Overdevelopment is killing your neighborhood

“The city is catering to megadevelopers while completely ignoring the needs of New Yorkers,” says Candace Carpenter of Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn. The Atlantic Yards is probably the city’s best-known battleground, but New Yorkers are channeling Jane Jacobs all over the five boroughs. While issues like affordable housing and eminent domain drive many of these campaigns, Deborah Marton, executive director of the Design Trust for Public Space, believes that “environmental quality and sustainability” are also major concerns.

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If you don’t have time to volunteer with an agency, make a donation to the Design Trust (designtrust.org), or take a $15 walking tour with the Municipal Art Society (mas.org)—both organizations advocate for responsible use of public space. “And remain educated by reading about development issues,” says Marton. She suggests The Architect’s Newspaper (archpaper.com) or Brownstowner (brownstoner.com). If you’re following the Atlantic Yards action, though, the blog No Land Grab (nolandgrab.org) provides a pithy overview of events.

“You can yell and scream about development, but you have to contact the legislator to make a difference,” says Carpenter. “Also, elect officials who aren’t beholden to big real-estate money.” To look up your New York City Council representative, go to council.nyc.gov. At Place Matters (placematters.net), you can raise awareness about noteworthy buildings and sites in your community—thus making them harder to bulldoze—and a $50 membership in the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (gvshp.org) gives you reduced rates on events like lectures and walking tours, plus information on how to report landmark violations.

“Join your community board. That’s the main avenue for average residents to get involved,” explains Marton. “They can have an influence on everything about a new project, including use, scale and appearance.” For meeting and membership details, go to nyc.gov/cau. If you’re more interested in preserving the city skyline, GVSHP had two job openings at press time (gvshp.org/employment.htm). And if you’re in it for the really long haul, consider a career in urban planning: The American Planning Association’s New York Metro Chapter (nyplanning.org) provides information on approved courses and employment opportunities.

—Jaime Jordan

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