Comments on: A piece of the rock

By: David Cruz

David Cruz — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:16:28 +0000

Susan. You may remember the little garden and gathering spot that the Latino families from 6th Street maintained for years in the shadow of the embankment between Grove and Erie. It really showed an appreciation of the structure as a centerpiece of the neighborhood. But those families are mostly gone now. The general sense from the Latino community, I think, is ambivalence. Councilman Mariano Vega has expressed support for it. I don’t know if he represents any constituency anymore, though.
As for celebrities in/from JC. This list suggests not really. I think I recall a hip hop artist or two, and Flip Wilson. Robert “Kool” Bell? Nathan Lane? Martha Stewart?

By: susan beddia

susan beddia — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:18:09 +0000

Where does the latino community stand on the issue? Seems to me if they realized that instead of looking out their window at a benevolent sleeping Giant they would have light, privacy, and community encroached upon they might feel inclined to give their
support the EPC. Perhaps, if they haven’t already, apply political pressure on the right people.
By the way, don’t WE have any celebs?

By: REF

REF — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:56:43 +0000

So I’m still pondering your analogy (that ‘passion’ I guess), and here’s where it doesn’t hold water imho: I wouldn’t expect the EPC to manage the park, and the management of it wouldn’t become an issue until the work to create the park is COMPLETE. I think the same holds true for the Loew’s – the restoration of the theater, both aesthetically and operationally, is still very much a work in progress, requiring a lot more blood, sweat, and tears, let alone fund-raising and grant-writing. It is years away, and the FOL have had to claw their way toward getting the project as far as they have because of abysmal leadership from the city and absurd battles over the lease and budgets. If/when the building becomes operational 12 months a year, if/when the building is brought up to fire/safety code so as to allow the venue to become fully usable upstairs and down, and if/when the numerous aesthetic restoration projects get completed, and THEN the FOL are holding the utilization of the space back from achieving its potential, maybe THEN i can take calls for them to step aside and “free” the theater to be controlled by groups whose interests and experience lie exclusively in presentation. (holy run-on sentence).

By: REF

REF — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:50:04 +0000

Titling the piece “Free the Loew’s Theater” makes your admiration level for the FOL pretty clear. The word that’s coming to mind isn’t really “complicated”.

By: Blasito

Blasito — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:17:43 +0000

I grew up half a block from the High Line, and when I moved to JC ten years ago, one of the appeals to me was the great collection of industrial “ruins” like the Embankment and the Powerhouse. It has been dismaying to watch politicians pay lip service to this great resource and then turn around to let the developers knock down these treasures and build an incredibly banal modern city without soul. I agree that the Embankment is becoming that line in the sand, that last straw. Having watched the Friends of the High Line take a lost cause and succeed beyond their wildest dreams, I do hope some of that will rub off on the EPC. I’m sorry I missed the presentation, and I wonder how much Mr. Hammond spoke about how they were able to turn around the property owners from seeing the High Line as an ugly eyesore to being an incredible asset that would increase their property values. I think this is the crucial step that saved the High Line. Like it or not, the fact that this park became the cause celebré for the ultra chic is why it succeeded. And yes, to old-timers like myself, there is something lost. But I would rather have the park along with the starchitecture high rises than for them to have torn it all down and just built a few more banal blocks of LeFrak City.

By: David Cruz

David Cruz — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:15:37 +0000

Um, I’m a complicated guy? I’m not sure the EPC would automatically be the group to manage an embankment park, either. As for FOL, I don’t know how else to give them credit for their great work. I thought I made that clear in the initial piece. (I am again bowing in their direction right now.) But this is comparing bananas to papayas. I appreciate your passion, though.

By: REF

REF — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:56:48 +0000

Just to keep score, the EPC should be applauded for fighting the good fight, but the Friends of the Loew’s should step aside because they have (for now) succeeded in saving a piece of our City’s history from the wrecking ball. Gotcha.