When we first were exposed to the ideas of Jane Jacobs I felt that Jacobs was just an activist that wanted to stick it to the man. But after reading about her I see she was not just trying to be a nuisance, was fighting for the lower class and making sure they didn’t get trampled on by big business. Although there may not be a notable activist as herself, Jacobs’ ideology from the 50’s and 60’s is still carried today. Jacobs and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation were against building tall buildings, and tearing down old warehouses or factories to acquire the land to build the massive buildings (Hale 2006). This reminded me of a rezoning conflict from this past summer in East Harlem. The original rezoning plan was to build new apartment building complexes up to 35 stories high, but that plan was shot down (New York City Council 2017). Manhattan Community Board 11 was against the rezoning because of what the plan lacked and what it would do to the community. The rezoning plan would cut down on the amount of affordable housing in the area while increasing real estate prices would make it less affordable for most families to live in the area. Local activist Marina Ortiz went as far as describing the project as it was going to “accelerate gentrification to the thousandth degree.” (Chediac 2017). Jacobs was against the building of large buildings and wanted to have diverse neighborhoods. Manhattan’s Community Board 11 is doing the same thing by shooting down the proposed rezoning. The community wanted to keep its identity and not be whitewashed by people moving in for the new lavish condos that were planned on being constructed. The passing on of Jane Jacobs’ ideology is what kept the culture of this close-knit community alive. Although the restructured rezoning plan passed in November, it provided more affordable housing and capped the high of which building can be made (New York City Council 2017). Jane Jacobs has had a lasting effect on New York City, from fighting Robert Moses’ building plans to her beliefs on city planning effecting rezoning decisions in present day.
References:
David Halle (2006) Who Wears Jane Jacobs’s Mantle in Today’s New York City?. City & Community 5:3
New York City Council (2017) East Harlem Rezoning. https://council.nyc.gov/land-use/plans/east-harlem-rezoning/ (Last Accessed 2 March 2018)
Liberation “East Harlem community leader: ‘We need affordable housing now!'” 23 October 2017
