Time Warner Building, 2 years later and the state of local retail

Not my view - image by jamesedmunds

I spent some time today at the Time Warner building. Mostly, I was curious about how the building was doing and wanted to try out the Thomas Keller Bouchon Bakery, and used the opportunity to catch up with a friend. We ordered from the takeaway section and sat at a dining bar that was seated away from the foot traffic and overlooked the atrium, but not the part with a view of Central Park (or of the giant Samsung sign). I had a view of Emporio Armani instead.

How do these businesses succeed when it was so tiresome to be inside the building? Usually my friend and I spend hours catching up; today, we finished our coffee and called it a date. We could have been sitting in any upscale mall in America, and it didn't seem to match the quality of the pastry being served. I wondered last year about the experience of a vertical mall in New York City when the street is infinitely more interesting, and I still contend that it is a shame that the Time Warner Building didn't work harder to get a local entrepreneur into the building. I tried shopping, even bought a housewarming gift at Borders, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I finally worked my way outside where it was immediately more fun to speculate about who were the people sitting on the stool-high metal bollards at the curb.

Fresh from my urban mall experience, I attended a panel at the Municipal Art Society tonight on local retail and how it was holding up against big boxes making their moves into New York. The audience primarily sympathized with local businessowners though the panel was a good mix of commercial developers and brokers as well as independent "alternative" developers lika Irwin Cohen, the developer of Chelsea Market.

Whoever they were working for, everyone agreed that local retail was vital to the success of a development, on all fronts. It's important to developers who want to command high residential rents, since it seems that people will pay to be in a specific neighborhood, and that property values disappear when the eclectic local retail "shifts." Diverse retail is important for existing communities, and for workforce development.

So why isn't preservation or encouragement of local retail more prevalent? One thing that everyone mentioned is the "4-corner bank" syndrome. Typically, no single property owner will sacrifice the rent for a corporate giant just to maintain the ambience of a neighborhood, especially if its competition at the other three corners is reaping the benefits of NOT doing so. Interestingly, most people in the audience seemed to live in or at least be aware of the Upper East Side, where the Duane Reade and bank syndrome is in full force.

A couple panelists advocated letting the private sector come up with creative solutions to fit the urban context, and came out against regulation. A couple of other developers said that it takes a commitment of risk on the developers part, and a partnership with the entrepreneur to come up with a plan that will fit the business and the building. Only two people, Irwin Cohen and Victor Dadras, who works for NYC's Department of Small Business Services on something called the Storefront Improvement Program (here's an example), thought that the city could encourage better private sector coordination to maintain a local retail and neighborhood flavor.

I left before the bitter end of the Q&A, so I remain puzzled: what is going on with the development community and the Planning Department that major mixed-use developments like Atlantic Yards, Flatbush Nostrand Junction, East River Plaza, and Bronx Terminal Market continue to prefer non-New York-based chains when everyone seems to like local? It seems that private and public sectors want local to stay - so is the City's rich retail fabric being unravelled by free market weavers?


Samsung sign with Christos Gates in background, image by la madrugada

Linkies

A few links have been made known to me. Most likely they're not new to anyone but me since I've been out of things, but they're worth your attention.

Built Environment - (via Polis) I agree with Lisa Chamberlain's assessment of this one. And I have a feeling I have met this fellow a couple years ago. Very thoughtful blog (and author).

Claiming Public Space - A robust web site with articles, resources and community from the Hamer Center for Community Design at Penn State. I didn't sign up to access the community part (which I find suspect on most web sites) but I share the vision of the site. What do you think?

City Project - Un-New York related, I just received an announcement that CLIPI (Center for Law in Public Interest) is closing! Very sad, as it has been a revolutionary organization, especially for Los Angeles. Its executive director, Robert Garcia, will instead be heading something called the City Project, which has been a program area at CLIPI. Though not based in New York, CLIPI was providing a service akin to urban space advocacy groups in NYC, and with more legal muscle and a greater social justice bent, combining land-use/urban design decisions with community development. I'd love to see a CLIPI-type group in NYC - not just a think tank or policy engine, which New York has aplenty. The City Project site is not up, yet - I hope.

Agora, Take II in the McCarren Pool

Noemie Lafrance brings Agora II back to McCarren Pool this month. If you went last year and wished that you could have gotten in there and run around with the dancers, this year you can, and this is the last weekend to do so.

The brief:

Inspired by the "agora," the center of town or marketplace in ancient Greece, AGORA II investigates the role of public space in contemporary urban life. Performed beyond the theater walls, this work challenges the interactionss between public space, performance and audience.

Where: McCarren Park Pool, Greenpoint/Williamsburg
Main Arch (Lorimer St. between Driggs & Bayard Ave.)
When: September 13 - 30 2006, Wednesday - http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifSaturday, 8:00 PM
$20

Of course, Agora II, this summer's McCarren Pool festivities - from the Sunday Pool party to the expensive Clear Channel Communications concerts, beg the larger question about the future of the pool.

For public space advocates who oppose most of Robert Moses's decisions, Moses himself was an advocate of large-scale neighborhood swimming pools to provide healthy recreation for the working class in New York. McCarren Pool was a product of the Works Progress Administration (more on the history of WPA-era swimming pools here.) and sadly, is the only one of 11 pools opened under the WPA that is not open. It was closed in 1984 for reasons unknown though much speculated.

When I worked in affordable housing in Williamsburg, there was a community rumor that there was an opportunity to rehabilitate the pool structure in 2000-2001, but the funding was lost because no overarching plan could be agreed upon. But a less dramatic reality might be that funding was lost due to post-9/11 consequences.

It seems that the Pool has another chance at a second life. Sens production (Noemie Lafrance's dance company) is quite active in securing that life. So is Clear Channel, I would guess. Unfortunately, the mega-media corporation's participation is obscuring the many other community groups like Pool Aid, that have had a hand in keeping the community vision for the pool alive, even overshadowing Sens productions.

As I looked around the pool on a sunny afternoon this past summer, the potential for an amazing, vibrant readaptation of the pool is startling clear. Within the open structure, and even without water, there were plenty of different places to hang out and relax around and in the pool. People were lounging, sitting, standing, watching, playing games, dancing and sleeping. Some families had brought their young children for a day in the sun, complete with wading in kiddie pools.

However, families were scarce compared to the hundreds of hipsters milling around. I'd like to see some plans that showed how this piece of history could accommodate performances, screenings - along with something for the kids and seniors. Given the numerous luxury condos going up in the neighborhood, especially around McCarren Park, it seems that any effort in the direction of anchoring the existing diverse community, instead of tilting it in favor of a higher per capita income level, would help stabilize the neighborhood. It isn't outrageous to pay to see a concert - but it is if the public space has only paid events to offer at the moment.

At this point in the (in)decision process, I think anyone can put on an event in McCarren Pool. And did I hear that a temporary ice rink will be put in this winter?

I've been jumping on the news bandwagon late this entire summer - this and more have been covered already:

Queens Ledger/Greenpoint Star
Brooklyn Rail
NY Times

Take back the street - the fun way

Image by Arthur Leipzig, "Stickball, 1950"

Come Out and Play is this weekend! Hosted by Eyebeam. Sign up for games now!

New nest

As some of you may already know, I have started a new job, helping a major architecture firm start its New York City office. More details to come, but I'm excited by this blend of cities, design, start-up, and management, which covers all that I enjoy about work.

I'll be out of town again this week, but hope to post more regularly next week.

Rudy Bruner Award

The 2007 Rudy Bruner Award is now accepting submissions.

The Rudy Bruner Award is a search for examples of this often overlooked excellence, and a celebration of their contribution to the richness and diversity of the urban experience. Often these places transcend the boundaries between architecture, urban design, and planning. They are born through processes of transformation -- the renewal of something old, or the creation of something new that resonates in the history of community life.

I checked out the 2005 winners and I think that this description of the award's aspirations is very apt.

Poured Lines covering Bankside, London

When I was in graduate school, I lived in Camberwell, in South London. Many Sundays started with coffee, a croissant and then lunch at Borough Market, and fortified, the day usually then led to a meandering through South neighborhoods - Borough, Bankside, Bermondsey. Ignorance can be such a wonderful thing. Most of my friends, who lived in North London were horrified that I would be wandering through Bermondsey, but quite honestly, these areas along the river were where old industrial London could still be detected - not unlike the Dumbo waterfront. And it was quite beautiful with the old Victorian structures.

Because I have this appreciation of the bones of the neighborhood, I was pleased to see that Southwark Council, the local authority, has commissioned a public art piece - Poured Lines by Ian Davenport, Turner Prize recipient in 1991 - that will span 165 feet (50 meters) long under a noisy railway bridge. One might think that 300,000 pounds could best be spent elsewhere. Perhaps, but beautifing the thoroughfares beneath these bridges will do a lot to connect the disparate communities in South London. Like most underserved communities, it is easiest to travel by foot, bike or bus here, no Underground.

the artist's blow-by-blow of this ambitious piece

Evening Standard report

London Times on other closeby South London design happenings

All via Archinect

Upcoming (quite shortly!)

Via Polis, I heard about a couple cool events happening this week. Tomorrow, the Socrates Sculpture Park's anniversary party - noon to 6 PM, and hopefully it's going to be another beautiful day!

Then, next Thursday is the inaugural Pecha Kucha New York event. According to the parent organization, Pecha Kucha was conceived as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. New York's will be at the Bohemian Beer Garden.

I'll be out of town for Pecha Kucha, but maybe I'll catch some of you at the Anniversary Party.

Out of town

I'm out of town this week and will be next week, so postings will be light if at all. But I leave you with this thought...

I'm on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, and we started talking about all the waterfront development that's going on here. One small aspect of the development is all the new blacktop that's being laid in around the shore and marshland. There's an old fire safety clause that says that any new development must have a 50 feet black-top driveway entrance that will permit fire fighting vehicles to turn into.

Fire safety makes sense. However, black-top doesn't seem to be an improvement over smashed clam shells, the traditional road surface on the Eastern Shore. Clam shells are semi-permeable, are a reusable materials (washed up and discarded from the clamming factories), and someone added, are like having the road lit at night because they reflect headlights more softly than blacktops. I never knew.

Street vendor fun!

Really old school roasted potato vendor - potatos are a great snack actually, especially on a cold winter day. From the NYPL Digital Gallery

I know this is notice way in advance, but this sounds like one of the most fun events of the year - the Second Annual Vendy Awards!

The tickets have gone up, but it's really an improvement over last year's $35 admission fee and having to pay for all your food. This year's $50 price includes an open bar and all you can eat. You can nominate vendors and reserve your spot online.

The Vendy Awards is a fundraising event for the Street Vendor Project, an initiative run by Urban Justice. Come out, eat, drink and be merry!

This makes me think about all the food items I wish were available more often. One improvement I noticed is that the vendor in front of the Union Square movie theaters (south side) has added grilled corn to her repertoire! Why hasn't this caught on with other vendors, especially those with a charcoal grill. Throw on some mayo, cheese, hot pepper and lime and you've got that great corn that everyone crowds Cafe Habana for. She's the only vendor I've noticed downtown with grilled corn.

Another vending item I've missed are morning tamales. I'd so much rather a tamale with my coffee than a boring muffin.

And in Chinatown, there's no reason you couldn't sell roasted chestnuts alongside roasted nuts and Chinese cake balls.

When: Sunday, October 22nd from 6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Where: St. Marks Church-in-the-Bowery, Second Avenue and East 10th Street
Price: $50 to be a regular guest, or $100 for a VIP ticket.

Last days

For those of you who know me through PPS, my last day there is this coming Friday. I hope to have news soon of what will come next. Anyhow, Bird to the North will definitely be up and running regardless, as this has been much more fun and interactive than I ever thought it would be.

If you know good business-minded people who are passionate about public spaces, the job description is here.

Livable army posts

No dodging it, there are major flaps about US foreign policy and how it not so indirectly support decisions that we make as a society of individual consumers.

However, if there are to be army bases housing thousands of personnel and families, then they should be built thoughtfully. Upstate New York, where I'm from, has a legacy of abandoned military bases and the slow seeping loss of life inevitably sets in when they do close down. Now, what if military bases and on-post housing were very livable?

Fort Belvoir in Fairfax, Virginia has embarked on a livable communities initiative, a 50-year public-private partnership to apply New Urbanist thinking to army housing. There are special considerations given the specific characteristics - physical and emotional - of military jobs, but I thought this was definitely a step in the right direction for all these people and their families. The new Starbucks is very popular and see the courtyard for yourself.

Thanks Peter!

A happy story

Image from one of my favorite fun sites, Flip Flop Flyin'

The other morning, we took Cybill out for a walk and ran some errands. On the way home, Cybill, distracted by the barking from another little dog, stepped on my sandal and the strap broke.

So there I was, blocks away from home, with a broken sandal. The man walking the little dog started telling us a story about how the same thing happened to him at the airport and how disgusting it was to have to walk around on his barefeet. As he took out his keys - it turned out that my sandal broke in front of his house - it dawned on him that maybe I wouldn't like to walk around in my barefeet either. Especially on New York City streets. I couldn't have agreed more.

He offered me a pair of flipflops so I could get home. I gratefully accepted. We went home and I quickly put two doggy biscuits into an envelope with a thank you card. We went back to his house and I popped the flipflops through the mail slot with the card. A karmaloop completed.

I suppose if this happened in the parking lot of some shopping center in the suburbs, I would have had to drive home with my barefeet...which isn't so bad either. But I love that living here means that an unfortunate accident led to a happy chance meeting with a neighbor.

Healthcare by design

Business Week writes about how hospital design saves lives.

I've always been curious about how health care centers are set up. Whenever I've gone - at least to the older public hospitals - they seem like one of the least effective uses of space. I've long held onto a dream to start a group that it would focus on making waiting rooms, lobbies and nurses' stations more personable and humane. But of course, it would be great if the entire healthcare facility was personable and humane.

(Incidentally, I tried to find a good photo of an "exemplary facility" as cited by the Center for Health Design, but could not find a good one - or the photos were protected. I guess there is major competition out there for this work.)

Building recycle/re-use

There's a lot of demolition and construction around my neighborhood - in fact, in nearly every New York City neighborhood that I might spend some time in these days. There are huge dumpsters in front of these sites, to haul away unwanted materials.

But there are alternatives to the mega-waste. Two businesses, Build It Green and Green Worker Cooperatives, run re-use centers that act as a depository and a source for materials in New York City. (via City Limits).

I think that when most people think salvage, they think trendy antique-looking sinks and fixtures (as covered by design sources). But some of the most common pieces are in the most demand and could be re-used - doors, standard cabinets, etc. Furthermore, I see theaters and set builders a partner in this since there's a dumpster in front of the Bleecker Street theaters much of the time. But I also feel that something like that already exists for the theater community. Yes?

Humane public housing

An example of Chicago's new housing developments, Oakwood Shores

There's a brief article about Chicago's new public housing, which has replaced the notorious housing developments of yore. Instead of a isolating neighborhood with few amenities, the new housing developments feature amenities such as schools and a recreation center, the same high quality for its mixed-income units, and attention paid to how the development connects to the rest of the city. Of course, I would love to see this for my own eyes - a trip to Chicago has to be imminent.

It's clear that the project success is largely due to visionary leadership from a couple of places within the city government, from Mayor Daley and Terry Peterson, the chief executive of the Chicago Housing Authority. They're setting a great example for other cities to follow.

Linkies

Brooklyn Museum fountain, image by Trevor Little, a NYC photo blogger

I'm heading out of town today, but caught a few pieces about places that I wanted to share.

The Economist briefs us on the newest form of suburban development in Britain - the dense, compact development.

Montpellier, France, launches in full its car-less city center, a long-planned and well-invested endeavor.

Adobe, one of greenest companies in the Silicon Valley, finds its alternative energy uses challenged during recent heat waves.

Public transit people go ga-ga for Toronto's York neighborhood's new transit system

Anthony Flint, the author of the new book This Land: The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America, weighs in on the challenges of massive urban capital improvement projects, focusing on recent news about the Big Dig.

Having heard about Columbia professor Lance Freeman's controversial and much needed studies on gentrification in New York City for five years running now, NPR has an interview in light of his new book, There Goes the 'Hood.

And finally, Wal-Mart pulls out of Germany and seems to question its ability to penetrate international markets.

Camping in the city, really, IN THE CITY!

I heard about the whole camping in Central Park thing last year and was mightily intrigued and pleased (because it's so great that people are organizing other people to do stuff like that in the city) and thanks to the self-introduction from The Vigorous North, a kind of new blogger who is an urban park ranger in physical life, now I have a first-hand account about it. Haven't you always wanted to know an urban park ranger? Go check it out!

No more than two??!

From joe's nyc

It's been too long. But this completely outraged me when I read it today:

On July 18, 2006 the New York City Police Department proposed changing City rules regarding parade permits. The changes will put bike rides, walks, jogs and other events under the Police Department's direct control and will greatly discourage walking and biking.

Under the NYPD's proposed rules:

* Any group of two (yes, 2) or more cyclists or pedestrians traveling down a public street, who violate any traffic law, rule or regulation can be arrested for parading without a permit;
* Every group of 20 or more cyclists must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD;
* Every group of 35 of more pedestrians must obtain a permit and approved route from the NYPD. Read about it from Transportation Alternatives here.

What I despise about this is the blatant preference for a certain kind of transportation over others when most people in the city do not have access to cars and must get together walking or biking. These are in fact not alternative modes of transportation - it's just transportation! (And what are they going to do with all the groups travelling together in mid-town? Arrest the tourists?)

It reminds me of a story a Doylestown, PA mom told me about the improvements in her town. Her teenage kids got arrested for congregating in groups of more than 2(!) on the sidewalk. They also get kicked out of the rocking chairs on the "public" porches at Starbucks. Her kids are well-mannered, though punk-looking kids. Apparently, as the town cleaned up and got more tony, the Police and Town Council started to implement increasingly draconian regulations governing the use of public space. Is this the direction we're heading for?

A vision for NYC waterfront

I just fell in love with this image from imjustsayin, via curbed. It makes me so hopeful to think that the city's waterfront could look like this, that we reinstate ourselves as a waterfront city. From the entry aptly called, I've seen the future.