Looking up

My favorite thing at PS1 is James Turrell's Meeting, for the feeling of the sky on your face and for seeing everyone alter their behavior as soon as they enter the room.

Sold Out!

A re-post from Nov 17...

Local coalition vows to fight for living wage with Kingsbridge Armory Development

"The strong local opposition comes as something of a surprise."

Why? Many members of the coalition originally fought for development of Kingsbridge Armory but will abandon support of the project if it doesn't come with a living wage. It's sad that a living wage in New York City is NOT market wage.

"...a pledge to pay more than the market rate would be a death sentence for the project," says a developers spokesman.

Those who play by market rules have obviously figured out how to build big box in New York City. The jobs are welcome at first; the amenities as well. City Planning approves it as a development opportunity, hoping to spur on local business. But then you find out the jobs don't pay a living wage. As the community lives with the unveiled development, it starts to feel the negative impacts of having the development in their neighborhoods: increased traffic, diminished pedestrian experience, a shriveled public life. We're only beginning to learn how to track the physical impacts of such incongruous buildings.

First Gateway Center in the South Bronx. Then East Harlem Plaza. I hope that the Bronx community sticks to its guns on the Kingsbridge project. After the greenlight from the City, the marketplace players can forget all the promises they've made.

After the NYC Marathon...

....let the dancing begin! Lafayette St in Fort Greene was a scene out of movie. After cheering for a couple of hours, it was great to see the party continue with people enjoying the street.

Mapping Main Streets

Image from National Trust for Historic Preservation

A pretty cool project, Mapping Main Street kind of like a StoryCorp with a focus on literal Main Streets.

The goal is to document every street names Main in the country by going to each of these 10,466 places, taking a photo, recording a video or writing a brief story.