New York City Housing Tour – An Eye Opener – Part 1

Forty-five intrepid BILD members flew down toNew York City(“NYC”) for a high-rise housing tour led by Jeanhy Shim, VP of condominium development at Mattamy Homes, one week after the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  To make matters worse, we decided to leave on November 7, 2012 in the midst of a snowstorm that essentially shut down theNew Yorkairports and most of the city from and after 3 p.m.

But BILD members are a hardy bunch and all of us made it through the snowstorm, had a great dinner at L’Artusi. The following day the sun was shining, the snow was melting and NYC looked like it was back to normal. 

Beneath the surface, however, there were many buildings still without heat and power.  Worse, a number of apartment buildings and condominiums, whose mechanical systems were located in the basement, were flooded and will not be operational for 5-6 months, leaving thousand’s looking for new homes (including an architectural firm, BIG, we visited - more later).  In the midst of all this, our group who included various planners, architects and builders, learned of fascinating developments in NYC.

One of the most interesting presentations was from a group known as Projects for Public Spaces which critiqued various public areas around the world, including those in Toronto, and highlight some of their work done in NYC and elsewhere.  Two of the most interesting projects in NYC were the redesign of the LincolnCenterand the ongoing construction of the elevated High Line Project that has rejuvenated part of the west side between 10^th Street and 30^th Street.

We learned of innovative efforts to bring the LincolnCenterredesign of the former retail stores into a stunning 2-storey glass restaurant, and expansion of the main entrance, so that it lends itself to make it so much more accessible and used by the public destination.

Next we learned of the dogged efforts of local heroes to prevent the old elevated High Line Railway from being demolished and instead raised public and private money to restore it and turn it into a tremendously used linear park.  The High Line is a shining example for what public money can do to rejuvenate neighbourhoods.  The area through which the High Line Railway is located was previously industrial warehousing, fairly unattractive, and undesirable.  Since the rejuvenation of the High Line Railway, the surrounding areas have blossomed, property values have increased and development is blossoming.  This is the kind of vision that we desperately need inTorontoand unfortunately, abundantly lack.  I loved what the people from Projects for Public Spaces had to say about the design of public spaces.  They should be destinations and not just areas to walk or drive through.  You find ways to attract people to these public spaces and create a buzz and a reason for going there, and then design the space around them., not vice versa.

This is how all of Europe lives and all of New York lives,  Why can’t we do it here?