Arts in Downtown Manhattan
Downtown Manhattan from 14th street and below has been completely transformed the past 5 years. Construction is everywhere from the World Trade Center to the Highline. Numerous amount of places to live are being built around these areas. New stores, restaurants, etc. open daily. Downtown Manhattan is returning to the turn of the 20th Century.
So, where is the next Lincoln Center going to be built downtown? Where will there be large theaters to show music, theater, dance etc? Of course there are many small venues but there are small venues and large venues uptown. Where will the large venues of downtown New York be built?
Where is the visionary behind the rebuilding of lower Manhattan? As more and more families remain in NYC, and live downtown, why aren’t the arts going to be available to them on a larger scale. Will it always be necessary to see sports teams play at the Garden? Will the Garden be the only venue when the Stones come to town? Will the latest theater group, like a Manhattan Theater Club, not be available in a downtown setting?
In the urban environment of Manhattan, most people still like to stay in their neighborhoods. As public funds are being eliminated for the arts, where is our Robert Moses?
Comments (Archived):
much of downtown is landmarked and beloved. robert moses is NOT what is needed. what IS needed, and you could help with this, is landmarking what’s left of downtown.
i noticed your recent puff piece on the unfortunate hotel gansevoort. the real story behind that hotel is the outsized, disgustingly enormous sign they’ve built at the corner of gansevoort and ninth avenue. the entire neighborhood is trying to get that sign torn down but you didn’t even mention it.
how about becoming PART of the neighborhood, not just a consumer?
I agree with the sentiment above. At times, we New Yorkers are in such a rush to change things for the perceived better only to find out that the end result is not quite as grand as we planned. We’re still an incredibly young city and I’m not sure if forced development downtown is the solution. A real visionary downtown would be a person that wants to preserve the character that has been such a beacon for creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation. Forcing large scale arts projects downtown (probably funded by large corporations with underlying interests in an area) is not the answer.
You don’t come downtown to see the rolling stones. You come downtown to go to great music before it’s big. You don’t come downtown to see the knicks. You come downtown to see streetball. There’s something to be said about preserving that before transforming this city into an overly clean playground for families. That’s what Disney is for…