Mar. 2017.

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Camilo José Vergara’s Tracking Time (Harlem)

The photos attached are photos taken by Camilo José Vergara for his project Tracking Time. Vergara has been photographing the poorest and most segregated neighborhoods in urban America for more than 40 years. The photos that I have attached onto this post are some, but not all, photographs of two locations in Harlem, the southwest corner of West 125th Street at Malcolm X Boulevard and 65 East 125th Street.

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