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 WANT TO TRY AN EXCITING WAY TO LEARN ABOUT LOWER MANHATTAN? FROM SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER, 2013 STROLL WITH FELLOW PLANNERS WHILE HEARING HOW PLANNING INFLUENCED LOWER MANHATTAN PICK ONE OR ALL FIVE "TALK & WALKS". HAPPY HOUR - COFFEE KLATSCH AFTER TOURS. CM CREDITS AVAILABLE FOR AICP PLANNERS INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND MIX WITH FELLOW APA MEMBERS.  The Urban Renewal Plan for Greenwich Village  Map of New Amsterdam  Where America's Zoning Began |
5 APA "TALKS & WALK TOURS" ABOUT THE HISTORY OF LOWER MANHATTAN FROM A PLANNING PERSPECTIVE Open to all APA members and their friends SPONSORED BY THE GALIP DIVISION OF THE APA.  Photo from 2011 APA Tour promoting a new way to learn about the History of Lower Manhattan from a planning perspective. The Gays & Lesbians in Planning (GALIP) Division of APA is a forum for the exchange of ideas and information of interest to gays, lesbians, and friends in the planning profession. GALIP addresses planning topics and issues that relate to the gay and lesbian community by providing a forum for exchanging ideas and information. The division provides a professional network for planners who are division members and a mechanism that allows friends of the division and the gay and lesbian community to support GALIP's mission. GALIP was created as a formal APA division in 1998 at the APA National Planning Conference in Boston. We've been an informal network since 1992 when GALIP met for the first time at the national conference in Washington, D.C. AICP Members who take the Educational Walking Tours will be eligible for CM - (Continuing Education) credits. CM Credits have been registered for all tours under a single multi-part event umbrella. EVENT #e.24644 
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and Hours of Tours: Tour #1- New Amsterdam Tour- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013. From Noon - 1:30 pm Tour #2- Origins of Zoning Tour- SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2013. From 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm Tour #3- World Trade Center Area Tour- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013. From Noon - 1:30 pm Tour #4- Greenwich Village - Urban Renewal Tour- SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2013. From 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm Tour #5- LGBT History & Adult Use Zoning Tour- FRIDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2013. From 5:45 pm - 7:15 pm Tours are postponed in heavy rain. Check website that day for Rain Cancellations. Tour 5 has been featured on:   LISTEN TO THE NPR SHOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF NEW YORK CITY, WITH COMMENTS BY RICK LANDMAN from Tour #1. |
To See the Itinerary for each Tour Click on the underline Tour Number below: TOUR 1- New Amsterdam Tour- Bowling Green to Wall Street. Starts at Customs House. The early origins of New York City's land use patterns and social fabric; including life of the minorities (gay, Jewish, African, Native American) and how religious freedoms came to New Amsterdam. We will also review the street patterns, tax lots and influence on today’s physical structures. TOUR 2- Origins of Zoning in America Tour- Wall Street to City Hall Park. Starts at Trinity Church. Topics will include the planning and political roots to Zoning's bulk and use regulations and setbacks and sky exposure planes; showing the pre 1916 and post 1961 Zoning Changes on the development of NYC's skyscrapers. TOUR 3- World Trade Center Area Tour- Liberty Park (Broadway and Liberty) to City Hall Park. Starts at Liberty Park. Topics will include the the World Trade Center area, reflecting on the former Lower Manhattan Plan and post 9/11 plan for the area, given by a long term local resident, planner, and member of Community Board #1. TOUR 4- Greenwich Village's Urban Renewal Tour- Washington Square Park to Houston Street. Starts under the Arch. The Tour will analyze the Urban Renewal Plan for Greenwich Village and how it has played out over the past 40 years (along with other Robert Moses concepts). The tour will include many of NYU's 1960-2005 real estate projects and how land use laws such as Landmarks and ULURP influenced the area. TOUR 5- LGBT History - Adult Use Zoning- Christopher Street Park (7th Avenue) to the waterfront. Starts by the Segal Statue. This tour is of the West Village area, starting at Sheridan Square and heading towards the Hudson River. It will discuss how among other factors the presence of gay and lesbian adult uses helped to create a residential neighborhood in the 1970's and the "LGBT Rights Movement" and how the Zoning, Landmarks Laws and Building Codes were used to close down several gay hot spots. Case Studies will be used to see how land use laws influenced the closing of various adult use establishments. POST TOUR 5 HAPPY HOUR AND DINNER: After Tour #5 we will go to a local bar for Happy Hour and then go to a local restaurant for dinner together around 8 pm. |
TOUR #1: NEW AMSTERDAM
 2013 New Amsterdam Tour This tour starts in front of the Customs House at Bowling Green in front of the Asia statue and winds it way through Battery Park and up to Wall Street and ends at Trinity Church. It focuses on how early Dutch roots had an impact on New York City's physical form as well as its taxation procedures, zoning regulations and religious freedoms. The tour, which not only included the usual stop to the foundations of the old Dutch City Hall but included a walk around the borders of old New Amsterdam, seeing the Dutch memorials (most of which are on land-fill that didn't exist back then) and discussion of Dutch impact on religious freedom and what it was like to live in New Amsterdam if you were African, Jewish or gay. Our narrow tax lots and the subsequent sky-blocking towers were a direct result from our Dutch origins...  Early history of the first settlers to New Amsterdam (Governor's Island) and the building of the Fort on the tip of Manhattan. Different concept of land ownership between native population and the Dutch; which leads to skirmishes between the two groups. Alleged Story of Peter Minuit "purchasing" Manhattan Island. Population diversity of the settlers (17 languages being spoken) and the legal aspects of governing by a corporation and not a monarchy. Slave trade and the treatment of slaves in New Amsterdam. Origins of American Religious Freedoms (freedom of thought) for Jews, Quakers and then after the American Revolution; everyone. Treatment of homosexuals and Jews and Africans during the Dutch and English period. Early land use patterns and tax maps and street patterns for the future New York City. Early experiment with democratic rule in a colony.  |
 We will meet at the base of Asia statue in front of the former U.S. Customs House on Bowling Green. (Current site of the Museum of the American Indian and former site of Fort Amsterdam.)
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 We will have our first lecture on the stairs or in the Park (weather permitting).
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 Look up at the top of the former U.S. Customs House and you can see a Dutchman, Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (b. 1598 Holland – d. At Sea 1653), a famous Dutch admiral. At age 9, he became a sailor and at he joined the Dutch navy as a lieutenant in 1621. He became known in 1628 when as Piet Hein's flag captain, he helped capture the Spanish treasure fleet. In 1639, he blockaded and crushed a Spanish fleet in the Downs of the English Channel. This victory ended Spanish sea power. In June, 1652, he refused to lower his flag in deference to the English Admiral Robert Blake, and started the first of the Dutch Wars. That same year, he won control of the English Channel when he beat the English off Dungeness, but he was forced to withdraw. His inferior fleet lost 20 ships in a battle near Gabbard Shoal in 1653.
He then joined with his rival Witte de Witt and attacked the English off Scheveningenin in August of 1653. They were defeated and Tromp was killed in the battle by a sharpshooter. It was the last major conflict of the war. Tromp's death hurt the Dutch navy and hurt the Orange cause, which had sought to defeat England and restore the Stuart monarchy. One of his sons, Cornelis Tromp, became a Rear Admiral in the Dutch navy.
The sculpture is by Louis Saint-Gaudens.
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 Flagpole honoring the 350th anniversary of New Amsterdam in Battery Park. Be careful where you step... We will see the sidewalk with the engraving over the ticker tape parade for Queen Juliana of the Netherlands' visit to NYC in 1952.
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 Wording on the base of the flagpole about the "purchase" of Manhattan Island.
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 Also on the base of the flagpole, commemorating the real property transaction of the Native Americans and Peter Minuit. We will discuss whether an actual contract or deed was ever contemplated and if a "meeting of the minds" actually occurred. Was the Native American advised by counsel as to what the Dutch man saying? What if the Native American thought that he was getting a gift of trinkets in order to welcome a new tribe into his community or to become a trading partner, etc.?
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 The current Street Names still reflect the activities of New Amsterdam. Stone Street (where the brewery was built and the street was paved with cobble stones) was made of stone, and Bridge Street passed over a creek, Bowling Green was the public area, Beaver was one of the major economic products, Pearl Street was the waterfront at the time and was where people went pearling. Words like cookies or boss, places like Brooklyn, Bronx, Yonkers, Gansevoort, Harlem, Utrecht, Staten Island, and characters like Santa Claus all have Dutch roots, let alone family names like Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, Van Buren, etc.
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 This is a map located in Battery Park which shows the original boundaries of New Amsterdam. Pearl Street was the southern boundary and Greenwich Street up to Wall Street made up the rest of the boundaries.
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 Where is the Statue of Mayor Abraham De Peyster? Let's try to get him out of the Closet! |
For more information Click Here-- About the Warehousing of the New Amsterdam born Mayor of New York City.The Statue of Mayor De Peyster was originally where King George's Statue stood in Bowling Green and then was moved to Hannover Square. But when Hannover Square was planned for renovation as an English themed square, the Statue was moved into storage and was approved to be placed in City Hall Park. So far, it is still in storage. |
 The following three murals are located in the NYS Supreme Court at 60 Centre Street on the 4th floor Jury Room by Robert K. Ryland during the WPA. This mural represents the pre-European view of the island.
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 This mural represents the "City Hall" of New Amsterdam. |
 This is another representation of the same building. You will be able to see the dimensions of the footprint of this building at the Goldman Sachs plaza near Stone Street.
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This mural represents a map of the early New Amsterdam colony street patterns.
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 When the Goldman Sachs Building was excavated they discovered the foundations and cisterns from the early era of New York City. But Lovelace Tavern was built in 1670, which would be after New Amsterdam, but was there during the Dutch period of New Orange.
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 Anything that looks Dutch is not from New Amsterdam, but constructed years or centuries later to be reminiscent of the Dutch presence. Peter Minuit never took the subway.
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This nearly ten-foot-tall granite stele at the northwest corner of Battery Park by the Castle Clinton National Monument was designed by noted architect Henry Bacon. The monument and its gilded inscription commemorates the Walloon Settlers, a group of 32 Belgian Huguenot families who joined the Dutch in 1624 on the ship Nieu Nederland (“New Netherland”) to colonize New Amsterdam. Bacon also designed Washington's Lincoln Memorial and Williamsburg's Metropolitan Pool.
The Walloons were natives of the County of Hainaut in Belgium who had fled to nearby Holland to escape religious persecution. Made to feel unwelcome in Holland, the Walloons, led by Jesse de Forest, first appealed to the British in 1621 for permission to settle in Virginia. When was denied, they petitioned the Dutch West India Company to allow them to settle in the Dutch-controlled colony of New Amsterdam. Their application was granted and the Walloons left Holland in March 1624, landing in New York on May 20, 1624. One should also know that other groups fled to Holland before coming to the New World, such as the Pilgrims.
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 We will discuss the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews that came to New Amsterdam in the summer 1654 and how differently they were treated. While Peter Stuyvesant would not grant the Jews the right to build a synagogue, they met in a building on Mill Street (South William Street) until the first synagogue was built under the English rule in 1730 in the location of this present day garage. For more information about the early Jewish history from 1654 on, click here In 1657 a group of Dutch settlers fought to permit Quakers to reside in New Netherlands. For more information about the Flushing Remonstrance, click here. |
 The date was changed on the official seal and flag of the City of New York. It used to be 1664 and now it is 1625 to reflect New Amsterdam as its European origins. |
 You can see the dutch influence in our official city flag. Notice the 1625 date.  Notice the 1626 Date on the Municipal Building. |
 When elevators and steel allowed 120 Broadway to rise so tall that it blocked the sunlight on the sidewalks of the narrow streets in Lower Manhattan, NYC created Zoning Laws (set backs, sky exposure plane, etc.) in 1916 which then spread across the country.  This is part of a NYC tax map showing how the deep and narrow 25 foot lots still remain since the Dutch used this concept on the canals in Amsterdam. |
Weather permitting, the tour will wind its way up to Pine Street (one block north of the northern boundary of New Amsterdam at Wall Street), and over to Broadway. Topics discussed on the walk will include the origins of America's Zoning laws such as the need for set backs, narrow and winding street patterns, taxation laws based on narrow 25 foot lots, as well as America's basis for religious freedom and where the Jews and African-Americans are buried. This tour ends at Trinity Church, but I will walk up to the World Trade Center after the tour and continue my talk if anyone so desires. 
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 Image of Saint Nicholas Originally called “Saint Nicholas” by the Dutch, the pronunciation sounded more like “Sint Nikolass”. The name was reshaped for non-Dutch tongues, and evolved into “Sinterklass”, and finally into “Santa Claus”. Did you ever wonder how the U.S. Congress created Christmas as a secular national holiday in 1870 and how Santa Claus came into being the American symbol of Christmas? |
We will discuss the life of Harmen van den Bogaert, a doctor and married man with 4 children, who helped the colony by negotiating with the Native Indians, but who was caught with his male African servant Tobias in an intimate situation and was arrested and died for that act. Homophobia was alive and well in the New World too. We will also discuss some heroes of the New World that are left out of our English centric text books such as Adriaen van der Donck a real hero for our civil rights. In addition to discussing how the inhabitants of New Amsterdam (Dutch, English, French, Jews, Quakers, Finns, Germans, Africans, Native Americans, etc.) convinced their Governor Peter Stuyvesant to surrender to the English rather than have their city destroyed, we will also discuss how in August 1673, the English Governor and the inhabitants of New York City, saw Dutch war ships enter New York Harbor and stood by and watched the English flag come down as the city was returned to Dutch rule and called New Orange for a year, until it once again became English, years before the American Revolution. |
TOUR #2: ORIGINS OF AMERICA'S ZONING LAWS 2013 Origins of Zoning Tour  This tour focuses on how America started its Zoning Laws and real estate development in Lower Manhattan. The tour starts at Trinity Church (Wall Street and Broadway) and winds its way past several of the World's Tallest Buildings, Pine Street and up to City Hall Park.Once steel construction and elevators turned the real estate market upside down, and each developer tried to build the world's tallest building, New York City was forced to try regulating bulk (sky exposure plane) and use. The Supreme Court upheld NYC's zoning regulations in the 1926 case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Corp. This tour gives the history while passing the actual locations. It also includes a city park created by the transfer of development rights and discusses the Urban Renewal project now called Gehry New York as well as other real estate projects. This Tour will NOT focus on the World Trade Center. There is a separate Tour for the WTC.  This group was a Chinese delegation hosted by the American Planning Association (APA) who wanted a tour and lecture on Sustainability and the history of Land Use in New York City on a different walking tour in the area. (October 2010)  LECTURE THEMES: Creation of NYC Zoning Ordinance of 1916- Use and Bulk provisions, including such things as mapping (ie. 2 times the width of the street concept)and things like set-backs and sky exposure planes. We will compare 250 Broadway vs. Equitable Building. We will also discuss the United States Supreme Court case of Euclid vs. Ambler Reality which justified NYC Zoning Ordinance in 1926. City Beautiful Movement to curb skyscraper abuses: Political Merger of use and bulk forces to challenge the concept that land use controls are an unconstitutional practice that deprives land owners of compensation under the 5th Amendment. History of Skyscrapers: based on technological changes (elevators and steel construction) combined with the "Dutch" street patterns and narrow tax lots, tall narrow buildings are shutting out the light and air to the streets. Contest for tallest buildings in the World including 40 Wall Street and Chrysler Building and others taller than 10 stories (Corbin Building at Fulton Street). New techniques for street protection against terrorists and history of other terrorist attacks on Wall Street ie. September 16, 1920 attack by anarchists in front of Morgan Building. Real Estate Taxation and the In-rem program: discussion of the William and Beaver Streets building that came in-rem in the 1970's and how it is now a 45 story luxury apartment house. Re-purposed Urban Renewal Plans after the 40 year term expired. Street Plazas (Lower Manhattan Plan) ie. Chase Plaza and Liberty Plaza. Concept of Transfer of Development Rights and Privately Owned Public Spaces such as the above and Zuccotti Park. Origin of the American Institute of Architects. Sidewalk concept of "Ticker Tape Parades". |
| We will start the Tour at Trinity Church on Broadway and Wall Street and end up near City Hall Park. Bathroom facilities are open in Trinity Church. |
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 We will walk down to Wall Street and see the building that was almost the tallest in the world and see how the streetscape has changed since 9/11.
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 We will go by the building with no signage and which "terrorists" bombed. If you didn't know who owned this building, then you had no business going in.
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 Now we will walk down Pine Street and see how the sun actually hits the ground on June 21st at noon during the summer solstice. The woman smoking walked along with the sunlight during her lunch break smoke.
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 Looking skywards on Pine Street you can really understand the need for zoning set-backs.
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 We will discuss what was the site of the former "Corn Exchange Building", a 17 story office building that went in-rem for back taxes and was sold at City Auction for $13.1 million in 1983.
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 The same property today where the developer walked away for back taxes was demolished and a new building was constructed starting in 2005 and is now the 44 story Beaver House. This shows how property values can change in a "down cycle".
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 After 1916, the Zoning mandated set-backs so that the sunlight could reach the sidewalks for most of the day. This is an example of set-backs from midtown.
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This is the Equitable Building which showed the public what could happen if buildings were not regulated. In 1916, the City of New York created height and set-back zoning regulations due to this building.
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 This is a public plaza created by the transfer of development rights. The bulk was transferred to the large building across the street. There was a Choc Full O' Nuts restaurant on the ground floor of the previous building that was permitted to stay until its lease ran out. It looked like an ancient ruin since the top floors were removed.
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 World Trade Center
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 This building shook so much on 9/11 that all of the granite panels had to be removed from the facade. You can see that the newer replacements are of a different color.
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 This building had less damage even though it was closer to the WTC because it had few windows on the northern facade.
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 We will see where the American Institute of Architects was founded.
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 We can pass the bronze sculpture that was relocated in the park, but that was covered with debris on 9/11.
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 We pass the Corbin Building, which was the tallest building in the world when it was constructed. It is next to the Fulton Transportation Hub under construction. If time permits we can go and see where George Washington sat when he prayed in Church.
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 The building that now contains the "J & R Music World" was once the tallest building in the world, and the top cupolas were used for tourists to see the views.
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 We pass the Woolworth Building, which was the tallest building in the world until the Chrysler Building surpassed it.
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 On the former Urban Renewal site near City Hall and Pace University, we will pass the Frank Gehry luxury apartment house under construction.
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TOUR #3: WORLD TRADE CENTER AREA 2013 World Trade Center Tour This group was a Chinese delegation hosted by the American Planning Association (APA) who wanted a tour and lecture on Sustainability and the history of Land Use in New York City on a different walking tour in the area. (October 2010)  LECTURE THEMES: Contest for tallest buildings in the World including 40 Wall Street and Chrysler Building and others taller than 10 stories (Corbin Building at Fulton Street). New techniques for street protection against terrorists and history of other terrorist attacks on Wall Street ie. September 16, 1920 attack by anarchists in front of Morgan Building. Origin of the American Institute of Architects. Sidewalk concept of "Ticker Tape Parades". The Lower Manhattan Plan and planning in the Wagner and Lindsay years. Transfer of Development Rights and creation of privately owned public spaces. We will focus on Zuccotti Park as an example and also include its role in Occupy Wall Street. Deutches Bank Building story and Community Board #1 responses to the tragedy. The Lower Manhattan Special District and provisions for the World Trade Center and separate pedestrian level. (Segments still remain.) 9/11: Impact on surrounding buildings and creation of the Temporary Morgue. (First hand accounts). Living in the area post 9/11. (First hand account.) New World Trade Center Plan and process to get to this point. Transit Hub construction at Fulton Street with keeping the Corbin Building, once the world's tallest building. In addition to the WTC Urban Renewal Plan will be look at the Re-purposed Urban Renewal Plans after the 40 year term expired, namely the Gehry New York apartment house.  This photo was taken by Rick Landman in September 2001 when he had to go down to "Ground Zero". The tour will include personal stories of being down at the site and the aftermath; including the politics of getting the project rebuilt. |
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This is a public plaza created by the transfer of development rights. The bulk was transferred to the large building across the street. There was a Choc Full O' Nuts restaurant on the ground floor of the previous building that was permitted to stay until its lease ran out. It looked like an ancient ruin since the top floors were removed.
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World Trade Center
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This building shook so much on 9/11 that all of the granite panels had to be removed from the facade. You can see that the newer replacements are of a different color.
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This building had less damage even though it was closer to the WTC because it had few windows on the northern facade.
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We will see where the American Institute of Architects was founded.
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We can pass the bronze sculpture that was relocated in the park, but that was covered with debris on 9/11.
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We pass the Corbin Building, which was the tallest building in the world when it was constructed. It is next to the Fulton Transportation Hub under construction. If time permits we can go and see where George Washington sat when he prayed in Church.
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The building that now contains the "J & R Music World" was once the tallest building in the world, and the top cupolas were used for tourists to see the views.
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We pass the Woolworth Building, which was the tallest building in the world until the Chrysler Building surpassed it.
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On the former Urban Renewal site near City Hall and Pace University, we will pass the Frank Gehry luxury apartment house under construction.
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WORLD TRADE CENTER AREA |
We will include the World Trade Center area in this Talk & Walk. |
 We will discuss the elevated pedestrian walkways that connected the World Trade Center up to the Borough of Manhattan Community College north of Chambers Street. We will also discuss the Wagner and Lindsay years in reference to the Lower Manhattan Plan and Special District. (Plazas and Transfer of Development Rights.) |
 The former Lower Manhattan Special District in the NYC Zoning Resolution created an elevated pedestrian path that theoretically connected the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC)north of Chambers Street to the south of the World Trade Center. This building was part of that elevation and was meant to connect retail space on the floor above the fire house. The door is still there. |
| 9/11 Related First Hand Issues |
I took this photo in September 2001 showing "Ground Zero". Living in Southern Tribeca for over 30 years, I was displaced from my apartment for approximately one month, and returned home in October. The picture to the right is of me dressing up to go to Ground Zero in September.
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 On September 12, 2001 at 7 a.m. the sky was totally blue without a cloud in sight, except for the area over where the World Trade Centers once stood. This cloud is due to the dust from the destruction.  Around October the neighborhood became a "tourist attraction" with masses of people going down to the see "Ground Zero". These people are passing right in front of my apartment house near Chambers Street. |
 My neighborhood became a "Gated Community" with barricades and police checking all ID's as you entered the area in September. Residents were permitted back to start cleaning up their apartments and other authorized personnel were given access.  What most people didn't know was that the electricity was shut off for the entire neighborhood when 7 WTC fell. Con Edison there ran an entire new system of conduit above ground in orange wooden boxes. Most people just walked over them and never realized what they were.  This is a close-up of the electrical power lines in the orange wooden boxes as seen from my window. |
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We will discuss how this building shook so much on 9/11 that every one of the granite panels had to be removed and either replaced or returned to the facade. You can see that certain panels are not of the same color as the rest. |
This building protected the one to the south. It had minor damage because it has very few windows (some broke) on its northern facade. |
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We will be able to sit next to the sculpture that was already situated in the park and was covered with debris. I don't even know if the young people realize that the man sitting next to them is made of bronze. |
 We will discuss the location of the temporary Morgue that was set up by the federal government. |
 View from 7 World Trade Center of Lower Manhattan. Tours can include the area from the Battery up to the World Trade Center, or the Financial District up to Tribeca or the Brooklyn Bridge. |
After walking past the World Trade site and discussing the plan, we will pass the new Fulton Street Transit Hub and time permitting will continue up to City Hall Park. |
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TOUR #4: GREENWICH VILLAGE URBAN RENEWAL PLAN |
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GREENWICH VILLAGE- URBAN RENEWAL TOUR 
These buildings on MacDougal Street were used as the poster pictures for the demolition of the Village as part of the Urban Renewal Plan in the 1950's. But they were landmarked in the 21st Century as being one of the few federal townhouses still left in Manhattan. The tour will include a walking lecture on Eminent Domain, Condemnation as well as the struggles during the Urban Renewal program in the NYU area. The Tour will end with a Social Event, such as Happy Hour in a local bar. |
This is the rendering from the 1953 Washington Square South Urban Renewal Plan's concept for Greenwich Village, pursuant to the Slum Clearance Plan under Title 1 of the Housing Act of 1949. Notice the Washington Square Arch (in yellow) in Washington Square Park. The "Tower in the Park" concept (which was also emphasized in the 1961 Zoning Resolution) included highways and apartment complexes to replace what is now the Village and SoHo. LECTURE THEMES: Greenwich Village Urban Renewal Plan Lower 5th Avenue And Lower Manhattan Expressway Connections Greenwich Village Historic District - Mews Bluestone Sidewalk Litigation on Washington Square North Federal Brownstones On MacDougal And Urban Renewal Demolitions La Guardia Vs. Moses and the Naming of La Guardia Place and Park Washington Square Village Silver Tower Development and Community Lawsuit Lawsuits Concerning Bobst, Silver Towers, Kimmel and Fuchsberg Halls This tour does not include any NYU Plans or issues after 2005 |
 1. Starting at the Arch in Washington Square Park we will have a brief discussion of the Urban Renewal program and Landmark Preservation movement. If you scroll up and look at the top pictures you will see the rendering of the Urban Renewal Plan, which was created to remove the "blight" from the neighborhood. How did local politics come into play?
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 2. This was the Philip Johnson Master plan which was proposed before Bobst was constructed. Bobst was to be the prototypical building of 150 feet high and made of red sandstone. Do you know what happened to the sandstone quarry?
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 3. This was the vacant lot after the former structures were demolished where Bobst now sits. Can you see why the community was a bit perturbed about Bobst's lack of open space?
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 4. We will then carefully cross the street to walk on the recreated bluestone sidewalk, which came into existence out of a Landmarks Preservation controversy. Can you tell which flags are new and which are original?
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 5. Walking around the corner we will go through the privately owned street called Washington Mews and discuss its history.
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 6. When we approach Fifth Avenue we will discuss the creation of the address 1/2 Fifth Avenue and will view the Kimmel Building from the north. Do you know why the address of 1/2 was chosen?
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 7. Why is this house different from all of the other rowhouses? Why is this door painted green?
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 8. Why is the balustrade beige and the cornice black? Why isn't it the same colors as Goddard Hall, namely beige and red?
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 9. HISTORICAL NOTE: On March 25, 1911 the Asche Building had the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
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 10. HISTORICAL NOTE: On March 25, 1990 the Happyland Fire in the Bronx occurred. How did both fires affect NYU's real estate portfolio?
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 11. This is a view of the Arch when Loeb Student Center was still standing, when the trees covered Loeb and when the camera is not tilted.
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  12. This is the view after the Kimmel Center was completed. As you can see, it depends on how you tilt your camera to show if Kimmel is in the view or not. If you scroll up to picture No. 1, you can see the view before Loeb was even built; and the warehouse behind Loeb was still visible.
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 13. We will continue west on Washington Square North and then south on Washington Square West.Which plaque received a Landmarks Preservation Violation for not being filed when it was installed by a civic group?
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 14. We will leave the Greenwich Village Historic District and walk on MacDougal Street and pass the former Provincetown Playhouse site.
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15. Continuing our walk, we will pass the 3 houses which were once the "poster child" of the Urban Renewal plan, depicting the blight.
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16. The same 3 houses are currently protected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
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 17. Do you know why Bobst sticks out so far to the west on LaGuardia Place? Do you know why it is now called LaGuardia Place and not West Broadway or Lower Fifth Avenue?
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 18. Do you know where the open space and FAR went to for this garden space? What is underneath the street?
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 19. Walking eastward on West Third Street we will discuss the former Elevated Subway line. Do you know where the Poe House actually was situated before it's facade was incorporated into Furman Hall?
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 20. We go south on La Guardia Place discussing the whole issue of Robert Moses and Mayor LaGuardia. We will then walk through the residential portion of the Urban Renewal plan, staying on the former street grid.
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 21. The retail area of the Urban Renewal Plan (with a commercial overlay) once housed the Martin Luther King Center African-American Student Center.
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 22. The interior open space of Washington Square Village is not open to the public or even to NYU affiliates. Do you know who is permitted to use the elevated park?
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 23. We then cross Bleecker Street and walk through the I. M. Pei superblock and discuss the lawsuit by Edward I. Koch and the creation of the third tower for community residents. Do you think that Picasso was the artist of the large Sylvette sculpture or could it be some Norwegian named Carl?
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 24. The tour ends up on Houston Street walking back to the Puck Building. We will pass another lawsuit dealing with who owns public artwork that is installed on the side of a commercial condo within a Historic District. Do you know who owns the public artwork that is affixed to buildings? Is it the condo, the artist or the city?
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 25. Is this obscene? How does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution affect land use law when it comes to public advertising signs and the regulations that control them? The First Amendment also comes into play with religious land use issues, such as Crosses on public lands, and steeple heights, etc.
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Useful Information: Click Here to see the NYC Zoning Map for the area around NYU. Click Here to see the Landmarks Preservation Designation Report for the NYU block of Silver Towers (Block 524). Most of the area is in the R7-2 Zoning District, which permits residential and community facility (university) uses as-of-right, with a maximum residential FAR of 3.44 and a Community Facility (or mixed building) FAR of 6.5. Part of the area is covered with special Urban Renewal restrictions and covenants. |
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TOUR #5 - LGBT HISTORY-ADULT USE ZONING ON CHRISTOPHER STREET This tour starts in Christopher Street Park at Sheridan Square (7th Avenue) by the Segal Statue and heads towards the Hudson River. It will discuss how among other factors the presence of gay and lesbian adult uses helped to create a residential neighborhood in the 1970's and the "LGBT Rights Movement" and how the Zoning, Landmarks Laws and Building Codes were used to close down several gay hot spots. Case Studies will be used to see how land use laws influenced the closing of various adult use establishments.  2013 LGBT History Tour 2011 Tour of GALIP on the APA Tour  Rick Landman was asked to participate in the OUTLOUD PIONEER program 
LECTURE THEMES: History of the Stonewall Rebellion (first hand account) including the laws and court cases that affected the Movement. History of the Segal Statue (first hand account.) History of the area's loss of manufacturing uses and the influx of the Gay Community to the area. History of the Waterfront uses Ups and Down of the LGBT Community in Greenwich Village Creation of Housing for People with AIDS (Bailey House) Zoning Issues: Adult Use Zoning Studies and Regulations The Closing of Adult Use establishments Case Study of how Landmarks and the Building Code could be used to close down an adult use establishment that was near an elementary school and across from a Church for decades. Alex McQuilkin, one of the participants of the 2013 Tour wrote a blog piece about what he discovered from the Tour. You can read his blog by clicking here. |
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CLICK HERE TO READ THE ACTUAL LGBT-RELATED COURT CASES (from the 1960-70's) that affected the LGBT RIGHTS Movement. |
 The tour will start in the park in front of where the Stonewall Riots of 1969 began in Christopher Street Park at 7th Avenue. Here is a photo of what the bar looked like in 1969. |
 Photo of one of scenes over the last weekend in June 1969 at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Christopher Street. |
 This is the corner billboard which used to demand Gay Rights Now! |
This is a photo back from the days of the battle for Gay Rights in New York City. |
 The Stonewall Bar (and Nail Shop which was part of the bar back then). |
 You will hear the discussion of how these statues came to be and how they came to be placed in this location. You will also hear about the model for one of these statues. His name was David Boyce and he was a friend of the tour guide. |
 The current location of the Monster which used to be a restaurant with belly dancers. |
 Corner where the Gay Independent Democrats (GID and now GLID) had tables to register people to vote. |
 Location of the former VD Clinic. |
 Hear the story of how the Bailey House (Residences for People with AIDS)real estate deal came to be. |
 Location of the Tiffany Diner, which used to be at this corner in the 1970's until a few years ago. It was the late night hang out for everyone. |
 The main pier during the 1970's was not where it is today. The remant of the former piers a bit further south, was the main crusing pier until the Hudson River Park renovated the area. The S.S. John Bowne ship was moored to this pier at the time. The ship was part of the Food and Maritime High School on West 13th Street which would become the LGBT Community Center in the 1980's. |
 Even though the Catholic Church was not gay friendly, this Church was friendly during the days of the AIDS epidemic. |
 This is the site of the International Stud which Harvey Fierstein made famous in his Torch Song Trilogy. |
 This is the home of the author and director of the movie Outrageous with Craig Russel. It was a Canadian film about a drag queen in the 1970's. It was the home of Bruce Calnan and Dick Brennen. |
 This is the site of where the Village Voice (when it was the paper of record for young and outsider people) was located. It then was a burger place for a few years when the Village Voice moved to the East Village. |
 Weehawken Street was so overpopulated with drinkers from the West Side Highway bars (Ramrod, Sneakers, Badlands, etc.) that many people used to relieve themselves in Weehawken Street up against the wall of these buildings. |
 The most hip retail store at the time was All American Boy and this was the location. You could get your 501 jeans here as well as your handkerchef of any color. |
 This is what the Anvil looked like then. You will hear many stories about what went on there. |
 This is the location of the Anvil today. |
| OTHER TOURS: | NEW AMSTERDAM TOURS | ZONING ORIGINS: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN LOWER MANHATTAN | GREENWICH VILLAGE - URBAN RENEWAL HISTORY | 3 TRIBECA TOURS | JEWS IN NYC | WTC TOUR | GERMAN TOUR |
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