CEU eTD Collection In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Preservation, Redevelopment, andLandscape Preservation, Redevelopment, Department ofSociology and Social Anthropology The Politics The of UrbanSustainability: Central European University Supervisors: Judit Bodnár on theHighLine Alexandra Kowalski Budapest, Hungary Darren J.Patrick Master ofArts Submitted to 2011 By CEU eTD Collection // GillesClément sustainability //gentrification //New York City // landscape urbanism // spatial theory / Keywords / reevaluation ofthe meaning of sustainability as embraced bytheHigh Line. Clément’s notionofthethird landscape asa space ofindecision, Icallforacritical Line redesign team.combination Usinga ofLefebvrianspatial theory andGilles embraced andpromoted byJames CornerFieldOperations, the of thelead High analysis of landscape urbanism, anapproachtodevelopment andparkdesign modernization, sustainability, and urban growth. From there, I move toacritical effort asacaseofecogentrification, which combines discourses ofecological park. Myanalysis focuses first on analyzing thesecond preservation andreuse comprehensive reuse plan, rendering thestructure asapublicly accessible elevated remainderof thestructure from being demolished andeventually supported a and public access.Friends of theHigh Line succeededin thattheystopped the which nowmanages theHighLine, was primarily articulated inthe terms ofreuse and slowingrealestate development. Thesecond,ledbyFriends oftheHighLine, groups, was primarily articulated the termsin ofurbanpreservation, anti-demolition, significant preservation andreuse debates.Thefirst, bysmallled citizen activism abandonment forindustrial useinthe1980s, the structurebecame thefocusoftwo New York Cityneighborhoods: the Village andWest Chelsea. Following its HighYork City.Line The isa1.45-mile long elevated railway runningthrough two In thisthesis, Ifocusonthepreservation andreuseoftheHigh Linein New / Abstract / / Abstract CEU eTD Collection journey together,Iwould notbe writing these words. unconditional love, inspirational mind,and courageous commitment totakethis proofreading (perpetually nearto) final versions. Lastly, without DaraBlumenthal’s intellectualand otherwise. Thank you to Zoltán Glück andNargus Harounzadeh for Arianne Elbaum, provided afantastic mix ofsharp minds, great wit, andopen doors, intellectually ‘elsewhere’ at CEU, especially Barbara Mazzotti, SergiuNovac, and this project. My comrades intheSociology and Social Anthropology Department and intellectualspace to write openly andfreely abouttheHighLine intheearly stagesof supervision, I thank Jean-Louis Fabiani andDon Kalb forthegiving me the scholarshipwhich was previously terra incognita forme. Asidefrom formal gratefulfor herencouragement toexplore complex theoreticalproblems through significant was Alexandra’s dynamicand generous teaching andsupervision. Iam temporality; thishasmademy shaperand keptmy tact.Noless analysis sanityin Judit guidedmemy toconsider limitations in this intellectualspace andpedagogical supervision ofJudit Bodnár and Alexandra Kowalski. I am particularly thankfulthat is first andforemost possible because of the insightful comments anddedicated Budapest, where Iwas generously supported by aFullCEU Academic Fellowship. It This project the culminationis ofan incredibly rich andprovocativestudy year of in i / Acknowledgments / / Acknowledgments CEU eTD Collection Appendix C // Figures Appendix B //Research Statement for Interviewees Appendix A // List of Interviews References // on the unfinished High Line / 3Down in the Hole: Ecogentrification, landscape, and indecision Manhattan’son West Side / 2Walk the Line: Abandonment, preservation, and redevelopment / 1 / Preparing the Path: 1 Plan of the present research, method, and conceptual context // List of Abbreviations / Table contentsof / / Acknowledgments / The unfinished HL, a cause for speculation Ecogentrification Promoting reuse through public access and development (Round Two) Fighting demolition, fighting development (Round One) Preserving the High Line Neighborhood and public space context Literature Review and Conceptual Context Method The High Line in Three Stages ii / Table of contents / of contents / Table 36 32 22 19 17 12 55 54 52 46 31 12 iii 4 2 1 ii i CEU eTD Collection West VillagersWest forResponsible Development ChelseaWest Rezoning Urban Development Corporation Uniform Land UseReview Procedure Surface Transportation Board New York State New York City Department NYCof Parks DPRand Recreation New York CityDepartment ofCity Planning New York City Hudson River Park Act Hudson RiverPark High Line Greenwich Village Community TaskForce Friends of theHigh Line Environmental Impact Statement Empire StateDevelopment Corporation Community Board4(Manhattan) City Planning Commission Chelsea Property Owners Certificate of Interim Trail Use Board ofStandards andAppeals iii WVRD WCR UDC ULURP STB NYS NYC DCP NYC HRPA HRP HL GVCTF FoHL EIS ESDC CB4 CPC CPO CITU BSA // List of Abbreviations // List CEU eTD Collection is moreis accurately characterized asan The first, led bycommunity andhistoric preservation activists theFarin Village, West development. evolution of both dimensions over the course of the HL preservation and development ofpublic open space on Manhattan’s side. West From here, Itrace the preservation. Second, itsituates environmentaladvocacy with respecttothe baseline fordiscourses andtactics ofcommunity preservation andhistoric meto situatetwo dimensions oftheHL.First,it establishes a context-specific related, park development: theHudson River Park (HRP). Looking at the HRP helps development context fortheproject. Istart withbrief a analysis ofan earlier, but theory, urbanpoliticalecology, gentrification, and landscapetheory. my research method, andpresents a compact review of relevant literature on spatial unfinished preservation and reuse effort. The remainder ofthis chapter describes nature, an urbanredevelopment project, and,perhaps most importantly, asan Throughout the paper, I articulate a threefold analysis of the HL as a space for traverses two Manhattan neighborhoods: the West Village andChelsea (Fig. 1). an abandonedelevated railway intopublicly space.accessible open Thestructure three chapters. The HLisanunfinished adaptive reuse project which developingis HighThe Linein Three Stages Plan of the present research, method, and conceptual context conceptual and method, research, present of the Plan The latter part ofthe second chapter focuses on two HLpreservation battles. In thesecond chapter, “Walk the Line,” I establish the neighborhood and This thesis tracesthedevelopment oftheHighLine(HL) New in York City in Preparing the Path: the Preparing / 1 1 anti-demolition effortseeking tocurb the CEU eTD Collection author in New withYork City, theexceptions ofInterviews 12and16,which were were conducted jointly. Further, all interviews wereconducted in-person, bythe All interviews were one-on-onewith the exceptions of Interviews 14and 15, which interview was betweenminutes, 45and120 withan average length of 60minutes. during my field research was thesemi-structured interview (Appendix A). Each undertaken during April 2011 in New York City. Theprimarymethod Iemployed the HLdevelopment. research Thefield onwhich thepresent work isbasedwas private-sector employmentwith HR&AAdvisors,aconsulting firm deeply involved in 2007 and 2008 in connection withmy BA (Metropolitan Studies) and on a period of Method political potential ofsustainability andpreservationthe present in moment. professionalfield oflandscape urbanism. articulates Thisanalysis and specifies the examinethe unfinished parkin theterms ofspatialand landscape theory and the battlewhichthe very in logic oftheHL is atstake.Inthis instance, Icritically analysis, where Ifocus on the unfinished portion ofthe park as a third preservation case thattheHL isanexample of and reuse effort termsin ofthefusion ofdevelopment andsustainability, making the of thespaceto public in2009. majority the of“Walk Line” tracestheefforts theirof FoHLupto successfulopening (FoHL), sought bothpreservation open andreuse oftheHLas space.The a public Corporation. Thesecond, spearheaded bya group called Friends oftheHigh Line development aspirations ofaparticularprivate real estatedeveloper, theRockrose This paper builds onmy previousresearch on theHRP, conducted between In thesecond chapter, “Down the in Hole,” I analyze the FoHL preservation ecogentrification 2 . This isabridgetomy. This final CEU eTD Collection became clearthroughoutthecourse ofmy dataanalysis that space andtime and relatively symmetrical, analysis ofboth the HLand the HRP.However, it Unless otherwise noted, all photosare my (Appendix own C). photographed both theHL and HRP on three occasions during my research. field The New York notable among theseare also incorporated andrelied onpopularmedia andmarketingmaterials. Most been usedtosubstantiate dates,facts, and claimsmade byinterviewees. Ihave Many ofthedocuments whicharenotdirectly referenced orcited inthis thesis have planning documents, legislative documents, andzoning applications and materials. These include Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) fortheHL and HRP, official period gathering andreviewing archival information andprimary sourcematerials. each interview to establish guidelines for discussion andquestioning (Appendix B). questions, butinstead circulated the “Research Statement forInterviewees” priorto specific knowledge(s) of the respondent. Idid notuse a standardized set of development. Accordingly, ineach ofmy interviews, Iattempted toexploit the expertise orderin tounderstand both thetechnicalprocesses andthe politics of of development projects York inNew requires avarietyofviewpoints andareas of have overlappingaffiliations between and among these fields. Thecomplex nature organizations, private sector firms, andpublic agencies. Many myof respondents withthe exception ofInterview 16, which was not recorded. conducted byphone. Finally, all interviews were recordedand partially transcribed, Finally, it is worthnotingthatIinitially intended thisthesistopresent adual, In addition to interviews, Ialso spentasubstantial portion ofmy fieldresearch My respondentscome from of professionala variety design disciplines, civic Times ; andtheFoHLwebsite andnewsletter. Additionally, I The Villager , a local paper, alocal focusedon the Village;West 3 CEU eTD Collection ( Trestle)” Horse Iron (the Louis St. and Embankment) Street discussed for Chicago (the Bloomingdale Trail), Philadelphia Reading(the Viaduct), Jersey City [NJ] (the Sixth 2 (20). (2002) cited both the PP and the Stone Arch Bridge (Minneapolis, MN) as examples of “adaptive reuse plans” the including stages, later in involved ChelseaWest were Rezoning (Interview who 4)also mentioned Those the referentof thePP. The Design Trust forPublic Space railways. old with done be could what of example clear involved early intheHL process (Interview 1) mentioned that the PP was often cited by the FoHL founders as a 1 to have inspired at least foursimilar projects to dateintheU.S. great potential tobecomemodel a similar for adaptive reuseprojects andisclaimed important conceptsthrough a forceful interpretationof marxist on theory.Work criticalsite foranalysis and intervention. This workhas developed anumber of social justice(Harvey 1993; Swyngedouw andMerrifield 1997) identify citiesasa 2003[1970]), scholars concerned with problems ofurbanpolitical economy and thesis. debates within and acrossthese literatures to establish theconceptualcontext my of such astheHL. Intheremainder ofthis chapter,Ioutline key arguments and common, theyhavenotbeendeployed together toanalyzean adaptive reuseproject ecology, gentrification, and landscape theory. thesefieldsWhile havemuch in presents an opportunity tobring together literatures of spatial theory, urban political with theexception ofthePromenade Plantée inParis. characteristics. First, the HL is nearly uniqueamong urbanopenspace projects, Literature Review and Conceptual Context nature oftheHL, Iopted tofocus on the HLas a‘fresh’case. impossible. Because of my previous work on the HRP and the more contemporary limitations renderedacomplete, thorough, and detailed analysis ofbothspaces http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/15/opinion/15Rybczynski.html According toa recent by Op-Ed RybczynskiWitold the in New York been had who Respondents interviews. my during times several up came (PP) Plantée Promenade The Building onfoundationalwork byFrench theorist Henri Lefebvre(1991[1974]; The ‘freshness’ which ledme tofocus primarily ontheHL has two 4 ). Times 1 , “High Line-type projects are being are projects Line-type “High , In this sense the HL has 2 Second, the HL CEU eTD Collection Broadly, urbanpolitical ecologists useamarxist approachto address thesocio- ecological processes that operate over a much larger, often global, space” (7). that, “...urban socio-ecological conditions are intimately related tothesocio- Swyngedouw (2006)situate urban politicalecology across scales whenthey explain separable categories foranalysis and political intervention. Heynen, Kaika, and ecological science. Such literature subverts the thatidea nature and society are ecology, unites concerns for urbansustainability with both spatialtheory and processes (Dove 2002; Dove 2006; Parlange 1998;Pickett, etal.1997). seeks integrative approaches tothe connection between human systems and natural the naturalsciences. This particularly is evident literature in onurban ecology, which some extent, mainstream sustainability also reflects interdisciplinary developments in emerged (Hawken, Lovins,andLovins 1999; McDonough andBraungart 2002). To notion, adominantnarrative ofsustainability asthe“second industrial revolution” (WorldCommission on Environment andDevelopment 1987:24). Invokingthis without compromising the ability offuture generations tomeet theirownneeds” maketo development sustainable, toensure that itmeets theneedsof present defined bythe UNBruntlandReport thein followingterms: “Humanity hastheability sustainabilitythe in context ofmarxist andcritiques theory ofcapitalism. 1999; Foster 2000; O’Connor 1994) hasbrought out a more explicit narrative of work and analyzing critiquing politicaleconomy andenvironmental injustice (Burkett scale analysis ofthe global dynamics ofcontemporary neoliberalcapitalism. Related production ofspace(Harvey 1996)hasgone developing far in sophisticated macro- ‘uneven development’ (Smith1984) and marxist theoriesof nature and the An additional development incritical geography,namely urbanpolitical Such workcounterposition standsin to dominant notionsofsustainability, 5 CEU eTD Collection Sharon Zukinmakes thecase that“cultural symbolsmaterial have consequencesas manifest ontheHL. and connectsthird wave gentrification todiscourses and practices of sustainability This reflectsthe specific conditions and impacts oftheHLdevelopment onChelsea displacement ofparticular configurations of nature andontherebranding ofChelsea. Smith 1996;Smith andWilliamsmy Ifocus 1986).In analysis, more onthe capital asaprimemover intheprocess(Hackworth andSmith 2001;Smith 1987; approaches togentrification are generally structural, focusing onthemovement of over andthrough the political driven by an environmental ethic,’” emphasizes political human inhabitantsresulting from the implementation ofanenvironmental agenda Quastel (2009) credits Sarah Dooling for defining as “‘the displacement ofvulnerable While, Jonas, and Gibbs 2004). Inquiries into in thecontemporary city(Brownlow 2006;Bunce 2004;Bunce 2009; Quastel 2009; between theanalysis ofgentrification andthe increase discoursesin ofsustainability Keil2004; Harvey 1989; Heynen 2006; Heynen, Perkins, andRoy2006). urban governance oftheentrepreneurial city(Bakker 2010;Gandy 2005;Desfor and unequaldistribution ofcoremetabolic functions, includinggreen space, thein new 2004). Recent work inurban political ecologytakes aim at neoliberalism and sewerage, andgreenspace -incities (Gandy 2002;Kaika 2005;Swyngedouw place astrong emphasis onthe provision of metabolic functions - like water, politics ofscale (Swyngedouw andHeynen 2003). Urbanpolitical ecologists also naturalproduction of urbanenvironments inthelanguage ofspatial theoryandthe Alternative theories of gentrification emphasize agentive andcultural factors. The latestturn inurban politicalecology has generated afruitful connection economy 6 approaches (697). Political economic ecogentrification, ecologies a concept which ofgentrification CEU eTD Collection naturalized driver of gentrification. IwillWhat addtothis literature a nuancedis and development effort,asapolitical process of spatialcontestation, andasa establishes much ofthe context for understanding the HL preservation and ecology andgentrification recent in literature regarding political ecology, and gentrification, including theintersection ofurban political discursive andmaterialdimensions, public space,and redevelopment. ecogentrification (2005:5). Asnoted, my emphasis is on themore recent literature of and preservation ofsocialrelations andmeanings thatreinforcecultural systems” should beviewed as“asubsetofculturalsustainability; it includes themaintenance parks tothe notionof sustainability when they argue that“social sustainability” Scheld are less concerned about gentrification per se, but connect analysis of public investigations ofsocio-environmental movements (Taylor 2009). Low, and Taplin, particular public spaces likeCentral Park(Rosenzweig andBlackmar 1992)and management.morework Such is critically thanhistoricaloriented analysesof increased security and theemphasis on financiallogics inpublic spatial to thereorganization ofpublic space, especially noting thetendency toward manifest intheproduction ofthe HLasan urbanspace. these interpretations, politicaleconomic, ecological, andcultural, astheyare recently toaquality ofexperiences” (2009:3). myIn analysis, Iborrow from each of qualifier which “hasmigrated from a qualityof people toaquality ofthings, andmost production” (1995:268). Zukinalso looks at theconcept of“authenticity” asa cities become dependent less ontraditional resources and technologies ofmaterial Thusfar, Ihave traced interrelated developmentsspatial in theory, urban Along with Mitchell (2003),Zukin’s work alsoconnectsgentrification explicitly , as it tendstointegrate, asit considerations ofsustainability, inboth 7 ecogentrification . This work CEU eTD Collection uses spaceasitsdefining characteristic (41-42). Ialsocritically evaluatethe that this ambitious claim functions as a strategy andtechnology ofcitizenshipwhich relationships” (30). InChapter3,“Down intheHole,” Iargue,following Isin(2002), working inthe urban field andconsiders them as continuousnetworks ofinter- (2006) sees landscape urbanism as awayto dealwith “all forces and agents field thatblends discourses of gentrification, urbandesign, and sustainability. Corner the HL.Despite its theoretical bent, landscape urbanism primarilyis aprofessional relatively recent innovationwhich forms anexplicit basisforthedesignprogram of of the‘intent’ of the HL. Landscape urbanism (Waldheim 2006; Corner 2006) is a strategic locusfor the preservation ofthe structure and asaprofessional articulation HL, Ilookto landscape urbanism and landscape theory, which functions asbotha address this important contribution the contextin ofpreserving anddeveloping the 2002) insocial practice than on large-scale dynamics of global capitalism. To tended to focus more on the meanings and strategies ofspatial contestation (Isin of space (Bachelard 1994 [1958]; Bourdieu 1989; Bourdieu 2003 [1979]) have significant articulation ofsymbolic power with respect to space.Some explorations economy and,incertain instances, on the materiality ofnature, there isalso a sustainability andpreservation. HL, inaway whichcritically reassessboth themeaning andthe practice of urban material, symbolic,material, political and dimensions of discussed literature, also presents it a setoftheoreticaltools forlookingatthe landscape urbanism. draws Thelatter notonlyonkeydevelopments inpreviously ecogentrification somewhat analysis speculative ofaparticular unfinished open spaceobject driving While While the literature in urban spatial theory hasfocused broadly on political . I will accomplish. Iwill this through use of both spatial theory and 8 ecogentrification projects, suchasthe CEU eTD Collection abandoned areas as “undocumented” but notes that“the area is not abandoned for they pay”(278). Edging toward anotion ofthe “definedas an idealterritory,without political belonging...only touristsareallowed in: ecology. incorporates and has thepotential toinfluence spatial theory,state theory, and Praise of Vagabonds,” whichin the author develops aconceptualvocabulary which Such questions connect toone ofClément’s (2011)fully translated essays, “In form the basisofmy of critique cultivation (264). Skinner’s provocative reading ofClément andhis related questions a preserveof‘untouched’ nature, andthe (2011) essay “In Praise ofVagabonds,” and secondary scholarly accounts, as cited. shores, railway embankments” (264) transitional zones, wastelands, swamps, moors, bogs, but also the edges of roads, the evolutionary process - theThird Landscape includes abandoned terrain, Skinner (2011) describes asa“spaceof indecision wherehumanity steps backfrom 3 redevelopment. First,Iuse theconcept of notion of sustainability which iscriticalof the spatial theory orgentrification literature. Irely onafewkeyconcepts to articulate a (2011) and recent interpretations ofhiswork (Gandy2009; Skinner 2011). close reading ofthework ofFrench landscape architectand theoristGilles Clément sustainability aspirations of landscape urbanism and theHL particularin through a The Manifest duTiers Paysage Specifying the less? (2011:270) andplant more weobserve should do by instance, for can poets, spaces? What eco-social of production tothe ofconsumables production the from shift then emphases dothe Or works? byproducing (andconsumption) production this resist to possible space?it Is of production the in responsibilities are our What Clément’s dynamic conceptualvocabulary has yetto diffuse widely into either first landscape , is still not fully translated into English from French. I rely here on Clément’s ecogentrification not writing not . ofpreservation, Clément arguesthat it is It exists in relation to 9 second landscape ? Like Clément’s “planetary gardener,” “planetary Clément’s ? Like third landscape andsustainability on the HL: ecogentrification third landscape ( first landscape , which thespaceof is tiers paysage , Clément describes manifestHL inthe , which is ), 3 which CEU eTD Collection critical; one develop two differently emphasized readings oftheHL: one dominant, theother design. Inessence, through the landscape urbanists, Clément, andLefebvre, I and professionalaspirations ofthelandscape urbanists responsible fortheHL Clément’s heterodox approach to landscape alongside more conventionalspatial analysis of Clément. Nor is ittofitClément into Lefebvre. Instead, Iposition further myin analysis. Lefebvrian trialectics form the basis for myinterpretation of Clément, asI detail the thirdterm but always asatranscending inclusion oftheother two” (70). with increasingpower thisgalaxy in oftriads, each with strategic its preferencefor Soja (1996)argued ofLefebvre’s triadic approach “Lefebvre’s trialectics are infused the Hole,” tobearontheHLthroughClément’s richformulations oflandscape. As operativemethod ofLefebvre’s spatial trialectic, outlined ingreater detail in“Down in spatial production, butwith anecosocial specificity. Iwill attempt tobring the like Lefebvre’s, theyform an interconnected understandingof adynamic processof to the‘artist,’ produces the city, worksofart, various installations” (287). profit, isturnedovertoagricultural,industrial, timber exploitation; the last, entrusted be divided into three plastic categories...the wild landscape; another, subject to the role of area butalsoso-called the ‘anthropogenic‘ territory” (280). Moresquarely identifying to “secondary environments...Second nature includes theglobal sum of abandoned to human (278). activity” Blurring the everyone; this term, theheightofanthropocentrism, whatever discards isnot linked My “Down the intent in Hole” in not is necessarilystraightforward a Lefebvrian I havetakencare heretolayoutsomeof Clément’s indetail ideas because, third landscape second landscape , theauthor describes “thelandscape object,” which “can , the other second 10 third and . Inshort, “Down the in Hole” a is third landscapes , Clément refers CEU eTD Collection draw out thecontours of amore radicalurban sustainability. strategic attemptmove to throughtherelationsmanifest “Walkin theLine” orderin to 11 CEU eTD Collection Republican Governor George Pataki. The HRP - billed asthe largest park (HRPA), passed in1998bytheNew York State(NYS) legislature andsigned by River Park(HRP). TheHRP wascreated through theHudson River ParkAct launched aspart oftheredevelopment sidewaterfront ofthe West asthe Hudson Chelsea Piers, which constructedis ona massive site inthe Hudson River, were transformation of boththeHLand waterfront.side West Projects suchasthe as an increasingly amenitized neighborhood -is deeply connected to the The threefold makeover ofChelsea -as a center ofart, as a center ofgay life, and York’s gayscene. The New York Times described thetransformation of Chelsea: which, throughoutthe 90s,was becoming home toboththeartmarket andNew structure issituated Chelsea,in aformer industrialmanufacturing neighborhood New York neighborhoods: the Village andWest Chelsea(Fig. 1).Themajority ofthe Neighborhood and public space context reconstruction of the Chelsea Piers as an enormous sports center (Dunlap 1994). (Dunlap sports center as an enormous Piers Chelsea ofthe reconstruction the Chelsea, following a recreational - moment the sounds at thoughit improbable soon be- to is isagayChelsea.There Chelsea.There anartistic is There The HLisa1.45-mile long elevated railway structure running through two Abandonment, preservation, and redevelopment and preservation, Abandonment, I keep a close watch on this heart of mine heart onthis watch I keepaclose I keep the ends out for the tie that binds the that for tie endsout I keepthe on Manhattan’s West Side West on Manhattan’s I keep my eyes wide open all the time openallthe eyes wide I keepmy Because you're mine, I walk the line I the walk mine, you're Because Walk the Line: Walk the / 2 12 -- Johnny Cash CEU eTD Collection population ofHudson River Striped Bass. on thebasis ofthe impact thedredge-and-fill operationwould have had on a community activists was achievedin1985aU.S. CircuitCourtdecision rendered at thehandsof abroad coalition ofenvironmental lawyers, advocates, and intended to repairpart ofthestructure (Gandy 2002:144). Thedefeat of Westway Street after asectioncollapsed 1973in under theweight ofatruckcarryingasphalt infrastructural decay of the SideWest Highway. The road was closed south of 46th put forward inthe midst ofdramatic decline ofthe industrial waterfront and the UDC/ESDC plancalled for dredgingand filling inthe Hudson River. The project was in theHudson River with high-rise development dominating thesurface. The which wouldhavesubmerged theelevated HighwayWest Side innewly created land Development Corporation/Empire StateDevelopment Corporation(UDC/ESDC), Westway was afederally funded highway development project, led by the Urban embracesit andtheactivist response tothat model. community andenvironmental activists, butalso because ofthedevelopmentmodel development context oftheHL, particularly because of the involvement ofboth leases andconcessions, located inthepark.HRP cannotbeignored inthe to generate revenue for its continued operations from profit-generating activities, like Department ofParks and Recreation (NYC DPR). Further, is requiredbythe HRPA development project inNewYorksince Central Park contextualizes the significance undermined of the defeat of substantially UDC Westwaythe of with entry respect“The to the comparablyability 1990s, the ofin Hunter’s sized Queens Pointin projects. Communitydevelopment Coalition to waterfront resistand the project andresidential its impact” (473). This also 5 the South Street Seaport is as an importantdesignation a in precedent water of for counter-Westway inclusion The not unprecedented space. inthe city. A andleading waterfrontHRPpreservation managed of arguments activist cited the historic designation of Hudson water at 550-acres (Interviewthe of water 3). comprises the this also and piers, together, Taken demolished River. or collapsed of fields pile and piers the bulkhead, designated 4 Thepresence of the UDC/ESDC significant.is As Hackworth andSmith (2001) point out in another case of historically the waterfront, the of section inboard the includes which park the for a boundary established HRPA The HRP was theoutcomemajor ofa debateoverthe Westway proposal. 13 4 - is not a part of the NYC 5 CEU eTD Collection development authority-ledprocess, have scaled backtheir active opposition asthe had been more explicitly focused on aligning community organizations against the Trust (HRPT) -continues to build inthe Hudson River (Interview 16).Others, who the basis thattheauthority which controls thedevelopment -theHudsonRiver Park Some, thefounder like ofthe CleanAir Campaign, continue to oppose the HRP, on deep fissure between environmentalists over the ‘compromise solution’ oftheHRP. (145). consumerism,materialism, militarism, andthe perceived misuse ofpublic money” encompass ageneralizedindictment oftheexpansion ofcar ownership, of aspecific ecological impact, showcased theability of environmental arguments “to Expressway” (147).Inmany senses,the battle over Westway, decided onthe basis Bronx Expressway, theCrossBrooklynExpressway, andthe Lower Manhattan major highways schemes, sought to address theearlier concerns overthe Cross process. “Itisironic,”notes Gandy,“that mostWestway,of the the bitterly fought billionwere split between mass transitand an alternative transportationand park monetary outcomeof ofthedefeat wasWestway thatthefunds-approximately$1.7 every tier ofgovernment from City Halltothe White House” (Gandy 2002:144). The lawyers, successfully derailed thestate-led process ofredevelopment, supported “by preservation activism rooted intheprinciples of JaneJacobs. development hasbeen a target for neighborhood-focused community andhistoric targets for ariver-focused environmental advocacy. And second,theHRP delving intothedevelopment history of theHL. First,both Westway andHRP were Despite cohesion during the process, the defeat of Westway witnessed a During professionalizedWestway, advocates, especially environmental Two aspectsofthe Westway andHRP debates areworth discussing before 14 CEU eTD Collection era activists. Through the combined activities of three groups which Zukin (2009) zoningand piers, changes, and low-scale development, for allclassic tools Jacobs- including landmarkingof inlandneighborhoods, landmarkingof the historic bulkhead survival” (Zukin 2009:13). right, against thedecisions ofthe state, to determine theconditions ofits own the development ofthewaterfront. Jacobswas achampion of“aneighborhood’s activist JaneJacobs, became thecenterofcommunity-based activism surrounding constructed (Fig1.1). Village,The homeWest tolegendary urbanistcommunity and adjacent toChristopher Street neighborhoods. The parkspans several neighborhoods, with Segment Four, large-scale development attheedge of the island andthe edgeoftheir ‘environment’ toopposewhat theytended to frame asthepotential forunchecked about the scope and scale ofdevelopment drivenbythepark. environmental opposition (Interview itrepresents11). Instead, continued anxiety the basis ofa“so-called unaccountable [public] authority” isnotcommensurate with organizations was bothcriticaland divisive. Inherview, community opposition on acting president of the HRPT affirmed that early support of environmental voicecritical thephasedconstructionin ofthe andcurrent A longtime HRP. official process (Interview 3). development park has‘come duetothe online’ lackof materialized impacts high -like rise symbolic beginning of the gayrights movement theUnited in States. 6 Christopher Street is the site of The Stonewall Inn, the flashpoint of the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion, which is the To this end,severalgroups formed toadvocateforavariety ofgoals, Community andhistoric preservation activists invoked a broader definition of Nevertheless, interests of environmental groups have continued to be a in the park- which had been a galvanizing prediction earlier in the 6 in the in West Village,being thefirstsection 15 CEU eTD Collection its most potentclaims from the notion ofauthenticity and thewillto shape that historic preservationists, thestrugglefor power the in Westway-HRP debate derived preserving “thecontextwithin tookplace” which it (Interview 3). For community and have an outward and visible signof what [questioning authority] meant” by difference wasrooted historicin preservation. Thistactic materialized adesire “to and somewhat overturned” (Interview 3). leading opponent ofthedevelopment oftheHRP putit,“authority was questioned embrace thehistorical specificity of theVillage as an “American place”where, asa debates. For community andhistoric preservationists, to be a‘Villager’ was to articulated preservation aims spatial into strategies forcontemporary development “equal opportunity” (300-301). case, Inthis the‘difference’ refracts historically the righttodifference asan integralpart ofthefoundation ofcitizenship” linked to that “groupsorganizedaround specific identities...[based on] priordifferences...affirm community andhistoric preservationthrough HolstonandAppadurai(2003) we see changed the tactics ofcommunity andhistoric preservation (Interview 13). Ifwe read loss ofacleartarget, whether Robert Moses or Westway, hasfundamentally differences. Longtime activists andJacobs Village acolytes are well awarethe that community-led activism rooted inanargument abouthistorical andcommunity City (11-12). part,in a milestone victory in thehistory of public space development inNew York preservationists, and gentrifiers, thereplacement bytheHRPbecame, ofWestway identifies as frequently intersecting, namely historic preservationists, community For theJacobs generation, thekey to acknowledging andfightingfor this But, in another sense, the rise of HRP marked the end of a particular style of 16 CEU eTD Collection be called‘street level’, highlighting therole oftheHLinreshapingdevelopment elevated theHL asaboth a political andapopular material transformation oftheelevated structure andthe entrepreneurial politics that development ontwo One might levels. the becalled ‘highlevel’, highlighting the Preserving the High Line aspirations” (Gandy 2002:151). from the car-oriented Fordist eraof mass consumption andnew middle-class the public nature of nineteenth-century urbanism and theprivatized nature emerging development cause,voicing divergent responses to the “emerging tension between remainder ofthis chapter is that the HL has served both apreservation and a gentrification is farfrom atypical (Bunce 2009; Zukin 1995), my argument the in the useofparks developments toanchor real estate development andneighborhood blurringof pro-community, pro-development,and pro-environment positions. While estate interests implicated the preservationin andreuse oftheHLpoints to the New in York. The differing combination ofstate authority, activist tactics, andreal development with to respect both community activism and environmental advocacy Westway-HRP process puts into sharper relief the evolution of real estate the politicalacuity ofthepro-developmentand pro-construction interests. The shaped the neighborhoods implicated inthe HL redevelopment, alsoheightened it environmental advocates andcommunity andhistoric preservation groups notonly urban landscape. perceived authenticity thoughthe limitationmaterial of transformation of anhistoric My aim for the rest of this chapter is to trace the particulars of the HL The dualcontestation ofthe redevelopment ofthewaterfront by 17 cause célèbre . The other might CEU eTD Collection detail inthenext chapter.Much of theboosterism focuses ontheefforts of FoHL, promoted byanewgeneration ofcivic activists. Iwillexplore this claim in more often championed as a‘2.0’ version ofpublic space development intheCity, the principal designer ofthe HL(Corner 2006). the relation ofthis materiality toabroad program of landscapeurbanism by outlined reference to both the ecological materiality of the park, embedded in its design, and analysis in thenext chapter,where Iunpack themeaning of‘sustainability’ with HL asurbanopenspace. This presentmoment ofdeparture isapoint formy second period, discussed the followingin chapter, relates tothepresentstatus ofthe promotingpreservation, butforegrounding public access and economicgrowth. The anti-demolition and opposed to development, theother is a successfulreuse effort of two debates:onewas anunsuccessful preservation attempt primarily aimed at the HL.Thefirst historicalperiod,history of discussed inthischapter, iscomprised stimulating realestate development andgentrification inChelsea. suit boththeir stated interest openingin the HL tothepublicand their interest in mobilized resources and successfully shaped acommunity development debateto period ofpreservation andreuse debates, emphasizing how HL preservationists two separately, levels buttonarratetherelational development ofbothacross the under thedirection ofCommunity Board4(CB4). also refers tothe roleofthe HL reshapingin acommunity-led development plan thedebates surroundingin neighborhoods, particularly Chelsea.West Thisaspect (See brief details of CBs at ( binding, meaning that itserves anadvisory role to thelaw making and enforcing agencies city in government. Presidents; at leasthalf are nominated by City Council representatives. The Community Board system non- is Formed in 1963, these bodies are “autonomous city agencies” whose Board Membersare appointed byBorough 7 There are 59 Community Boards in the five boroughs of New York City, one for each administrative district. As New York’s most recent urban openspace development project, the HL is These two development layers also connect two discrete periods of the http://www.nyc.gov/html/cau/html/cb/main.shtml 18 7 My goal here is not to treat the ) CEU eTD Collection the HL.Or,put it thisway, alllandunderthe HLisowned byanabuttingproperty easement flowing throughthesky.So, all abuttingproperty owners own land under FoHL BoardChairman “The described it, HL itself It’saboxed owns nodirt. by apublic easement, thoughthe structure itself would beprivately owned.As the sometimes penetratedbythestructure itself (Fig.2.2). were nowdelivered directly tofactories andwarehouses connected toand to trains, thetransfer ofmaterial goods was lifted offthe street; incomingmaterials nexus ofindustrial production in New York. In 1934,when the structure first opened pedestrians. At this time, theareaof the High Lineand sidewaterfrontWest was a where rail traffic crossing at ground level represented asignificant threat to overwhelming number ofrailroad accidents occurring onthe side ofManhattan,West York Central Railroad between 1929 to1934 (Fig. 2; Fig. 2.1) asa response to an Fighting demolition, fighting development (Round One) structure itselfand theearlier effort toprevent demolition.its their accomplishment inpreserving theHL for reuse, I will first consider the life ofthe to Davidand Hammond this later in section, but, in order tounderstand the scaleof seared by the pro/anti development context ofthe side” (InterviewWest 8).I return describes David andHammond ascoming “from a generation ofactivism that wasn’t residents of Chelsea. The current Chairman oftheFoHLBoard ofDirectors formed in1999byJoshuaDavidandRobert Hammond, knowledge of the well-connected foundersof FoHL. space ofpost-industrial reclamation has its roots in thecarefulnetworking, management, and politicalinside transformation along the corridor that the HL occupies. This tendency toward ofinsulation theHL as avirtuous to theHL remains bothdiscursively and politically separated fromconcerns overgentrification and neighborhood speed andvision with which they turned the HL publiclyinto accessible open space. Publicly voiced opposition From theJane Jacobs Medal to numerous honors and accolades,David and Hammond are celebrated for the 8 The considerable mythos surrounding David and Hammond is a source for triumphalist narratives of the HL. the of narratives triumphalist for a source is Hammond and David surrounding mythos considerable The The peculiar architectural andzoningconditions of theHLwere established The New York Viaduct, as wasit originally called, was constructed by theNew 19 8 twowell-connected CEU eTD Collection spice warehouse adjacent tothe HL,was outside ofthe VillageHistoricWest District, ameliorated theirconcerns about the fact that their apartment, located a convertedin southernmost portion oftheoriginal structure explained that this condition as animpediment todevelopment. Onecoupleresiding in abuilding adjacent tothe state (Interview 3;Interview 5),early HL preservationists tended to see thestructure derelictionof the piers as an intentional pretext todevelopment onthepartof the traffic stoppedflowingon thestructure. waterfrontWhere activists perceived the level, would remainlargely inaccessiblefor a periodof nearly two decadesafter rail which, byvirtue ofitsencasement inafloating zoneofprotection abovethestreet more difficult toaccess. controlled access points linked toprivately owned buildings, rendering considerably it ranging from a gaycruising space to aspace of artistic production, theHL had relatively accessible, ifisolated, abandoned landscape wasmarked byinformal uses working waterfront, thefallowingof HL followed. Butwhere thewaterfront, a which catalyzed construction.its Consequently, as the side fellWest outofuseasa flourishing port district side onthe piers did tothepublic safetyconcerns West as it infrastructure network obsolete. Theexistence oftheHL owedas much tothe the gradual rise ofcontainerization, were slowly rendering the sideWest 2005a:30). to apoint approximately 20feetabovethe existing track surface” (NYCDCP associated easementwhich, “extends generally from the underside ofthestructure City Planning (NYC DCP) explains that the HighLine itself is encased thein owner” (Interview 8). Granting further specificity, theNew York City Department of This condition made theabandonedHigh Line a By the 1960s,shifts in theorganization ofproductive networks, most notably 20 de facto openspace; a space CEU eTD Collection three traincarscarrying a loadoffrozenturkeys, (Interview 14; Interview 15). because theyconsidered thepublic easement extraordinarily difficult toremove Streets atthevery edgeofthe island. the Far Village,West a strip offormer industrial landbetween Washington and West debate. The firstHL preservation battle became inwhat localized is referred toas Development Corporation,which targeted the structure fordemolition. transportation corridor (HermanTheir 2009). interests were countered by Rockrose also advocatingpotential reuse including, significantly, potential its reuse as a quaint and forward-thinking” Jacobs-era strategies primarily opposing demolition, but neighborhoods were coping with thepresence ofthe HL through “simultaneously 10 space (Interview 14). Obletz, alongtime High Line and rail transportation enthusiast, andis now enshrined in the FoHL timeline of the 9 have already noted. Such a disposition tracks with thetendency expressed thein preservation efforts perhapsmoreis accuratelydescribed asanti-demolition, I as Two importantcanbegleaned points from the tendencythis quote.First, ofearly HL of GVCTF explained: ability to develop several parcels of whichland theyowned. Astheformer President head-to-head debateoverparticular a portion of thestructure that limitedRockrose’s (GVCTF), andRockrose Development Corporationengaged - inwhatwaslargely a Responsible Development (WVRD), theGreenwich Village Community TaskForce A fact which one preservation activist labels “almost certainly apocryphal” but which was promulgated byPeter Residents oftheFar VillageWest had also been involved actively in the HRP developmentdebates. By 1980,when thestructurewas saidtohave received itsfinalrail trafficof These interestsfueled thefirst oftwo keybattlesintheHLpreservation the demolition (Interview 6). (Interview demolition the stop to trying just in involved werewebut completely the vision, of part was certainly it time, some at park accessible apublicly into beturned could it that hope had the -we time the at resources the have didn’t before...we years of anumber going...quite got Line High the of Friends the before was long Rockrose] with battle [The 10 The primary The players Villagers - West for 21 9 residentsof adjacent CEU eTD Collection implicating aconsiderably widerarrayofcommunity organizations, political interests, Promoting reusethrough public access and development (Round Two) structure, todemolish completely.it mightableto be convince theCity andConrail/CSX, property owners who opposedthe continued presence ofthe‘derelict’ structure demolitioneffort. Further, this action served as astrong indicationthat many ofthe permission. This shows theprimary slow-growth, low-growth ethosofthe anti- and previously underneath thestructure, forwhich Rockroseeventually obtained Gansevoort Street. This was acritical prerequisite to redeveloping lots adjacent to by tearing downafive blockportion ofthe structure between Bank Street and Commission, the federal entity which oversees railroad activity, to ‘bifurcate’ the HL Rockrose succeeded inobtaining permissionfrom the Interstate Commerce reuse efforts,which Iwill addressshortly. becomes significant particularly inthesecond, successful roundofpreservation and through the circulation of environment andlandscape discourses (Interview 6).This groups counterposed private development andpreservationof the structure, part,in framingthe HL as “a little bitof parkland in the middle ofNew York,” anti-demolition single private developer, andnotastate-led developmentSecond, proposal. by embody theconcernsand anxieties of local residents. In this case, thetarget was a Westway-HRP debate to focus on a clear target whose development aspirations http://www.thevillager.com/villager_134/railroadandcityhookup.html Surface Transportation Board in 2005 (“Railroad and City hook upHigh Line transfer deal,” CSX/Conrail to reflect the continuity of ownership prior to the Certificate of Interim Trail Use issued by11 the Conrail merged with CSX in 1998, making CSX the owner of the High Line. I will refer to the companies as This possibility setthe stageforthe second round ofHLdebates, this time Despite the sustainedefforts of January andGVCTF,WVRD in 1991, 22 ). 11 theprivate owner ofthe CEU eTD Collection to demolish theHL. Inthe last days of hisAdministration in 2001, Giulianisigned a the factthat the GiulianiAdministration hadannounced its support for and intention government oftheCity ofNew York on their side” (Interview 10). He is referring to money, theyhadexperience, andfor abrief period oftime theyhad...the entire described theCPOas,“...veryveryformidable. Theyhadresources,they attorney and thecurrent Vice Chairofthe BoardofStandards andAppeals (BSA), Rudy Giuliani (1994- 2001). Aformer FoHLBoard Member, who both is aland use New York undertheMayoraladministrations ofDavid Dinkins (1990- 1993) and entrenched private realestate interests owning landabuttingthe HL,andtheCity of Chelsea Property Owners (CPO), structurethe to gentrification of Chelsea.West imagination ofthe HLandmaterial strategies forlinking thepreservation ofthe interest. The group relied onbothpowerful symbolic tactics aimed atcreatingan coordinate thenavigationof several levels of bothstate authoritycommunity and Hammond, citizen, aprivate assembled thenon-profit corporation to FoHL Robert Hammond describedhis reactionto being labeleda preservationist: and propertyowners. Inapresentationatthe Art Center Minneapolis, Walker in MN, City PlanningCity under thedirection of Amanda Burden as a source of significantdistricts, pro-development intervention. development special of establishment the such as the one associated with the HLand ‘reform’, Chelsea West Rezoning, and code generallyin using the Department of zoning through transformations neighborhood 6). This may reflect thatBloomberg administration has had great success inbringing aboutwholesale generally considered tohave been substantially restrainedmore during the Bloomberg administration (Interview BSA was often referred asto being overzealous in granting ‘relief’ during the Giuliani administration, but was only issue decisions based on specific actions broughtby particular property owners. During my interviews, the (http://www.nyc.gov/html/bsa/html/mission/mission.shtml). The BSA consists offive appointeesmayoral andcan Board of Standards and Appeals was established asan independentboard togrant “relief” from thezoning code” 13 significant holdings along the HL in addition to a large array ofproperties Newin York and New Jersey. 12 BSA “An is integral partofthe City's systemfor regulation of use, land developmentand construction, the CPO was primarily financed and directed by Jerry Gottesman, owner of Edison Properties, which had The primary pro-demolition voices were represented by a group called and demolished being from stop it wewantedto dowas weto wanted Andwhat decay. orstopping demolition stopping Maybe stopping. about just is preservation me, to Because, term. that like really even don’t and I apreservationist me called Someone create a new use (“New York’s High Line” 2010). Line” anew High useYork’s create (“New 12 formed bysome ofthemost powerful and 23 13 CEU eTD Collection Hammond Trustfor (Design Public Space2002). Itwas releasedin conjunction with of Central Park,created significant political andsymbolic capital forDavid and postscript byElizabeth BarlowRogers,widely who credited with therejuvenation is “Reclaimingthe High Line,”framed byaforwardwritten byMayor Bloomberg anda developed planfor reuse were coordinated and released publicly. document, The preservationand reuse (Friends of the High Line 2004). created time andsignaled theturn ofkey NYC government alliestoward though the decision was overturned by the Court ofAppeals in2004, the lawsuit both Council 2001). (STB),” FoHL jointly filed alawsuit against the Giulianiadministration (New York City Certificate of Interim Use Trail (CITU) from the U.S. Surface TransportationBoard Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)“to takeallnecessary steps toobtain a resolution by the City Council which called on the Governor, the Mayor, and the to make thecasethat HLwas worthy preservation cause. professional design, andamajor reusestudy orderin bothtohalt thedemolition and and 2001,the group combined legalaction, astute media representation, FoHL began to achieve its first major successes in the reuse effort. Between 1999 the Highline,” 2001:2). It wasn’t until the latter two yearsof this lengthy interval that Coordination in1992 during theadministration ofMayor DavidDinkins (“Future of demolition order, which had been initially issued through the Officeof Environmental powerful real estate developers like Philip Aarons, the head of Millennium Development Partners (Interview 10). (Interview Partners Development Millennium of head the Aarons, Philip like developers estate real powerful 2002, in Council City the of speaker became who and Robert Hammond; theywere Miller, roommates at Princeton. The are a oflitany Gifford important relationships, including between relationship long-term the on dependent 16 15 to commit New York City to demolition are bypassing ULURP...” (Design Trust forPublic Space 2001:55). neighborhood residents and business owners.” They filed on the basis that “the City officials who are preparing 14 The major turn in political support between the Giuliani and Bloomberg administrations, is often cited as deeply as cited often is administrations, Bloomberg and Giuliani the between support political in turn major The Despite the name, this is the lowest level court in the New York State. The co-filers of the lawsuit were: The New York City Council, the Manhattan Borough President, and “six Once political support for preservation had been secured, the results ofa The first stepwas todelay the demolition of theHL. In 2001, following a 14 Initially the NYS Supreme Court 24 15 ruledfavorin of FoHL, and, 16 CEU eTD Collection their mutualinterest the HL in itself are often connectedtothe CB4effort. rezoningof Chelsea. TheoriginWest of David and Hammond’s relationshipand Plan, also known astheChelseaPlan (adopted inMay 1996)andthefollowing CITU from the STB, the‘street level’ effortcannot beseparated from the CB4 197-a level’ effort topreserve the HLfocused on creating political alliancesandobtaining a public which largely lacked aconcrete experience ofthe space. the ‘highWhile the HL. They also help to account for the ability of FoHL to assemblea pro-HL community allianceswhich were necessaryforsuccessfulpreservation andreuseof (Fig. 3;Fig. 3.1). project avisualand imaginative power atleastasimportant asanyofficial affiliation document theabandonedHL.Sternfeld’s images, takenovertheperiod ofoneyear, Hammond tocontact JoelSternfeld, a renowned landscape photographer, to couldn’t gettothis site,youcouldn’t see it” (Interview 8).Thischallenge prompted get there, you couldn’t walk Unlikeit. the Brooklyn piers, unlike the side,West you put it, “They were trying tosave a space that nobody had experienced; you couldn’t conceptual hurdle remained because,asthe current Chairman oftheFoHLBoard significant factor in the shift of attitudes about the feasibility ofreuse. But, a major the HLreuse. the creation ofafellowship atDesign Trust for PublicSpace specifically focusedon Chelsea Planrepresented tenyearsof work responseto rezoning “in and vision for reuse. for vision and FoHL, while active inthe Community Board process, did not see alone it as being capable of sustaining their input during the second wave effort (Interview 14; Interview 15). Taken two effort, together,wave first preservationists expressed surprise their that FoHL thisnever contactedsuggests themor their group for that Hammond This parallel civicprocess has not continued since the opening of the HL to thepublic in2009. And, despite the York’s High Line”2010). FoHL also organized aseries of “Community Input” forums throughout the reuse effort. advocates. Hammond himself attendedby his - own reporting -around 100 Community Board meetings (“New 17 In this In sense,David and Hammond are not so different from the previous generation of anti-demolition Among others,thesetactics helped to shape thenascent political and The involvementan establishedcivic of advocacy organization isone 25 17 The CEU eTD Collection members ofCB4: local newspaper described ameeting of between AmandaBurden oftheCPC and and support income diversity intheneighborhood (Interview 4,confirmed). Asone affordable housing, mixing low moderateand income an effort units in topreserve Plan process and the effort. TheWCR original 197-a plancalled for30% permanent HL. Iwill dealwitheach turn. in construction, andthetransfer of‘air rights’ withinaspecial district anchored bythe forward inthe affordableWCR: housing, height and bulk restrictions onnew both anEIS and approvalby the City Council. Three major were issues brought of theWest Chelsea Rezoning (WCR). The final approvalof the rezoning required effort related toboththeCB4 andCity PlanningCommission’s (CPC) considerations primarily concerned with zoning force-of-lawinto determinations.rezoning more binding the 197-a planwas widely considered by the community tobeaprerequisite toa neighborhood character” (TheMunicipalArts Society 1998:6).As inmany cases, development pressuresthat threatened significant displacement and loss of community-based planning processes. This reveals that the DCP and Mayoral agenda will continue to have the power totake precedence over that amanner in reviewed are plans guaranteesconsideration competing equal of each” ( the that ensure to seeks DCP proposal, rezoning conflicting stakeholders to findcommon ground regarding their different visions. Incases where there isa197-a plan and a in conflictwith community plans in various stages ofdevelopment. Whereverpossible, DCP encourages local institutional redevelopment ofunder-utilized areas. In cases where rezoningisrequired, these proposals maybe “Recently the city's growing population and strong real estate markethave created interest inprivate or obtusely to the merely advisory role of 197-a plans in overall land use transformations in 1991, renderedplans 197-a powerless” (TheMunicipalArts Society 1998:7).in Further,the NYC DCP the city, points stating that, revised Charter, claimed that the organizationscitywide committed to ensuring greater community controlover landuse and zoning under the 18 The Municipal Arts Society of New York points out that, “The Community Planning Coalition, a group of W. 17th St. treated the hearing as a rally for low- and moderate-income housing. and moderate-income low- for asarally hearing the treated 17th St. W. on Center Learning Henry the O. at audience the However, Burden. said world,” the in parks unique most the one of Line, High the of preservation is plan the to “Central First, affordablehousing had been a significant issuethroughout the Chelsea The final, and most complex, stagesofthesecond HLpreservation and reuse 18 197-crezoning process, which ostensibly interprets 197-a plans ‘Rules Processing for the of Plans Pursuant toCharter Section 197-a,’ http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/community_planning/197a.shtml 26 adopted ). CEU eTD Collection Chelsea’s art galleries, wouldbe left unchanged, while theareas along the10th and sectionsblock oftheSpecial Chelsea West District (Fig. 4),homemost to of and development interests succeeded in crafting amechanism which themid-by mechanism for thetransfer ofair rights. Through acombination oftactics, the FoHL namely height andbulk restrictions on buildings and the creation of a special technically enabled through the second and third issues oftherezoningdebate, combatingcommunity opposition topolicy-led gentrification. gentrification, but also theHL becomes asophisticated ‘regeneration vehicle’ for other words, notonly doestheaffordablehousing issue itself become implicatedin such asurbanregeneration, residential mixing, andurbansustainability” (655). In for gentrification practices, through theuseof seemingly progressive policy concepts points to“the ways which in urban revitalisation policies serve as discursive guises This isaclear exampleof bothstate-ledand policy-led gentrification. Bunce (2009) the in process, wasWCR coachedbytheir Board: transformationof those negotiations into how best todrive development. seen asanadd-on toexisting negotiations, rather thanakeyfactor inthe affordable housing were concerns ofthe Jacobs-era. Thevery implication thatthe HLandthe percentage of The divide in priorities signals an important reorientation oftraditionalcommunity The use of theHLto guidethe rezoningand redevelopment ofChelsea was 10). (Interview line afine walking was It about. wewere concerned goods that betweentwosocial abattle for potential wasthe But that sortof ofany number reasons. for Greenpoint-Williamsburg in get youwould then Manhattan in housing affordable of units of percentage same exact or the same mechanism exact the get not may [they] that [CB4] at folks the to explain awayto tofind and try to them in mechanisms housing had affordable [which] City the in place had taken that rezonings other some at look to had So we David andHammond’s handling oftheissue through FoHL, which was active 2004:n.p.). (Amateau to Burden presentedafan even someone — onthem written Housing” “Affordable with paperfans carried residents Many separate issues suggests thatthe HLpreservation was 27 CEU eTD Collection As theformer Co-ChairCB4‘s Land Use& Landmarks Committee, noted: the extent towhich height, bulk, andmarket-rate residential useswould bepermitted. that its complexity -which wasadirect result ofthe inclusion ofthe HL -obscured than had been advocated byCB4. Among themost notableaspects ofthe EIS was housing element, thoughatalower percentage (27%)andadifferent incomemix the finalEIS endorsed allthreeelements including ofthe WCR, the affordable “encourage andsupport the growth ofarts-related uses” (Ch.1,Pg. 3). Tothisend, promote increasedresidential construction in a formermanufacturing district; andto “the development Chelsea of asadynamicWest mixed useneighborhood;” to the “purpose and need” ofthe rezoning, additionin topreserving theHL, was todrive space development. Asthespelledoutinlegally-required EIS (NYC DCP 2005b) medium-scale development. the first below 14thStreet andthe first in aneighborhood withtraditionally low to He continued: 4.1). bulk according tozoning designation, from the HighLine Transfer Corridor(Fig. uses. This approach allowed forthe transfer for airrights, which specify height and 11th Avenues would berezoned topermit forgreater heightandbulk andresidential located in the Midtown high-rise business core of Manhattan, as comparable (Interview 10). 20 permit and a public review (Interview 10, confirmed). the block of the relevant property,provided acommon chain ownership.of This process requires a special amended 2001. in This allows for the transferair of rights form landmarked properties across the streetor down acquisition and construction permitting. The second, more liberal, wasmechanism established 1976 and in other words, it requires nospecial permission and handled is through normal channels ofprivate property combination oftwo adjacent lotsand the resulting combination of their “asof right” heightand bulk restrictions. In 19 The Vice Chairman of the BSA cited the Grand Central Subdistrict and the Broadway Theater District, both Air rights are typically transferred in one of two ways. The first, called a Zoning Lot Merger, allows for the 19 This mechanism, This not unprecedentedwhile theCity’s zoning in history, the HL.” Imean, HL.” the for price ahigh paying “Chelsea is say, andIstill said and Iwas not. In fact...I time, at the HL] the [of he wasfriend a great time, that at who theco-chair was Compton, negotiations...Lee setof elaborate was avery concessions...it get to managed We These exceptions were justified primarily bymakingreference to theHL open literally high because of the too [tall] buildings. [tall] the too becauseof high 28 20 was CEU eTD Collection portion oftheHL, from 30th to34thStreets is still ownedby CSX/Conrail owing to 30th Street, which was putunderthejurisdiction oftheNYC DPR. Theremaining current ownership andmanagement oftheHL. convergence ofthe WCR and thesecond HL preservationeffort, butalsothe in evidence forthetriumphideology thiscase reflected ofsuchan in is notonlyinthe controls, andthetriumph ofaneoliberal ‘growth first’ideology” (551). Thebest regulation, thecutting loose of localities from centralized fiscalresources and urban politics” which “inextricablyis linked to therolling backofnationalstate (2004) discuss “entrepreneurial andcompetitive urban governance” as“the new significant environmental concerns.Adrian Andrew While, Jonas, andDavid Gibbs thereby openingthe process more to widely contestationon thebasis ofnationally Westway-HRP era, when federally controlled funding andapproval was instrumental, authority tothemunicipal planningprocess marks acleardeparture from the allowing transition into apublic openspace. was ‘rail-banked’ officially underthewell-established Rails-to-Trails program, heels oftheadoption when ofthe WCR, the STB issued aCITUandthestructure ownership of thestructure. the Cityand FoHLwere stillawaiting final approval from the STB to transfer Significantly, atthetime was thatthe bytheCityWCR adopted Council inmid-2005, becomes particularly significant in the third round of preservation efforts. preservation of round third the in significant particularly becomes no havelonger aconnection tothe national railsystemand wouldn’t qualify for rails-to-trails” (Interview 10). This Member and NYC zoning expert points out that “If the MTA took action and the HL would be severed -we 21 would However, in a very interesting preservation twist, the current Vice Chairman of the BSA, former FoHL Board Following theCITU, the HL’s private owner donated the structure south of The final step the successfulin preservation oftheHLwas achievedonthe 4). (Interview southern Chelsea on residential impact impression, sohave much will [and] deal the breaking it’s expandbut to it, there, is there deal]...what’s [atthe closely that looked wehadn’t just now that but was we’re seeing there adeal, had thought We scale. a reasonable to get as on trying the means so much focused weren’t We 29 21 Thedeference ofthe Federal CEU eTD Collection present management andsustainability agenda oftheHL. the next chapter,connected toboththeHLas acaseof third phase of HL preservation battles. Thisthird roundof preservation is, I argue in demolition (Oxfeldand Idov 2007). Thepublic review process setsthe stage fora allow the “public to decide with full knowledge ofthe cost” of either preservation or section oftheHL,but Hudson YardsDevelopment Corporation hasvowed to twicethe sizeof downtown Seattle(“New York’s High Line” 2010). Corporation 2011). Interms ofsquarefeet, the proposed development isroughly an expansion oftheJavitsConvention Center(Fig. 5;HudsonYardsDevelopment sq. feetofnew space,retail 2million sq.feet of new and eventspace,hotel including estimated 24million sq. feet of new office space, 13,500 new housing units, 1million modifications ofzoning were approved for the Hudson Yards, clearing the way for an structure. Inearly 2005,tenUniform UseReview Land Procedure (ULURP) include theMTA, which owns theHudson RailYardsatthenorth end ofthe There are significant public property owners with landabuttingthe HL. These the continued rezoning andredevelopment effortssurrounding theHudson Yards. It isasyetunclearhow the HudsonYardsproject impactwill thenorthernmost 30 ecogentrification andtothe CEU eTD Collection the HL’sstatus as adriverof landscape designer (Corner 2006). Discussing thedesign program not onlyaffirms to undergirding ideologies oflandscape urbanism put forwardHL’s bytheprincipal unfinished park. This analysis connects the historicalpreservation aspects of theHL From analysis, Imovethis toward thesymbolicdimensions of advocating forthe close analysis of themanagement andsustainability language surroundingthe HL. “third wave” gentrification literature (Bunce 2009;Smithand Hackworth 2001) and a (Quastel 2009).This argument issupported and specified throughreferences to indecision where Idevelopananalysis oftheHLasan urbannature space andasa management ofthepark.The present andfuture HLforms thebasisofthis chapter, present tense questions rooted thein ecological design andsustainable preservation battlefocused onthethird segmentof theHL.Ialsobegantoopen advocacy. Inthe final section of“Walk the Line,” I pointed to the potential for a third preservation andcommunity activism through two generations of HL-focused surroundingthe HRP. Ithentraced the changingtactics andmeanings of through abrief analysis ofthecommunity andenvironmental activism and advocacy First, Imake theargument thattheHLis adistinct caseof In “Walk theLine,”I articulated acontext forthepreservation oftheHL (Skinner 2011). Ecogentrification, landscape, and indecision and landscape, Ecogentrification, on the unfinished High Line High unfinished on the When you walk through the garden the through youwalk When Walk the straight and narrow track and narrow straight the Walk You gotta watch yourback watch You gotta Down in the Hole: the in Down ecogentrification Well Ibegyourpardon Well / 3 31 , it also opensthe door foramore -- Tom Tom Waits -- ecogentrification space of CEU eTD Collection requirement becauseofthepressure exerted iswhat byCB4. This Jonas, While, municipality. Further, thefinal EIS for the WCR included a 27% affordable housing budget is provided byFoHL(2011a), easing budgetary pressures onthe private monies. management oftheNYC DPR andwas constructed with acombination of public and opened it tothepublicasapark. Ontheother hand,theHLwas placedunderthe On theone hand, FoHL tooka privately owned andinaccessible structure and stewardship and openaccess” serveasthe defining language forapublic park(32). Park, creating an‘idealtype’ park whichin “thetwo basic principles: public indexes the transformation ofexisting public space against the ‘classic’ of Central further thanshedoesinhercriticalcase study ofBryantPark,inwhich sheprimarily and symbolic projects developed bysocial representations” (46). ButIwanttogo “Realcities arebothmaterialconstructions, withhuman strengthsandweaknesses, preservationists, and gentrifiers (Zukin 2009:11-12). I agree with Zukin (1995), that expressing the anxieties and aspirations of historic preservationists, community new parks from areasformer became industrial political asignificant spacefor development projects, namely HRP HL. Inbothand the cases, the development of VillageWest andChelsea is inseparable from parkrelated andopen space Ecogentrification sustainability. speculative andcritical takeonthe‘unfinished park’and the politics ofurban the Federal Government; and$50 million in funds raised byFoHL (“New York’sHigh Line” 2010) 22 The capital costs of the HL construction to date are: $110 million from the City of New York; $20 million from According tothese two principles, theHLshould satisfy even harshcritics. Following my argument intheprevious chapter, thegentrification ofboththe 22 Addedtothis‘win-win’ isthe fact thatover70%of its operational 32 CEU eTD Collection we needtolook tothird wave and to understandtherelation ofrecyclingan industrial gentrification relic to more clearly, this inthereconfigurationof preservation as‘valueadded’ the quotesin above.But preservationwhich primarily opposed developmentnot couldsave theHL. see We articulated interms seeking to explicitly curb development, clearthat is it benefits” (“New York’s High Line”2010). Ifwe considerthe firstHLbattle, which was developers, we didn’tfeel anti-development andwe always promoted theeconomic “[FoHL] were verypro business...even though we were sometimes fighting contestable manner. Confirming this interpretation, Robert Hammond pointsoutthat and accessthanitdoeswith reconfiguring gentrification processes inaless FoHL Board Chairman putit: landscape urbanism,which Iaddress in thenext sectionofthis chapter. Asthe rebrandingeffort linked to ecological modernization through the language of Chelsea. My argument that,functionally, is theHL is of theHLsimultaneously shielded and relied uponthebroader intentionof gentrifying growth, socialdevelopment, andecological protection” (554). and Gibbs (2004)call “avalue-free vision of ‘win-win-wins’ between economic In thelongrun, political preservation fight hadmuch lesstodowithuse 8). (Interview brilliance design ofthat force Just the designer]. andlandscape architects [the from execution brilliant a remarkably comes from that of And part idea. the of force the of had anidea and Josh[David] [Hammond] Robert would be. it thought ever I certainly -than aneighborhood defining wayand of brand powerful more a much - and abrand become HL has And the neighborhood. abouta thinking waya of create abrandandto create to was ability the underestimated, but dramatically atthe time, about we talked that thing, third The adds it something. Park, Central obviously Park, Madison beDuanePark, to happens open spaceyour corridor So if addsvalue. near apark being value...Secondly, increase you space corridor anopen by preserving So just is valuable. air and light to access greater has a house that or an apartment level, a basic knew at we do?[O]ne, could it weknow did things three What me. to surprise substantial asa hascome third the well, pretty them of understoodtwo We things. dothree to Line High the power the of understood everybody Ithink for. was looking everybody that something is newneighborhood anexciting as Chelsea ofWest emergence The However, asIbegantoshow in “Walk the Line,” thesuccessful preservation ecogentrification 33 arguments. not apark . Instead, it is a Instead, itis . CEU eTD Collection has become relevantintheyears leading upto andincluding thecollapse ofthe real of thesedimensions fits theChelsea/HL case, anadditionalthere is dimension which change; andfourth, the increased involvementthe state (2001:468). of each While way; third,the eclipsing of “effective resistance to gentrification” on the basis ofclass ability toattract bigger capital and interests realestate developers amore in targeted neighborhoods, often previously excluded because ofrestrictive zoning; second, the which Hackworth andSmithdefine along four lines: First, aturn tocentral city (NYC DCP 2005b:Executive Summary S-47). mixed useneighborhood anchored bya unique, new open space on the High Line” action encouragingin and guiding the development Chelsea ofWest as a dynamic “...the no-action alternative wouldfall farshort ofthe objectives oftheproposed development (Interview 4;Zukin 2009:25). As theEISfor madeWCR clear, process, which sought tomakemixed 2009:703). Thisexpansion wasclearlypoint a ofresistancethe Chelsea in Plan previous industrialcharacter oftheneighborhood, topromote ‘mixed-use’ (Quastel and upscale consumption, required lifting zoningrestrictions imposed bythe the wholesale reinvention of the area, necessarily involving residential development early 1990s it was already becominghome tomany oftheCity’s galleries. However, dynamics, liketheartmarket. Chelseafits partially intothesecond-wave; the in gentrification into“frontier” neighborhoods and oftenbeing associated with cultural resistance” tothefirst wave, with expansion beingmarked byextension of second wave gentrification (1978-1993) wascharacterized by“expansion and wave (1968-1978) gentrification was by“sporadicandstate-led” typified efforts; Such objectives connectclearly with thethird wave (1994-?)ofgentrification, FollowingHackworth andSmith(2001), whose analysis is basedinNYC, first income 34 , notmixed use , a deliberate targetfor, adeliberate CEU eTD Collection Chairman further pushesit though: urban contexts (Dove 2002; Dove2006; Parlange 1998; Pickett 1997). The FoHL dimension suggestsconnection tonatural science understandings ofecology in the HLduring abandonment, assustainable characteristics of the project. Each ‘micro climate’ established by wild-seeded plants which spontaneously took hold on the creation ofhabitat, theuse of native plants, and even the reproduction of the management. thestructure FoHLbills as“the world’s longest green roof,” pointsto policy contexts (Brownlow 2006;Bunce 2009; Smith1996:30). directly relatableto well-established discourses ofgentrification both in popular and language ofrecycling, regeneration, andtheelevation of‘reuse toanother level’ are space, theHightakes the Line idea ofreuse to anotherlevel” (FoHL2011b).The long recycling project. A former industrial structure given new asapublic greenlife commitment tosustainability: “We like to think oftheHighLineas amile-and-a-half- discoursesspecific ofsustainability saysoftheir present theHL.TheFoHL in space, andneighborhood scale development plans,then we needtoconsiderthe directed ‘smart growth’ plans,including plans for infrastructure and public oropen development andmanagement strategies ofthird wave gentrification. the abandoned HL refracted a broad notion ofsustainability into the new urban words, theextension scaledevelopment oflarge through ‘valueadded’ byrecycling in thecostsand valuation ofresources canaccelerate gentrification” (706). Inother Articulating thenotion of“ecological rentgap,” Quastel (2009) points outthat“shifts estate market inNYCandtheU.S. more broadly: ecological sustainability. meaning. You know, my generation lived through the near death of Central Park. Central of neardeath the through lived generation my You know, meaning. important most its public...that’s tothe available is that space open of piece great asa utility perpetual itscontinued, HLis the of sustainability bythe I mean [W]hat Sustainability is alsoconsidered by FoHL termsin ofbothdesignand If ecogentrification is representative is of a growingaffinity between municipally 35 CEU eTD Collection The unfinishedThe HL,a cause for speculation remains uncertain (Epeneter 2010). the development oftheHudsonYards, the successfulcompletion ofthepark acquisition ofthefinalsection accordancein with theULURPprocessunderway for the factthat theCPC voted Junein 2010 to approve theCity’s application for reality thatthe third segment ofthe HLremains underprivate ownership. Despite gentrification onanecologicalbasis. Such analysis also responds to thepresent materialspatialities the HL of and thepotential forrevived resistance tothird wave broader neighborhood, lays the groundwork forananalysis of thesymbolic and the context ofhis previous insight regarding the rebranding power ofthe HLfor the This complex understanding ofthelong-term implications ofsustainability, takenin Lovins, and Lovins 1999;McDonough and Braungart 2002), landscape urbanists see dominantnarratives ofsustainability turn to areinvention of industry (Hawken, Field Operations. Corner isastrong proponent of landscape urbanism. Where FoHL choseateam andof architects designers ledby notedfirm James Corner and preservation inthepresent moment. Followinga public design competition, a more nuancedandspecific understanding ofthepoliticalpotential of sustainability of sustainability. Paying close attention to the landscape design of the space invites understanding theeconomic andmaterialsignificance of thediscourse andpractice Casting the HL as a driver of 8). (Interview a mission of anembracing takes it accountability, political takes it vision, takes it money, takes That urbanexperience. and anexalting democratic, accessible, openand remain so they these spaces, of the management of sustainability the [and] economics underlying the both is [S]ustainability sustainability. economic and the theHL for support financial providing of means term a long an endowment, creating about deal great worry a We sustainability. economic its means ultimately it place...And enjoyable accessible, ademocratic, as sustained canbe easily and space naturally anopen that will andnever granted for take don’t So, I dying. closeto cancome parks great seen that Park. ofBryant We’ve near death The ecogentrification 36 providesa strong basis for CEU eTD Collection communication” (Schmid 2008:36).Corner offers landscape urbanism as a “space- materialand symbolic elements arecombined in“networks of interaction and indirectly, inrelation toClément’s landscape theory. 2008:40). anopeningfind for political struggle,which, for Lefebvre is“expressed through only artistic means” (Schmid representation lived space space Perceived space the first triad, which relates Lefebvre’s two triadic models ofthe production of space. In this analysis, I mobilize becoming prevail overdeath” (Schmid 2008:33).Thesethree moments relateto is “sublated” through “poesy anddesire asformsof transcendence that help language, and thewritten word,” manifest as“abstraction” and“concrete power;” and The firstis“material social practice;” which contradicts thesecond,“knowledge, Lefebvre’s trialectics ofthreeconnected arebestunderstoodas a series “moments:” ambition, we needconsider Lefebvre’s trialectical theory of theproduction ofspace. buildings or singular projects within the city. To situate the significance of this profession asfocused veryon the fabricof urban space,andnotjust particular explicitly defined professional practices (28). evidence ofthisability, Corner offerslandscape urbanism’s and flexibility of lack Corner (2006) arguesthat “landscape drives theprocess ofcity formation”(24). As one another” (Waldheim 2006:15). In an ostensible alternative to this tendency, cultural product,ironically many rendering andlessdistinguishableless from cities labor relations” asasituation which in “architecture...becomes commodified asa the “context ofglobal capital, post-Fordist models offlexible production, andinformal 23 The second triad focuses on is the integration of integration the is I begin with From quote,this it isclear that landscape urbanists are seeking todefine their is therealmis ofpractice and, assuch, beyondis the reach oftheorization. Itis in is not symbolic, but material in that it reflects the “‘elements’ that constitute ‘space’.” . 23 I situate these terms first in relation to the HL and then, more spatial practice perceived space lived , perceived spatial practice into a “whole,” putting at stake the “production of knowledge.” Finally, , which isthe realm of theeverydayin which both , and conceived 37 , representation ofspace spaces. Again, according to Schmid (2008): , and lived space spaces of Conceived that we CEU eTD Collection practice aimed attheproductionofspace. But, on theotherhand,when this urbanists, like urban planners before them, are engaged in both a discourse anda space” (Schmid2008:37). Onthe onehand, thismerely shows that landscape inversion of‘representations ofspace’” comprising the “symbolic dimension of dimensional theory: On face,this is anunproblematic inclusion of the third-term Lefebvre’s threein claim any avoids reference to Lefebvre: the full trialectic comes intoview. Despite theobvious connection, Corner’s final especially (scientific) theories ofspace” (Schmid2008:37). acts -which“comprise verbalizedforms asdescriptions, definitions, such and for power overthe seeking todefinea professional language of landscape urbanism, aiming Corneris (2002:250). This bringsthesecond term Lefebvre’s spatialin trialectic intoview. By thespaces in cityfortheaccumulation ofeconomic, and symbolic, cultural capital” market andjurisdiction, but also astheirhabitat inthe sense that theyappropriate “‘natural’ habitat” through which they “seek their rightsto the city notonly as their about professional strategy. He argues that theprofessions usethe city as a 2002:249). Thechoiceofecology significant is inlight ofanotherIsin’s points spatial strategiestechnologies and torealize themselves material in space” (Isin aspiration reflects atendencyof urbanprofessionals “like theguilds”to “develop considers them as continuous networks ofinter-relationships” (2006:30). This time ecologythat treats all forcesand agents working the urbanin field and possibilities (2006:32). possibilities of world ofthe thickening a speculative project, an imaginative andlast first is urbanism landscape that seems And soit activities. as material to realms symbolic and representation the owesto much as construction place of practices through change worlds; political separate arenot andimagination representation, Materiality, It isnotuntil Corner puts forthhis final ambition for landscape urbanism that representation ofspaces, spaces ofrepresentation 38 a set of discursive practicesa setof - speech , whicharethe “(terminological) CEU eTD Collection an anchorofa new approach togentrification. Clément describes this process: aspiration, seeking to package the HLasacause forecological modernization and development pressures. But thesecondpreservation andreuse battle inverted this that preservationists sought primarily tomaintain theHL as a tactical resistance to there was animplicit, though limitedunconscious, and embrace status as a “ mystique andappeal isbound up whatin Skinner identifies asthe “paradox” ofits of resistance against either neglect orutilitarian erasure” (Gandy 2009:112). developed the context estate,’in of‘third “underlies Clément’s interestinlandscapes second landscape limits” todevelopment and slow to grow or change (Clément 2011:281), and the landscape This term was putforwardbySkinner (2011) to specifyClément’s notionofthe third section of the HL, maintains theHL, at least partially, as a political uncertainties, the Hudson Yards development, and therefore the fate of the connected tothe HudsonYards. Currently onholddue toavariety ofeconomic and and responds to the unknown outcome ofthe rezoning and redevelopment process the practical and terminological asymmetry ofthepreservation andreuse battles, ambition issituated in thecontext oftheHL as of material reinvention asa driver of development, invites a criticalreading on the basis arises. reflection critical indecision as we want. We plan a route, install road markers, organize the logistics of logistics the road markers, organize aroute, install plan want. We as we playgrounds as many offers and leisure, art of object planet, The manner. profitable, and atechnocratic, in space and time in mapped itself funds thus Landscape With theintroduction ofClément’s landscape triad,we begintoseehow HL’s The veryfactoftheHL’sabandonment, andthereforeofitssymbolic andthen . The designed and third landscape inaction , that of cultivation (Skinner 2011:264). The third landscape” (2011:265). Inthe first preservation battle, in thecontextin ofsustainability. Suchareading tracks both exists in relation to the 39 ecogentrification first landscape space of indecision , anopportunity for third landscape third landscape , a space “off third in . , CEU eTD Collection landscape later exploited byDavidand Hammond to capturetheimaginations ofa inactivity precisely thenon-human activity imaginative potentialof alush sidewalk inthe skyaboveManhattan. But it is and design world and their political connections were together held bythe powerful a real estate development vehicle, it is clearthat both their networking inthefashion and anasset tobeput usein an alternative redevelopment. endorsements, andgrowth-first politicians in ordertorefashion theHLasabrand symbolic andmaterialcapitalthrough professional networks ofdesigners, celebrity development (Gandy2009:113). ButFoHL and developmentalists deployed in “aform of stewardship”which saw the unused HLasaprohibition against further écologique was developed,theHLwas aproper ecogentrification Yards tooverdevelop -oreven destroy -partofthe HLtounderstand that possible against” (2011:294). need notlookWe furtherthan thepotential ofHudson sustainability through adifferent logic: “do as much aspossiblewith, theleast form of growth. But inClément’s notion of the critical response to This wry critique presentsanopportunity touse the portion of the space (Interview 6). to launch packets ofwildflower seed fromhis apartmentwindow overlooking the now demolished southern 24 Though sometimes it was human aided. Oneof founders the of describedWVRD, aslingshotdevice he used Regardless ofDavid and Hammond’s awarenessofthe centrality ofthe HL as As Ihaveshown, slogan (2011:289) slogan a it’s oflife, notaterritory is Landscape alogo. to it reduce to feature emblematic some it in detect needonly One do. will fragment territorial Any campaign. publicity a launch And then agencies. alert the insurance andstaffing, reconception during the period following industrial fallowingthat created the ‘wild’ urban ; or,a“metaphor for natural limits.”First wave preservationists engaged may workagainstthe‘success’ of theHLinlongrun.Before it ecogentrification ecogentrification 24 againstabackdrop ofhuman . third landscape 40 relies on relies ofsustainabilitya notion asa third landscape third landscape ; anobject lesson in as thebasis ofa indecision we confront finitude and CEU eTD Collection nature’. glosses the development failures ofthe past with the moribund language of‘wild ecogentrification of this flavor aredecidedly risky,but the more that the HL becomes amodel for newest high-rise, mixed-use, residential and commercial core(Fig.5)? Predictions estate. willWhat thiscompletedHL becomegently dips asit the side’s into West preservationbattleseems tobecome likely inthelogic locked of amenitizingreal of sustainability which counters, or at least hems massive in, development, thethird the second, is beingwaged onthebasis ofthe brand. Rather thaninvokinga notion under theveil of‘value added.’ The third preservation effort, mirroring the success of (2009:113). “complicitrelationship withthe underlying dynamics ofcapitalist urbanization” which not,asGandy is claims oflandscape designofthenineteenth century, a in environmental (re)construction?” (Heynen, Kaika, andSwyngedouw 2006:12). One achieved by means ofademocratically controlled and organized process of socio- sustainability? Aprogramwhich embraces “socio-ecological ‘sustainability’... push landscape urbanism toward amore radicalprogram of socio-ecological program asymptoticalBut asthiseffortbetrays of growth.its possible limits, to isit sustainability. Sofar,the solution tothis dilemmamake hasbeento sustainability a like theHL itself, intheaporic position ofbeing both pro-growth andpro- which them. finances Caughtinthe growth first mentality, urban professionals are, professional theorization, remain beholdento thegrowth interests of thecapital Board politics. Theproblem is thatdesigners,forall their vision andpotent public jaded byyears ofdevelopment battlesandtheexhaustion ofCommunity As ofnow,allsignsto point FoHLdefending thelongevityproject oftheir themore may it become a self-congratulatory scheme which 41 CEU eTD Collection our owndesigns. These arethe wild-seeded grasslands oftheabandoned HL. incorporated technocraticinto urban management.the Theseare limits exposed by nature, one which ostensibly full is of‘self-regulating’ mechanismsthat canbe termswith thelimits togrowth. Theseare not thelimits imagined ofanexternal wemay beable to develop apolitical language of sustainability which comes to indecision and to celebrate the unaided development which occurs there, the more If we follow Clément, themore we takethe opportunity tocultivate a space of alternatives totheFoHL reuse strategy termsin of urban nature and driving development But such an argument sidesteps the tension between crafting a unique space exigencies ofthe production ofspace and the logic ofcapitalist urban development. for civic engagement andspatial advocacy, didthe best they could, given the order to achieve support for reuse. One might rightly argue that FoHL, as a vehicle complexity ofthepoliticalprocess; FoHLwas pressedtomake aneconomic casein sustainabilitythe for HLisprimarily economic. justified throughis This the interventions is overshadowed bythefact thatthe long term meaning of and spontaneity ina previously inaccessible location. Nevertheless, eachofthese energy use(“New York’s HighLine”2010). Third,itcreatesaspaceforencounter specific systems conservation, forenergy water conservation, andgenerally limited thereby nottryingtowork the structure. against significant Second,it involved site- waste thecapital and energy put into developing the structure in thefirst place, important dimensions ofClément’s approach tosustainability. First, it doesnot distinctly lacking innocence -wethat theHLreuse cannotignore embraces some Seeking adifferent framing, wemight askwhat happenswhenwe thinkof As aparticular species of urban development inthe NYC context -which is through 42 themanagement of urbannature. cultivation of the third landscape with . CEU eTD Collection focused alternatives, theHLreuseeffort enormous directs resourcesintothe direct against its ownbiological basis’” (2011:262). Inpart foreclosing more nature- what Clément (quotedinSkinner) calls“aperverse investment ofenergy‘entirely grow without intervention. Thenew HL ironically references that wild growth through beneficiary a civicin project. Theabandoned HLamply demonstrated itsability to authority, making ‘thepeople’ more partner’ ofa‘capital inajointventure than a private owners through acombination ofprivate-sector growth logic andpublic reforming fromwithin. TheFoHLmounted acampaign toacquire theparkfrom its oversight ofpublic andrelatively democratic cityagencies. The newgeneration is management inpart,bymoving techniques, parksandpublicspacesaway from the well-intentioned andwell-maintained surface ofthepark itself? economic sustainability oftheHLprovetobe shortlived,what willhappen tothe agency, subject tothe whims ofitspatrons and the winds ofthe market. Shouldthe green credentials, the HL speculativeis a investment, albeitonebacked byaCity developers, fashion designers, andnew Chelsea residentsseeking tosolidifytheir paid non-profit directors thein City. an entire suite of professional managers and the direction of some ofthehighest imperative of growing sustainably, thepublicly accessibleHLrequires thesupport of to seed’?Before its reuse, the HLwas anaturaldeveloper. Now, underthe FoHL might havegrown around the long-term sustainability ofallowing the HL ‘to go go towaste’. But canwethat imagine aneffort assustained anddedicated asthe ( Parksthe City Commissioner, who is responsible for 1,700 parks citywide the other, he was paid as an employee FoHL of with a compensation package larger than that ofAdrian Benepe, period of time. On the one hand, he was paid as a private consultantadvising the HL on fundraising efforts. On RobertHammond. The article pointed to thefact that Hammond earned dual compensation for his work for a 25 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/26/nyregion/26hiline.html?pagewanted=2 Just after the first segment of the HL opened, the New York The previous generation ofprivately driven parks projects applied neoliberal Indeed, itisdifficult to imagine thatsomething likethe HLwould beallowed ‘to 25 Dependent ontheprivate dollars of real estate 43 Times ran an ran article on the compensation of ). CEU eTD Collection of theHLasananchor of collected property owners, tothe‘waste’ infrastructural ofanurban Thereuse asset. history of the HL,that ‘enemy’ hasshifted from the individual developer, to the than to launch a politics of environmental decontamination” (2011:293-294). Inthe above all, more profitable- to identify anenemy againstwhich todirect one’senergy abandoned HL. globalproject which grows from the most situations. obvious local Situations like the the vagabondasabasis for apoliticaldiscussion surrounding sustainability asa of old.Iwould suggest thatwe turn,asClément does,tothe inveterate nomadism of (Interview 3; Interview 16). NorwouldIseekareturntothe halcyon neighborhoods rise orlevel decimation ofpopulations, assomeanti-development advocateshave without subverting growth. Iwould notcounter with theapocalyptic visions ofsea competitive, to innovate, andtoprogress incrementally toward thesustainable future criticizemight my rightly asavoiding theimperative analysis toreinvent,stay required. maintenance ofaseemingly wild condition where previously nomaintenance was the practice andthe process of urban (re)development. theHLWhile reuse has This space of imagination - of surprise - is a vital dimension ofthe transformation of vagabonds: material reuseofthestructure itself (ClémentClément 2011:295). saysof industrious wandering plants whose growth inspired thespatial (re)imagination and economic growth. Thisapproachbackgrounds “thepower ofvagabonds,”those In his notionIn his of“ThePlanetary Garden”Clément argues that“it iseasier -and, I realize herethatIam vulnerableto accusations ofnaiveté. Pro-HL voices illustrates the biological action by which the everyday unveils asurprise (2011:295). unveils everyday bywhich the action thebiological illustrates it generally, more projects; stopped of thefutility reveals behavior their of nature unpredictable The “understood.” is that anything predict never to them to oweI it ecogentrification 44 sets itonastraight and narrow track for CEU eTD Collection flourishing. revealed ifallthattheproject hassought to grow erases thatwhich was already repackage this socio-ecological opportunity as an economic engine may yetbe partially evident intheabandoned andunfinished HL.Thefutility oftryingto The contoursof apractice anddiscourse ofradicalsustainability àlaClément are space inwhichmorediscourses radical and practices ofsustainability might obtain. critical analysis andstrategic embrace ofindecision throughcultivation toenvision a over the imperative ofeconomic growth.Challenging this imperative, Iadvocate a elevates thesupport oflife itself,evenand especiallywhen more-than-human, is it on themeaning ofurban sustainability. 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(Also available onlineat: New York: Oxford University Press. Naked City: TheDeath and Life ofAuthentic UrbanPlaces. The Cultures ofCities 51 . Oxford: Blackwell. ) Our Common Future . CEU eTD Collection 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 # 4/19/2011 4/18/2011 4/15/2011 4/12/2011 4/11/2011 4/11/2011 4/10/2011 4/6/2011 4/5/2011 Date AJ Pietrantone John Alschuler Matt Urbanski Zack Winestine Stu Waldman Ed Kirkland Ben Green Valle Jared Della Simeon Bankoff Name 52 Federation to 4 Community Board Mahnattan Great Port Waterfront and Greenwich Village Preserve the Federation to Bernheimer Della Valle Council Districts Historic Park Hudson River Friends ofthe LineHigh Friends ofthe HR&A Advisors; Design) (Landscape Associates Valkenburgh& Michaelvan Force Community Task Greenwich Village Development; Responsible VillagersWest for Great Port Waterfront and Greenwich Village Preserve the Organization or Affiliation President (former) Co-Chair (former) Founder Partner Director Executive Director Executive Chairman Chairman; Principal President Co-chair; List of Interviews Appendix A // Position CEU eTD Collection 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 # 5/4/2011 4/28/2011 4/28/2011 4/26/2011 4/25/2011 4/25/2011 4/19/2011 Date Marcy Benstock Jonathan Kuhn Michele Herman Katy Bordonaro Rob Pirani Noreen Doyle Chris Collins Name 53 Force Community Task Greenwich Village Association; Houses Tenants Village West Association Regional Plan Park Trust Hudson River of theHigh Line Appeals; Friends Standards and Board of Campaign Clean Air resident Village West Recreation; Far of Parksand NYC Department Development; Responsible VillagersWest for resident Village West Development; Far Responsible VillagersWest for Organization or Affiliation organizer President; Programs Environmental Vice President for Acting President (former) Board Member Vice Chairman; Founder organizer (former) Member/ organizer (former) Member/ Position CEU eTD Collection expansions are welcome. Below of are points interest andgeneraltopics fordiscussion. Diversions and Naturally, interviewsvary according will to the specific knowledgeof the interviewee. Potential scope/focus ofinterview debates have been staged, bywhom, andtowhat ends. estate development, andquality oflife issues;my to hopeis understand how those continue tobeat the center ofdebates regarding neighborhood transformation, real that process. iscertain thaturbanWhat is public space,andparks inparticular, how to render asustainablecity orwhat role, any,if parks can and should play in professionals, andactivists. Despite ubiquity,its there isnotbroad consensus on which hasbecome awidely used term academics,among policymakers, design the extent towhich theseparkscanbedescribed interms ofurban‘sustainability’, architectural/planning dimensions ofrealizing bothspaces. I am interestedalso in range of perspectives anddetailed information onthesocial, political, economic, and as two important examples ofso-called adaptive reuseparks. My aim is togathera (re)development, withspecific a focus on the Hudson River Park and the HighLine The generalfocus ofthis research project the is politics ofurbanpublic space The architectural imagination of the waterfront/High Line in New York City Challenges to the completion of theHudson River Park/High Line in theHigh Linedistrict The relationship between public housing and newly developed housing First-hand accounts of social justice organizing onthewaterfront The waterfront/High Line asaspace/driver for real estate development Alternativeand artistic use ofwaterfront/High Line Perceptions and awareness of uses of abandoned waterfront/High Line Alliances among advocates,activists, and/or planners The roleof infrastructure and/or perceptions of naturein development Economic andpoliticalstructures/vehicles for redevelopment Planning anddesign process, competitions, and implementation development debates Perceptions andconstructions ofnature andenvironment in 54 Research Statement for Interviewees for Statement Research Appendix B // CEU eTD Collection (Source: Friends ofthe HighLine) Figure 1 Map ofHigh Lineand surrounding area 55 Appendix C // Figures CEU eTD Collection 56

Figure 1.1 Planning Map of Hudson River Park (Source: Hudson River Park Trust, photo by the author) CEU eTD Collection (Source: Friends ofthe HighLine) Figure 2.1 (Source: Friends ofthe HighLine) Figure 2 Construction photo of High Line, 1933 Construction photoofHighLine, 1933 57 CEU eTD Collection (Source: Friends ofthe HighLine) Figure 2.2 A train passing through Bell Labs on theHL,circa 1940 58 CEU eTD Collection Joel SternfeldJoel (Source: Friends oftheHigh Line) Figure 3.1 (Source: Friends ofthe HighLine) Figure 3 “A Railroad Artifact, 30th Street, May 2000,” JoelSternfeld “LookingSouth on a May Evening (Starrett-LehighBuilding), May 2000,” 59 CEU eTD Collection (Source: HL EIS,Final excerpted byauthor) Figure 4 The Special Chelsea District,West sub with areaboundaries 60 CEU eTD Collection (Source: HL EIS,Final excerpted bytheauthor) Figure 4.1 The High Line Transfer Corridor, showing Special District boundary 61 CEU eTD Collection Figure 5 Segment ThreeoftheHLseen from HRP the 62 CEU eTD Collection 63