Shaping the Future of NYC

Red brick makes up a multitude of New York. For generations strangers have shared the confines of layer upon layer of brick and called them home. This is the sort of common experience that bonds New Yorkers. This is my apartment building.

Riding for minutes or hours inside, above, and around the ground from one land mass to another is a New York routine. A little conversation always makes it nicer.

The simple pleasures of delicious food (especially the best maduros in Queens) are a special part of a New Yorker’s community.

This is the other KFC, the one you only know about of you’re willing to leave Manhattan, it’s our dirty little secret (it actually tastes better) .

Your neighborhood, my neighborhood, the little shops, and colors, and people, and art that make up an area. When you see this, you know instinctively home is not far away.

Entertainment…as though life weren’t funny enough. Sometimes the only release from the boiling, surging emotions of New York…Laugh it out.

Like every other part of New York everything is for everyone, and culture runs thick and intertwines in the most mundane and most exiting places.

Travel is again a constant in the busy, chaotic world of the boroughs.

One often needs to relax in new and familiar places. A burger at 4am Sunday morning, no questions asked, few other cities support their night owls so well.

Returning to a home away from home. The street signs will always be there though, as if to say, “this way’s nice, of course that ways very nice too…” Which, when one’s in New York is usually true.

A dock for one of the more unseen, silent movers in the city.  These designated bicyle parking areas feel like a refuge from the manic speed with which the cycler dodges the vectors of greater momentum.

We are always in the valleys, looking up.  My experience of the city is so dictated by my not-being-able-to-be-in-every-window.

Speaking of windows…

We are all so close to one another’s lives (inches away!), yet we cannot cross that laughable distance and witness another facet of our jewel.  Again, so many windows, so many lives (so many gorgeous apartments..).

What am I glimpsing here?  Massive steel crates of cargo, long travel, ships on BIG oceans, de/recontextualized objects, de/recontextualized people, hands with boxes passing by hands with boxes?  We stand wherever we are, looking around, seeing only hidden information.  All the information in this city is hidden.

Good morning, driver.  What?  My, that’s a long route!  You were there, but now you’re here.  You are here, but you just recently entered.  The things I see in front of me, now, are here, but our things come from all over.  Everything COMES here.  How much is born?

What was: fade awayyyy into our rubble and spread your disintegrating self once again over the wide, welcoming land.

Yumm.  Perfume.

Aerobics class!  With a bit of meaning-fulfillment for free!

Sometimes we are reminded of what we are standing on.

We still have sky above us and air around us.  There will always be wind.  I can breath deeply and feel particularly excellent when I let myself feel the air moving through everyone.

1. The DCP’s certification of an application means that an application is complete and is ready for public review by the ULURP process.

2. The major participants in the review process are the Community Board, the Borough President, the City Planning Commission, and if necessary the City Council and the Mayor.

3. The Community Board Review is permitted to take 60 days for their review of the application, the Borough President may take 30 days, the CPC has 60 days to complete their portion of the application review process, and when necessary the City Council has 50 days to complete their portion when they do review an application (because they don’t review every application).

4. The Mayor does not play a large or frequent role in the application process, but may veto a City Council ruling on an application within 5 days of its decision, or can take action on an application if the City Council has not taken action within their 50 day time limit. However, the City Council may always overrule the Mayor’s decision with a 2/3 majority vote.

5. The Community Board and CPC must hold a public hearing in their portions of the review process. The City Council is only required to hold a public hearing under certain circumstances, such as a “triple no” scenario.

6. The City Council makes the final decision of approval or disapproval of an application, because even in cases of Mayoral Review, it is possible for the City Council to override the Mayor’s decision.

twilight from my window

reflection in the sky

tree: post rain, on asphalt

shooting a film, riverside

night bridge

the runway, a new lane on the brooklyn bridge

kids and koons

cloudbreak

a case for 311

These are pictures taken with my cellphone, of things or instances I thought somehow beautiful. Together they illustrate some sort of New York. And interestingly enough, they all feature the sky.

Everyone knows McDonalds! Its Cheap, and its everywhere. White’s NY probably didn’t have a McDonalds or Starbucks on every corner. Also this isn’t actually at 42nd and Third, its on 23rd and First.

This is on the River, and there’s a place to run and walk your dog if you have one. It’s nice to just sit when the weather is nice! And its near our dorms, so its easy to walk to!

Central Park! Everyone knows Central Park, but I think its gotten better because now there are no more shanty towns in the fields, although with our recent recession maybe people will move back into Central Park.

This is my interpretation of what New Yorkers are like. We’re rude and we have a lot of attitude. This is probably why in White’s time, people thought New York was nice, but they didn’t want to move here.

This is me and Christina at one of our favorite hangout places. Its an outdoor hookah bar. It’s a nice place to meet new people and experience a culture that isn’t our own.

This is at the Pier on Riverside on the West Side. The West side gets no love anymore. But its hard to imagine 1000 foot ships coming into this river, but if White says so it must be true.

This picture came out tiny. Its of me with a person I met playing darts. New York is definitely a place to meet people, which is awesome.

South Street Seaport and the Brooklyn Bridge. I feel like South Street Seaport doesn’t get  lot of love, but it’s definitely kind of like its own little town within New York. Which is interesting, there are lots of places to eat and shop and street performers. I think it embodies New York in that sense a lot.

This is the New York of my adolescence! My roof in Washington Heights! In one direction you can see all of New York (the empire state building, the statue of liberty) and in the other the George Washington Bridge. You can’t see it but the roof is covered in street art, and its beautiful and the city should look more like my roof.

This is on 215th street. There are lots of place that you can see if you just climb over fences and ignore the “DO NOT ENTER” signs. This is on the Hudson River and theres  perfect little place to sit on a rock and hang out and theres no trash because no one knows that it exists!

Gennadiy Rozentsvayg
Reading Guide for ULURP (the Uniform Land Use review)
CHC 250: Section 04
Professor Philips

Reading Guide
1. What does Department of City Planning (DCP) certification of an application mean?

A Department of City Planning (DCP) certification of an application means that the standardized Land Use Review Application includes all forms, plans and documents that are important to address the issue the application is hoping to address. If the application has to undergo environmental review, a negative declaration, a conditional negative declaration, or a notification that that an Environmental Impact Statement was completed, must be issued before the application is certified.

2. Who are the major participants in the review process?

The major participants in the review process are the affected Community Board, Borough President as well as the city council. If necessary the Borough Board also reviews the application.

3.What is the time allotted for each phase of the process?

The Community Board is responsible for conducting the first phase of review. Upon receiving the certified application, the community Board has sixty days to hold a public hearing and create and submit a recommendation to CPC, the applicant and the Borough President. When appropriate, the Community Board also submits a recommendation to the Borough Board. If the community Board either fails to act in the time allotted to it or chooses not to act, the application goes to the Borough President, who has thirty days to submit a recommendation to the CPC. If the application involves land that is in more than one community district, the Borough Board can also submit its recommendation to CPC. If the Borough President fails to act, the application still proceeds to CPC. The CPC has 60 days to hold a public hearing and approve, modify or disprove the application upon receiving it from the Board President. The council must hold a public hearing and approve, modify or disapprove the CPC decision that in the first 50 days of its review process was CPC subjected the application for review or if the council “called-up” the application for review. The Council has fifty days to do so. When the Council proposes a modification, the CPC has 15 days to make a decision, during which the 50-day time period for the Council is put on hold.

4. What role does the mayor play in the review process?

The mayor can veto a Council action within 5 days in which the City Council approved or disapproved a land use application. His approval is not required though.

5. Which bodies must hold a public hearing during the review process?

The Community Board Review, the CPC and City Council must hold public hearing during the review process.

6. Who makes the final decision in the approval or disapproval of a land use application?

The CPC makes the final decision in the approval or disapproval of a land use application.

Tourists on the 7 line, haha.

A view from the Promenade in Brooklyn.

Another view from the Promenade.

A fabulous fondue restaurant in the West Village called The Bourgeois Pig.

East Village-ish!

Making friends with an Olmec statue (I think…) in the Museum of Natural History.

A random guy at the Halloween Parade.

The San Genaro festival, at night.

San Genaro.

Best pickles on the Lower East Side.  Possibly in Manhattan?

March 3: Historic Context and Infrastructure
a. The development of the city is tied closely to the growth of mass transit. Originally a series of disconnected railroads, New York City’s subway is the world’s most extensive underground system. Nestor Danyluk, Senior Planner with the Department of City Planning, will chart its historical growth along with the development of housing in the adjoining neighborhoods.

• Derrick, Peter. 2002. “Tunneling to the Future: The Story of the Great Subway Expansion That Saved New York” Rapid Transit to Save New York. New York: New York University Press [pp.90-122].

b. Planning policies and infrastructure investments in the mid and late Twentieth Century resulted in major changes in New York City’s built environment. Discuss the following readings:
• Caro, Robert A. 1974. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. Vintage Books. [pp. 837-884 – please use your own copy of the Power Broker].
• Jacobs, Jane. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Vintage Books. [pp.3-25]

Reading Guides:

There is no reading guide for the “Tunneling to the Future.” You must, however, read it before class. The following readings require written responses:

The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro

Chapter 36 – The Meat Ax; pages 837-849

1. What physical obstacles lay in the path of the proposed Cross Bronx Expressway? (pp 840-841)
2. How did Robert Moses deal with the red tape of government approvals? (pp. 844-845)
3. How did Moses feel about the democratic process in achieving his goals? (p. 848)

Chapter 37- One Mile; pages 850-884

1. What elements of the East Tremont community were deemed to be important to the residents? (pp. 852-853)
2. What was Moses’ opinion of the homes in East Tremont? How did it differ from that of the residents (p. 854=855)
3. What proposed minor alteration to the plan would have saved the neighborhood? (pp. 863-864)
4. What woman fought hard to save the neighborhood and what were some of the forces that defeated her efforts? (p.869-877)
5. Why did Robert Moses object to changing the route? (p.878)
6. What was the short-term result of this massive relocation project? (p.884)

The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs, Introduction (pp. 3-25)

Based on your readings by Jane Jacobs and about Robert Moses:

1. List three adjectives describing the personality of Jane Jacobs
2. List three adjectives describing the personality of Robert Moses
3. In a paragraph, describe how Jane Jacobs approaches planning.
4. In a paragraph, describe how Robert Moses approaches planning.

Hello everyone - if you’re not sure how to add photos to a blog post try reading through the WordPress directions. Click here for step-by-step instructions on inserting images into posts, manipulating image size and quality, resizing images, and styling images. The instructions for inserting images into your post are copy/pasted below. Please let me know if you have any questions after reading through the directions:

There are 2 steps involved to inserting an image into a post. First, the image file must be uploaded onto your web server before it can be inserted into a post. The second step is to actually insert the image into the post in the appropriate location.

The simplest way to do this is to use the “Add Media” function on the post screen (beside the “Visual” and “HTML” tabs). Choose the appropriate button depending on whether you are adding photos, videos, audio, or miscellaneous media (e.g. PDF files). This method will complete both steps as outlined above.

In the “From Computer” area of the screen you need to upload the desired image file. NOTE: Before hitting the “Upload from Computer” button it is recommended that you select the “Browser Uploader” instead of using the default Flash Uploader. After selecting the “Browser Uploader”, hit the “Browse…” button and choose the desired image file on your computer. Then, hit the “Upload” button. Your image file is now on your web server.

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Every time you upload an image to your web server it is added to the “Gallery” of images that are available for that blog. If you want to insert the same image into another post go to the “Gallery”, hit the “Show” link, and then follow the same instructions to insert that image into another location or post.

The view down 5th ave. from the steps of the Met.

Fifth Ave.

I don’t really understand why all of these are coming in side-ways, because they’re upright before I upload them.

The solitude that E. B. White talks about. There were many people around, but no one disturbed each other's conversations. Everyone was left to their own amusements.

The view looking uptown on 1st avenue.

The idea of many neighborhoods that make up the greater city that contains them.Part of the Gramercy neighborhood.