Jane Jacobs
Ed.’s note: In one of the final written statements about urban planning, the legendary Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) commented on the future of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. Last May, the Bloomberg administration and the city council rezoned the waterfront, providing for high-rise towers on the waterfront and a privately built waterfront esplanade, with some affordable housing to be built in Bushwick. Jacobs contrasts the local community’s plan for the area versus the developer-friendly rezoning that ultimately prevailed.
The following is a letter written by Jane Jacobs to Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council about the rezoning of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront. As modified during the May 2nd negotiations between the Bloomberg administration and the council’s Land Use Committee, the plan now calls for some industrial retention and makes nonbinding, incentive-based provisions for affordable housing.
