"Building Like Moses with Jacobs in Mind": Contemporary Planning in New York City

199 Pages·2013·0.688 MB·English

by  Scott Larson

“Building Like Moses with
Jacobs in Mind”
In the series Urban Life, Landscape, and Policy,
edited by Zane L. Miller, David Stradling, and Larry Bennett
Also in this series:
Julia L. Foulkes, To the City: Urban Photographs of the New Deal
William Issel, For Both Cross and Flag: Catholic Action, Anti-Catholicism,
and National Security Politics in World War II San Francisco
Lisa Hoffman, Patriotic Professionalism in Urban China: Fostering Talent
John D. Fairfield, The Public and Its Possibilities: Triumphs and Tragedies
in the American City
Andrew Hurley, Beyond Preservation: Using Public History to Revitalize
Inner Cities
ScoTT LArSon
“Building Like Moses with
Jacobs in Mind”
conTeMporAry pLAnnIng In neW york cITy
TeMpLe UnIverSITy preSS
pHILADeLpHIA
TeMpLe UnIverSITy preSS
philadelphia, pennsylvania 19122
www.temple.edu/tempress
copyright © 2013 by Temple University
All rights reserved
published 2013
Library of congress cataloging-in-publication Data
Larson, Scott, 1961–
“Building like Moses with Jacobs in mind” : contemporary
planning in new york city / Scott Larson.
p. cm. — (Urban life, landscape, and policy)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBn 978-1-4399-0969-0 (cloth : alk. paper) —
ISBn 978-1-4399-0970-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) —
ISBn 978-1-4399-0971-3 (e-book) 1. city planning—new york
(State)—new york. 2. Moses, robert, 1888–1981.
3. Bloomberg, Michael. 4. Jacobs, Jane, 1916–2006. I. Title.
HT168.n5L37 2013
307.1′216097471—dc23
2012042291
The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the
American national Standard for Information Sciences—permanence
of paper for printed Library Materials, AnSI Z39.48-1992
printed in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 9 7 5 3 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
1 Jacobs versus Moses: A Fight for the city’s Soul 1
2 The “patron Saint” and the “git’r Done Man” 15
3 The Bloomberg practice 33
4 calls for a new Moses 45
5 planning and the narrative of Threat 59
6 The Armature for Development 77
7 Ideas That converge 97
8 Ideas That Travel 115
9 Design as civic virtue 133
10 Building Like Moses with Jacobs in Mind 145
notes 155
references 167
Index 181

Acknowledgments
While this book is the result of a very discrete interest, it is the product
of a much longer and broader intellectual journey. In that regard, it
would be futile to even try to acknowledge the contributions of every
person who played a part in its realization. Still, it would be disingenu-
ous not to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of a select and very
important few. First, I offer my genuine thanks to neil Smith, whose
profound influence on my worldview resonates far beyond this current
work. From those very first papers submitted as a new graduate student
through the final manuscript draft, he was completely and always there.
With much pride, and humility, I submit that this project never would
have happened without him. rest in peace, friend. I owe a lasting debt
of gratitude to Michael porter, who first suggested the cracks in Jane
Jacobs’s halo on a hike in the Shawangunk Mountains. And to kareem
rabie, whose early enthusiasm and encouragement on that drive back to
new york city from an Association of American geographers annual
meeting in Boston fortified my resolve. Likewise, considerable thanks
go to Joshua Moses (no relation to robert), Ted powers, and especially
padmini Biswas, for commiseration and camaraderie during those alarm-
ing, empty moments when the words failed me and my thinking stalled.
I also owe sincere thanks to my fellow fellows and seminar partici-
pants at the center for place, culture, and politics, who over the course
of a critical nine months, from 2009 to 2010, created such a stimulating
space in which to engage. I would be doubly remiss if I did not acknowl-
edge and thank David Harvey, Michael Sorkin, and, especially, cindi
viii Acknowledgments
katz. Their intellectual fingerprints are indelibly embedded in this book:
David blazed a path the rest of us with like leanings can only hope to fol-
low, Michael opened up new horizons, and cindi made it all so meaning-
ful and fun. Her early instigation gave this project life.
At the same time, I am extremely grateful to an anonymous outside
reader whose piercing insights and invaluable suggestions helped shape
and sharpen the final product. I wish I could tell this reviewer so in
person. of course, no one deserves more credit for sweating the ever-
important details than Larry Bennett. Throughout the editing process, he
was patient, calm, articulate, and exacting—in other words, exactly what
every writer needs. Likewise, I am forever indebted to Mick gusinde-
Duffy for divining the latent value in my earliest manuscript.
Thanks go to my parents, ken and Betty Larson. Without their uncon-
ditional support and remarkable capacity for understanding, I long ago
would have settled for something far less. To Jamie—best friend, critic,
muse—my unending gratitude and love. not only did the seeds of this
project take root on our runs on riverside Drive, but they have since
grown into a shared sense of purpose to build something better by align-
ing our worlds. This is every bit as much her achievement as mine. And
finally, this book and any worthwhile ideas in it are dedicated to Annika.
May you never stop fighting for your utopia.
“Building Like Moses with
Jacobs in Mind”