My idea for our class project is to explore the construction and destruction of New York City. This would most clearly involve the tearing down of historic structures and the building of tall, trendy high-rises. As a class, we could explore how the historic structures once impacted the neighborhood, how its destruction has affected the community, and how the building that has taken its place has influenced the surrounding area. We could also focus on the new buildings that have been built (that didn’t necessarily take over where a historic building once was) and what have been the implications of that happening. Who are living in these high-rises? How has it affected the neighborhood? How does this impact all of NYC?

I think this would be a valuable project to explore because it focuses on how the people of New York City are currently being impacted. Many of the discussions we’ve had in class were about the past and how the people of NYC past have become the people of NYC today. I would like to collect valuable primary data from the opinions of real people being affected by the housing developments. This project could also lead to a great discussion about the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) or public housing. There is wonderful affordable public housing barred from the natural price fluctuations of capitalism and the economic market that wealthy people clamor to live in because of the fantastic locations. We could explore what would happen if NYCHA buildings were eliminated, where would the NYCHA building inhabitants end up living, and look at the surrounding area to determine what type of building would end up being built in the NYCHA public housing’s place.

The first link on a quick Google search of the term “building developments in nyc” returned a website that listed over 800 available building developments throughout the city. This was complete with an interactive map for each development, how many units are available, and when it was built. Already we would be able to whittle down the number of new building developments to only the most recently built (perhaps 2012- onward), and also find housing developments in different areas of Manhattan (where most of them are, but we can include outer boroughs). We would also have the ability to look at if the data shows a heightened number of building developments in one area of NYC over another (say Soho over Washington Heights).

This project has the potential to include personal accounts, interactive neighborhood maps, and income distribution charts. Furthermore, it could be conveniently focused in Manhattan. The class could divide into different neighborhoods that are experiencing a lot of high-rise developments and also choose one public housingbuilding to visit (preferably close to their chosen neighborhood).

Link I Mentioned: https://streeteasy.com/nyc/newdevs