He Built This City
AM New York’s piece this morning assessing Mike Bloomberg’s legacy is one of the first of many, many articles that are sure to come as the mayor enters the twilight of his term. The article positions Mayor Mike as a great post-9/11 rebuilder who’s played a big role in luring tourists, spurring development and making…
AM New York’s piece this morning assessing Mike Bloomberg’s legacy is one of the first of many, many articles that are sure to come as the mayor enters the twilight of his term. The article positions Mayor Mike as a great post-9/11 rebuilder who’s played a big role in luring tourists, spurring development and making formerly undesirable neighborhoods hot. “Places like Red Hook that were once a no-man’s land are hipster havens, and Brooklyn is now a center for culture and art for the whole country,” says Mitchell Moss, a professor of history at New York University and adviser to the mayor’s first campaign. “Whoever thought people would want to live on the Gowanus.” The article notes that the Bloomberg administration’s aggressive rezoning agenda (“one out of every six square feet in the city” has been rezoned) and drive to incentivize development on NYC’s waterfront has altered the lay of the land, and New York has much more of a “luxury” sheen than it did six years ago. The cost of all this is high, according to critics who say the city has become too expensive for the working- and middle-class and resulted in inorganic changes. “There has been a pinching of people’s sense of place, and a destruction of community identity,” says Brad Lander, director of the Pratt Center for Community Development. “They have accelerated the transformation of this place from a manufacturing city to a condo and office tower city, but a lot of people don’t feel invested in that growth.”
Bloomberg Reshapes City, Despite High-Profile Setbacks [AM New York]
Photo by CarbonNYC.
Brad Lander = Douchebag.
Brad Lander = Douchebag.
Dave: Thanks for the props. I totally agree with you regarding the economic future of the city.
FYI: “Sense of place” is a buzz phrase frequently utilized by liberal arts graduates indoctrinated with post-structural theory.
It is irrational both from a logical perspective and a scientific one. It cannot be measured.
I’m with Polemicist. Moreover, the comments by Mr. Lander are just asinine. What in the world is he talking about, regarding “sense of place”?? Oh, wait a minute, I just realized what he means. During the golden Dinkins era, all New Yorkers certainly had a sense of place, and that place was being holed up in your apartment at night behind triple-locked doors. One knew that the street at night was not your place -they belonged to rats and muggers.
I wish these “community activists” and other such malcontents would get a real job. As others have said, get invested in the growing, thriving city that NY has once again become.
Benson.
I would like Bloomberg (or Guiliani) to go to Philadelphia and clean up that ridiculous amount of City Hall crap, the police force and the DA office.
It’ll make the 6th Borough a safer place to live and raise the value of my weekend place!!!!
Staying on topic with real estate and development discussion even though its not here in Brooklyn!!!!
In this case Polemicist is right. An economic boom always produces the same real estate effect. Rising prices in areas that are “nice” has the effect of raising prices in nearby areas like Gowanus. The transformation from manufacturing to service means better, economically and physically safer jobs. In an economic downturn, the service sector can continue to grow (maybe not investment banking). This has been the case in Japan over the past 15 years…certainly a good model for an economic downturn. If you’re not “invested in that growth” then get invested.
“There has been a pinching of people’s sense of place” How do you measure THAT???
This City has been so fortunate to have had the last 2 Mayors. Many people may hate them, but it is hard to deny the incredible strides in saftey, infrastructure, commerce, etc. that have been made. Even though this city is not perfect, it is a hell of a lot better than the days of Dinkins and prior.
How will we find another Bloomy after he is gone? The wrong guy(or gal) could really screw this city along the lines Polecat refers to above.
I have personally benefited from the rezoning – being able to buy a decent condo at a decent prize plus the reduced mortgage rate for the area.
I’m glad that developers are building condos at places we would have not even considered 3-4 years ago (Gwonus, Red Hook, Bed Stuy, Queens Plaza). We just need to make sure we don’t go over the top (in some areas we already have – LIC, Williamsburg, etc) instead of developing other form of housing.
What I don’t like is the promise of affordable housing. It seems the reality is below the the target numbers. Hopefully, 421-a expiration this summer and eventual restructuring will help spur affordable house as much as these new condos.
oh it doesn’t matter if everyone leaves, the population is going to grow by at least one million right? Didn’t you tell us that polecat – you know “housing shortage” and all those other red herrings you trot out.