Amanda Burden often said that, thanks to Bloomberg, "we are building and rezoning today once again like Moses on an unprecedented scale, but with Jane Jacobs in mind." That's oxymoronic. You can't do both. As for who's winning the future of New York, it's clearly the followers of Moses. The preservationists are the underdogs here. — nymag.com
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For better or for worse, it's evolving a new definition of "New Yorkness" as it's always done.
To some extent, the trend away from a bracing New York vernacular, and so aesthetic character, has been going on for quite some time. Zaha Hadid has commented on this, saying essentially that gentrification has depleted the cultural landscape of New York that she first knew and admired.
Even so, there's a lot of the original New York left, and it's important to preserve so much of it. I'm thinking of the Garment District, for example, which has stalwart pre-war buildings, generic and noble at the same time.
one of my favorite memories from when I first moved to NYC was seeing an angry drunk homeless man at 8:30 am swerving down the sidewalk, as I went to work in the UES, wearing this t-shirt
Thayer, my first answer would have been "Its New Yorkiness is already long gone!" but I like your answer better. Nailed it.
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