Daniel Robinson and Michelle Plastrik

            The topic of our project will be Lincoln Center. No less than twelve major arts institutions call Lincoln Center home—the Metropolitan Opera, the New York City Ballet, the New York Philharmonic, the Film Society of Lincoln Center, the Juilliard School—just to name a few. Yet prior to the Center’s construction, Lincoln Square and its environs were notorious for crime, which is attested to by the fact that the directors of West Side Story deemed the area a good place to film dance numbers for the movie’s gangs. Keeping in mind this major contrast, we will explore the impacts—physical, economic, and social—Lincoln Center has had on its surroundings. We will also examine Lincoln Center’s most recent $1 billion redevelopment project, which has attempted to rejuvenate the Center by making it more visitor-friendly and to open the area up more for public space. In addition, we will interview New Yorkers who use Lincoln Center and tap into their reactions to its redevelopment. Indeed, New Yorkers have strong personal attachments to and fond memories associated with Lincoln Center and there has been an active preservationist voice against the recent construction. The particular recent angst over redoing the Center’s Revson Fountain confirms this. We will integrate the results of this fieldwork and our research to create proposals about how to improve the area.

Jamie Stein, from Sustainable South Bronx, and Adam Friedman, Director of the Pratt Center, were the speakers for the Green Living and Community Planning Community Voices event. This lecture frequently addressed and complemented topics we have studied in class.  

Stein, the first to speak, gave a similar presentation to Majora Carter’s, using many of the same slides. However, after reading about Robert Moses for class, this discussion about the multitude of problems the Cross Bronx Expressway led to was richer for me. Stein went over again the definition of environmental justice; Carter’s pathway to getting a grant for the creation of a park by the waterfront in Hunts Point; and Sustainable South Bronx’s dedication for training the local community in green jobs.

Additionally, Stein went into further detail about the amount of waste the city congregates in the area. We learned about NYOFCO, which is a planet that converts sewage sludge to fertilizer pellets, many of which are used to fertilize oranges in Florida. Since the plant is not air tight, a sickening smell pervades the area. The good news is that NYOFCO’s contract has not been renewed! Additionally, Stein talked about how Sustainable South Bronx has successfully convinced the government to have more waste be transported by barge instead of truck, and for a trash collection sight to be installed on the Upper East Side, easing the burden on the South Bronx.

After this, Friedman discussed his work in building sustainable communities in New York City. He started off by showing examples of Chris Jordan’s artwork and urging us to think about our everyday actions and make them greener.

Picture of artwork by Chris Jordan: 1 million disposable cups – the amount used by airline flights in the US every six hours

Friedman also talked about PLANYC 2030 and the key things, in his opinion, that are missing from it. In class, we discussed how there were certain assumptions in PLANYC 2030 that seemed unreliable. Friedman, though, focused on the role of job creation in PLANYC 2030. The plan does not address the growing income disparity in the city and the need to preserve space for job creation.

Another important idea he discussed was that instead of doing retrofits and energy audits building by building, they should be done block by block in order to engage communities as a whole. Furthermore, he talked about greening churches, a really interesting strategy because by doing this a whole congregation can be involved and inspired to enact these changes in their own lives.

Finally, going back to Moses, Friedman discussed the inefficiency of the Sheridan Expressway and how the Pratt Center for Community Development is working to convince the state to tear it down. Tearing down a highway is a pretty radical idea, but the state is considering it! If it is torn down, the land would be used to create parkland, affordable housing, and space for new businesses.

This lecture enhanced my understanding of the important role Sustainable South Bronx and the Pratt Center play in New York City, how any citizen can get involved in greening their community, as well as adding to our classroom conversations about these planning issues.

In Ernest W. Burgess’s most famous essay, “The Growth of the City: An Introduction to a Research Project,” he writes about the expansion process of a city. He starts off with defining what makes an area urban. He discusses many of the qualities we talked about in class, such as the skyscraper and subway. He includes the presence of a department store and a daily newspaper. What struck me most, though, was his inclusion of social work as a characteristic of urban life. I had never thought about this influence before, but after discussing the role of social reformers in the planning and reconstruction of cities I now appreciate this is as key element of an urban area. Burgess’ main idea was his construction of a model based on a series of concentric circles that divided Chicago into five zones. The center loop was the business district; then a transition area for business and light manufacture; then an area for workers to live; then a residential area of high-class apartment buildings; and finally the suburban areas. He wrote that there was a tendency for each inner zone to extend its area by the invasion of the next outer zone and for business to concentrate in the inner loop. We discussed in class that one of the flaws of this model is that there are often several business centers in a city. Still, Burgess’s model and terminology continue to be used today. On a side note, Burgess peppers his essay with vocabulary from the natural sciences. While this creates strong comparisons between the urban and natural worlds, for the reader unfamiliar with these specific terms, it can be jarring and confusing. Burgess’ exclusion of definitions prevents many readers from connecting to his arguments.

 David Harvey’s essay, “Contested Cities: Social Process and Spatial Form,” is a challenging read due to his theoretical and abstract arguments. He has several main ideas. One is that cities should be thought of as processes, not as things. This difference is vital to him since he argues that processes are shaped by time and place and as well as shaping time and place. Secondly, he talks about the creation and role of the community. Many writers have voiced concern about the lack of community in cities and the subsequent alienation that ensues. Harvey notes that racism, ethnic chauvinism and class devaluation can grow from the desire for community as it allows for a common identification as well as the exclusion of other groups. This observation fosters his arguments about community activism, which he feels cannot remain localized, but rather must spill over and become part of constructing a more universal set of values and changes. Finally, he discusses the relationship between the natural and built environment. He attacks the artificial distinction between these two realms, saying they cannot be separated. Additionally, he thinks they need to evolve together in forms such as green urbanism and ecological design movements, which are becoming increasingly popular. One of his most powerful message is, “Getting things economically right in our cities is the path towards economic change and economic development, even to economic growth” (p. 231). How important this is for today’s world!

 Fredrick Law Olmsted, famous for designing New York City’s Central Park, presented the essay, “Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns,” at a conference in 1870. I found this essay to be the most accessible to a novice of Urban Studies. While the editors label his writing as containing “somewhat convoluted Victorianisms” (p. 307), I found his prose clear and outright beautiful at times. (As an avid reader of Dickens, I very much enjoyed the Victorianisms.) Olmsted’s goal was to provide guidelines for parks and parkways and to offer ways to secure public funding for them. He makes his argument in three compelling parts. First, he argues that tress would combat air and water pollution, which would lead to an increase in public health; secondly, that parks would help fight vice and social degeneration, common among the poor; and, thirdly, that parks available to all would be democratic. He backs his arguments with emotional examples and persuasive language. I particularly liked the sentimental tone when he writes, “Is it doubtful that it does men good to come together in this way in pure air and under the light of heaven, or that it must have an influence directly counteractive to that of the ordinary hard, hustling working hours of town life?”

 Chapter Nine and Twenty in Robert A. Caro’s The Power Broker were a delight to read. I lost track of the number of wry comments he makes about Long Island’s richest, all of which made me laugh out loud. Both of these chapters focused on Robert Moses’s creation and/or revitalization of parks in New York. Chapter Nine focused on the lack of accessible public space for recreational activities available for people living in the five boroughs. Moses turned his eye to Long Island and circumvented the fat cats and robber barons of the area who were determined to keep the poor out by any means. Moses meticulously tracked down available land that could contain hiking trails, sports areas, and swimming. One of my favorite anecdotes is when Moses went to survey Fire Island with a map and, noting a discrepancy, discovered six hundred acres no one had known about! Jones Beach, a popular destination for my own family, was created at this time, as well as the state park system. Chapter Twenty discusses Moses’ revamping of New York City parks, the building of the Central Park Zoo and the Triborough Bridge, as well as the plan to transform Randall’s and Ward’s Islands into parks. Moses’s ingenuity in terms of project organization and his vast knowledge of obscure law and city holdings is applauded by Caro. However, Caro does note that Moses’s desire to beautify Randall’s and Ward’s Island led to the eviction of inmates residing in the Hospital for the Feeble-Minded, resulting in their being crammed into overcrowded institutions. This offers a glimpse to the more ruthless component of Moses’s single-minded vision.

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