Back in July, white flags appeared atop the Brooklyn Bridge, sparking speculation about the meaning of the gesture. Was it about gentrification? Was it a warning of a forthcoming act of terrorism?
"A pair of artists in Berlin said they were the ones who pulled off the stunt of the summer, hoisting two big all-white flags atop the Brooklyn Bridge last month, swapping them for the usual red, white and blue," reports New York Times Architecture Critic Michael Kimmelman.
According to Kimmelman's article, "the artists, Mischa Leinkauf and Matthias Wermke, say the flags — with hand-stitched stars and stripes, all white — had nothing to do with terrorism. In a series of phone interviews, they explained that they only wanted to celebrate 'the beauty of public space' and the great American bridge whose German-born engineer, John Roebling, died in 1869 on July 22, the day the white flags appeared."
FULL STORY: German Artists Say They Put White Flags on Brooklyn Bridge

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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