New York neighborhoods : addressing sustainable city principles

269 Pages·2018·11.57 MB·English

by  Rauscher

Raymond Charles Rauscher
New York
Neighborhoods -
Addressing
Sustainable
City Principles
New York Neighborhoods - Addressing Sustainable
City Principles
Raymond Charles Rauscher
New York Neighborhoods -
Addressing Sustainable City
Principles
Picture is the extension of the Flatiron Building (Manhattan), modern architecture combining with
traditional architecture. (Photo source Raymond Rauscher 2014)
Raymond Charles Rauscher
School of Environmental & Life Sciences
University of Newcastle
East Gosford, NSW, Australia
ISBN 978-3-319-60479-4 ISBN 978-3-319-60480-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-60480-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017945745
© Springer International Publishing AG 2018
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of
the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,
broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology
now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication
does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant
protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book
are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the
editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims
in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Printed on acid-free paper
This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature
The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Nine New Yorkers from the past (born
overseas and many moving to America via
Ellis Island, New York) have been selected to
dedicate this book to. These immigrants left
legacies in New York neighborhoods (subject
of this book) and elsewhere across America
and overseas. These include (Plate 1) in
chronological birth order (and contribution
field) Jacob Riis (1849–1914) (muckraking
journalist), Irene Bordoni (1885–1953) (film
actress), Father Flanagan (1886–1948)
(social reformer priest), Irving Berlin (1888–
1989) (composer), Anna Nilsson (1888–
1974) (silent movie star), Ezio Pinza
(1892–1957) (opera singer), Frank Capra
(1897–1991) (film director), Claudette
Colbert (1903–1996) (box-office star), and
Max Dimont (1912–1992) (historian and
author). A brief comment on each of these
New Yorkers follows (Wikipedia) (2017).
Plate I Significant immigrants to New York (Source Wikipedia 2017)
Jacob August Riis was a Danish American
social reformer, muckraking journalist, and
social documentary photographer. He
endorsed the implementation of “model
tenements” in New York with the help of
humanitarian Lawrence Veiller. While living
in New York, Riis experienced poverty and
became a police reporter writing about the
quality of life in the slums. He attempted to
alleviate the bad living conditions of poor
people by exposing their living conditions to
the middle and upper classes.
Irene Bordoni was a Corsican French singer
and a Broadway and film actress. Bordoni
made her Broadway debut in a Shubert
brothers production of Broadway to Paris. In
1920 her “captivating voice and presence”
graced As You Were at the Central Theatre.
Father Flanagan was a social reformer (a
priest ordained in 1912) who studied at St.
Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York.
Flanagan established Boys Town, ten miles
west of Omaha, in 1921. Under Father
Flanagan’s direction, Boys Town grew to be
a large community.
Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Berlin)
was an American composer and lyricist of
Russian Jewish origin (born in Tyumen,
Russian Empire). Widely considered one of
the greatest songwriters in American history,
his music forms a great part of the Great
American Songbook. He published his first
song, Marie from Sunny Italy, in 1907 and
had his first major international hit,
Alexander’s Ragtime Band, in 1911.
Anna Quirentia Nilsson was a Swedish-born
American actress who achieved success as
an American silent movie star.
Ezio Pinza was an Italian opera singer. A
bass with a rich, smooth, and sonorous voice,
he spent 22 seasons at New York’s
Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than
750 performances of 50 operas. After
retiring from the Met in 1948, Pinza enjoyed
a fresh career on Broadway in the musical
theater and also appeared in several
Hollywood films.
Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-born
American film director, producer, and writer
who became the creative force behind some
of the major award-winning films of the
1930s and 1940s. His rags-to-riches story
has led film historians such as Ian Freer to
consider him the American dream
personified.
Claudette Colbert was a French-born
American actress and a leading lady for two
decades. Colbert began her career in
Broadway Productions during the 1920s,
progressing to film with the advent of talking
pictures. During her career, Colbert starred
in more than 60 movies. She was the
industry’s biggest box-office star in 1938
and 1942.
Max I. Dimont was a Finnish American
historian and author. He taught himself the
English language by reading Shakespeare,
the King James Version of the Bible, and
American plays. In 1962, he published Jews,
God, and History, which received critical
acclaim and has sold over a million and a
half copies. The Los Angeles Times has
praised the book as unquestionably the best
popular history of the Jews written in the
English language.
There are many other people who have left
legacies contributing in some way to the
strength of American neighborhoods.
Change in these neighborhoods has been
constant over the years, thus challenging
citizens, administrations, and elected
officials in urban planning. Each chapter is
thus dedicated to one of these individuals
(geographical area or neighborhood as
addressed in the book in brackets). This is
followed by a biographical note on each
person:
Chapter 1: Gore, 45th vice president of
America and environmental educator
(global)
Chapter 2: Lenapes, Native American tribe
of New York (New York City)
Chapter 3: George Gershwin, American
composer and pianist (Lower East Side)
Chapter 4: Jane Jacobs, urban author and
activist (Greenwich Village)
Chapter 5: James Cagney, actor (Hell’s
Kitchen)
Chapter 6: Robert Fulton, inventor
(DUMBO)
Chapter 7: John Jay, a founding father of
America (Brooklyn Downtown)
Chapter 8: Henry Miller, author
(Greenpoint)
Chapter 9: Maria Callas, singer (Astoria)
Chapter 10: Victor Frederick Moore, actor
on stage and screen (Jackson Heights)
Chapter 11: Sonam Dolma Brauen, artist
(Long Island City)
Book Abstract
This book examines neighborhoods of New York City (herein called New York) to
determine the extent planning in New York addresses Sustainable City Principles
(SCPs). Part I looks at the background to planning urban areas in the face of global
urban changes. These changes (i.e., population movements and densification of cit-
ies) are placing pressures on cities worldwide. Firstly, Chap. 1 provides a back-
ground to these global pressures (i.e., population growth) and their implications.
The chapter firstly looks at nine futurists’ views (1800s–2017) on urban changes.
Reviewing aspects of these changes, US population and immigration planning
(reflecting global pressures) are then examined. Finally, US growth and its impact
on New York are addressed. Chapter 2 looks closer at New York planning and
introduces Sustainable City Principles (SCPs). The chapter starts by examining
views of nine urban theorists (following the futurists) and their contributions to
neighborhood planning. With this background, the planning tools the city council
uses are reviewed. Three SCPs are then selected to be addressed in examining
New York neighborhoods. These SCPs are (1) Heritage Protection, (2) Housing
Provision, and (3) Open Spaces Allocation. Nine New York neighborhoods are then
selected (to be examined in subsequent chapters) as follows (by borough): Manhattan
(Lower East Side, Greenwich Village, and Hell’s Kitchen), Brooklyn (DUMBO,
Brooklyn Downtown, and Greenpoint), and Queens (Astoria, Jackson Heights, and
Long Island City).
Part II introduces the selected neighborhoods within Manhattan and examines
the extent planning of these neighborhoods addresses SCPs (Chaps. 3, 4 and 5).
For each chapter, firstly, a neighborhood background is provided, and results of the
author’s field survey are reviewed. The three SCPs are then examined in the context
of the current development of that neighborhood. The needs and issues of the neigh-
borhood are then assessed, using the local community district board’s annual report
on needs of the neighborhood. One current major development project within the
neighborhood is then selected to assess the extent the development addresses the
three SCPs. Conclusions are drawn at the end of the chapter on the extent that plan-
ning of that neighborhood addresses these SCPs (thus a measure of sustainability of
the neighborhood). Part III examines (as in earlier chapters) the selected
xi