Touring Midtown Megaprojects with Bob Yaro
Bob Yaro of the Regional Plan Association walks around Midtown Manhattan, reflecting on the effect megaprojects like the modern Penn Station and Javits Center have had on the city.
On Penn Station's demolition and rebuilding, from the audio interview:
YARO: "This was about greed. And government is supposed to moderate greed, and in this case it didn't do its job. The property was taken by eminent domain, it took state legislation to allow a private company to come in and create the right of ways in and out of this place and assemble a superblock in Manhattan. And then we just handed the keys over to a greedy, speculative developer. It was outragous, but that's what happened in the 60s.
And in some ways, it didn't die in vain, because this atrocity produced the whole historic preservation movement in this country."
Full Story:
Published on Wednesday, June 24, 2009 in
- $14 Billion Deal for Texas High-Speed Rail Construction
- Envisioning the 'Soft City'
- Stop Giving Away Valuable Public Assets! A Fiduciary Obligation for Road and Parking Pricing
- Inclusionary Zoning Vetoed in San Diego
- First-Time Home Buyers Look Different Than They Once Did
- Las Vegas Faces a Challenging and Uncertain Environmental Future
- 2021 Opening Expected for San Francisco's Central Subway
- Property Tax Increase Proposed to Fund Affordable Housing in Vancouver
- Watch What Happens When Parking Disappears From an Amsterdam Street
- $51 Billion Capital Investment Plan Sets Records for New York MTA
- Budget Worries Threaten Vision for Fort Worth Riverfront District and Flood Control Project
- 'Anti-Displacement Zones' Proposed in L.A. Following Development Controversy
- Carbon Emissions Climb 'Dramatically' in Portland
- Which U.S. Cities Have the Most Surveillance?
- Fewer New Yorkers Riding Bikes
- Infrastructure vs. Housing
- Planning a New Subway to San Francisco's 'Sleepy' West Side
- Austin Lowers Speed Limits to Increase Traffic Safety
- Riverfront Revitalization Takes Shape in Covington
- Angie Schmitt Moves on From Streetsblog USA
