As we reach the end of the semester, I thought that it might be interesting to do something a bit different for a change. Rather than find some sort of media that relates to the topic at hand, I thought that an interesting deviation might be a contrast, rather than a comparison. Instead of an article about the strength of community, what about a story about the impending destruction of too many of the communities that have been banded together for decades? Something that communities cannot fight alone? An issue that is unbeatable unless the combined forces of government, people, and private corporations agree to defeat together.
In his book New York For Sale, Tom Angotti describes the combined effort of Cooper Union activists, as they struggled to protect their community with “antidisplacement zoning, land banking, and nonprofit housing development” (Angotti, 119). At the time, these were all brilliant measures for protecting themselves from gentrification and other community-destroying measures. However, while the issues of gentrification and displacement have remained, another issue can now be seen on the horizon.
Over the past decade, natural disasters have been devastating. Hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, droughts, and bomb cyclones have all intensified. Since the 1970 Cooper Union efforts, regional temperatures have increased by 2 degrees (Fahrenheit). The polar ice caps are melting, the ocean is rising, and summers are growing hotter by the year. With the United States government refusing to take drastic measures to stall or reverse the effects of regional and global climate change, it is difficult to picture what the world will look like in 10, 20, or 50 years. However, it is without a shadow of a doubt that, in time, these issues will all begin to impact community planning. Soon, a key factor in the survival of communities will be how well they can weather storms and the rising tides.
New York City is a coastal city, and most of its communities are therefore by the water. Harlem, East Village, and Chinatown are all neighborhoods with rich communities that may be smothered by the rising tide of the sea. While a region like Cooper Square will remain safe, inland as it is, there are many – too many – New York City neighborhoods that will be destroyed if the climate’s current trajectory is unchanged.
Cooper Square was largely able to prevent the sort of gentrification that can be seen in Greenwich, Harlem, and even Flatbush, and its methods are commendable. I have absolutely nothing against their strategies – although the recent weakening of their policies is concerning – but communities will soon be tasked with another struggle in addition to their fight against displacement and for-profit housing development. City planners and activists will soon be tasked with an impossible duty – saving a community when the Earth is itself against them.
Questions:
- To what degree should city planners consider climate change?
- How do we fight gentrification and climate change at once?
- How can we save communities from the rising tide?
Eilperin, Juliet, and Brady Dennis. “New EPA Document Tells Communities to Brace for Climate Change Impacts.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 Apr. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/new-epa-document-tells-communities-to-brace-for-climate-change-impacts/2019/04/27/09cf8df6-6836-11e9-82ba-fcfeff232e8f_story.html?utm_term=.e73befc34797.
