As the third and final phase of the immensely popular High Line breaks ground in New York, Mayor Bloomberg responds to recent criticism about the gentrifying effect of the park, reports Matt Chaban.
As with any new project that attracts flocks of tourists and developers with dollar signs in their eyes, New York's immensely popular, and much admired new park has also attracted a rising backlash, oriented around complaints of gentrification. Last week, Mayor Bloomberg took up the debate surrounding the High Line's effect, sort of. "Asked about these changes today," says Chaban, "Mayor Bloomberg did not necessarily disagree with the situation, just the sentiment."
"Cities have to evolve," the mayor explained. "We have a constant
influx of people from around the world moving to this city, and the
needs of the people who are here change. Today people are staying
because the schools are better. Today we have a challenge because we
need to provide more activities for more kids than we used to have.
People from around the world want to come here. There's always a
challenge how you have enough affordable housing, how you build housing
when the marketplace says it's more and more valuable because more and
more people want to come."
"We're going to keep changing, and that's what's great about New York," the mayor concluded.
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