In 1959, Robert Moses, administrator of New York City’s Slum Clearance Committee, declared an urban restoration plan for Cooper Square. The arrangement was predicted to level every residential building from 9th street to Delancey street and from 2nd avenue to the Bowery. With a mass “revitalization” plan like one proposed by Moses an estimated 2,400 families and thousands of men living in single room hotels would have been displaced. Even though unsuccessful in the past, Frances Goldin formed another committee with her neighbors to the CSC or the Cooper Square Committee as Angotti mentioned in New York For Sale. The public consensus estimated that 93% of the residents would have not been able o afford the co-op plan forwarded by Moses and thus the CSC formed The Alternative Plan for Cooper Square. This was an innovative mix of urban planning and direct democracy and the product of over 100 community meetings. The guiding principle of the Alternate Plan was that urban renewal should benefit, not displace, the existing residents of Cooper Square. The Alternate Plan called for “phased development”: building housing on vacant sites and then moving area tenants into those apartments while new housing was constructed on the tenement blocks. Then moving another group of tenement tenants into the new tenement block housing and so on. In this way, the plan assured that no existing resident of Cooper Square would be displaced.
Tom Angotti mentioned that somehow this was the earliest and the most long lasting community planning effort which begs the question: How is this any different than the others Frances Goldin failed to succeed in? Well the answer can slightly be seen in the modern day protesters or if added a little fun spin to it, “Everyone Who Does want to hear or does not reveal Spoilers for Avengers: Endgame” *not a sponsor*. Its a fascinating phenomena really, and even caught the media’s attention. Such a long lasting franchise, one which people might never experience all compiled masterfully into one 3 hour film. All of the invested feelings, years of commitment, and personal connections the marvel franchise went into these films. For some people this goes beyond the film (believe me there are some crazy people out there), seeing that people physically attacked some one in Taiwan for spoiling the movie. But regardless this shared cultural phenomena resembles to what Tom Agnotti states of the Cooper Square Committee: “Cooper Square is a saga of people who are fighting a global goliath and demonstrates that, to use the phrase of the World Social Forum, “a different world is possible.””.
Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame” has officially surpassed the $2 billion mark in its second weekend in theaters, obliterating the record for the fastest film to reach that milestone. And its success like the CSC, is all due to the peoples consistent and determinate participation. When people have something to care for in unison they can succeed and prosper.
Questions:
- What is one way to bolster community participation in Community Boards and NYC activism? Is it even possible?
- With an entire community all conformed to one belief is it eventually going to lose the ability to control itself and instigate a riot-like movement? How can we remain civil in situations that are dire like this?
- Even with having a high participation rate within the Community Board, do we as people just lack any power in this point in time? Do we have to in conjunction to participating in board meetings add protest on the daily to get our point across?
