Post War Building

The building that I chose for a post- war building is actually not a building at all but I think it is still a pretty important construction. It has a very big impact on the lifestyle that New Yorkers lead. The construction that I chose is the subway, particularly the F train. The stop closest to my neighborhood, Jamaica Estates obviously, is the 179th street stop which was built in December of 1950. The 179th street is pretty important stop because it links many different neighborhoods to the subway that before were not previously able to easily access the subway. There are actually Long Island busses to take people different places in Nassau County such as Hempstead and the Roosevelt Field Mall. This picture is of the inside of the subway station which like most subway stations in Queens is underground. The F train is very significant in my life because it is the train I use most often because it goes just about everywhere in Manhattan and it is so convenient. The subway has orange and blue theme which I think was planned that because the F color is orange on the subway maps. The walls have beige tile with a blue and orange tile design running the length of the station. Although you can not see it here the floors are the same color as the walls with yellow tile on the edges like any other subway stations. In my opinion the subway station is extremely dirty, but then again what subway station isn’t. One can only wonder how a station that was probably very nice and clean when it was built became so disgusting. I believe it is because of high volume of people coming into the station, especially during rush hours, with their coffees and whatever else and not enough MTA employees to clean up after them. However, no matter how dirty this station becomes it will probably still remain a high traffic area because the subway is part of a New Yorker’s life.

Anootated BIbliography

Greater Jamaica Development Corporation. History. 2006. 17 Feb 2008
http://www.gjdc.org/downtown/history.html

The Greater Jamaica Development Corporation is a not-for-profit organization devoted to redevelopment of the once affluent Greater Jamaica area. The history section tells how Jamaica became a popular area and what parts the area played in Colonial history.

NYC.gov. My Neighborhood Statistics. January 2008. 20 Feb 2008
http://gis.nyc.gov/ops/mmr/mmrmap.jsp

This website gives you statistics about whatever neighborhood you are interested in researching. It gives you information on everything from education to crimes reported to types of 311 complaints.

Chapter 11&12 Summary

In these two chapters Jane Jacobs talks about for concentrations in cities and some common myths about diversity in largely populated areas. According to Jacobs dense concentrations are absolutely necessary for modern cities to flourish. However, just because an area lacks density does not mean that is not a successful city or neighborhood. She says that some of the most vital neighborhoods have very high concentrations of people, while some of the less desirable places to live were full of one and two-family homes that had a very low number of people per residential acre. This seems to be the opposite of what people would assume the affects of concentrations to be. Jacobs also talks about common myths in city planning, one of them being the fact that city planners don’t want places and buildings in a neighborhood to have mixed uses. She believes that when you have a neighborhood of only one type of use you promote monotony, which then causes a lack of diversity.

Interview Questions

1. What is your name?
2. How have you lived in the area?
3. What was the neighborhood like when you moved in?
4. How has it changed?
5. What are some new businesses in the area?
6. Have you seen a change in the economic status of the people in the neighborhood?
7. Are there a lot of children in this neighborhood?
8. Do you think this is a suitable neighborhood for raising a family?
9. What nationalities live in the area?
10. What type of people does this neighborhood attract?

Chapter 9 Summary

In this chapter Jane Jacobs discusses the importance of having small blocks in cities. She says that when you have smaller blocks there are a variety of routes that you can take to your destination, therefore giving you more opportunities to interact with people in your neighborhood. Jacobs gives the example of a person living on one street in Manhattan and they always walk down their street to the main avenue never using the adjacent streets. Jacobs argues that if they put a street midway between the avenues then people would be more inclined to vary their route and intermingle with people from the other streets. A somewhat good example of this, according to Jacobs, is Rockefeller Center. The Plaza bisects 48th to 51st street between 5th and 6th avenue all the people that would use these streets to interact. Jacobs believes that when planning a city there should be frequent streets and short blocks to promote cross use among the people that frequent the neighborhood.

PreWar Building

This is a picture of a World War II Memorial at the beginning of Jamaica Estates. It is a gatehouse built from river stones that marks the entrance to the Midland Malls. The memorial was restored last year by rebuilding the roof and cleaning of the stones and the plaque. The plaque was dedicated, by the Jamaica Estates Association, to ten men from Jamaica Estates who lost their lives in World War Two. The restoration of the revered edifice was funded by a Restoration Project to beautify the Midland Malls. The Restoration began on June 7 of last year and included the seven midland malls from Hillside Avenue to Surrey Place. The main goal of the restoration according to Commissioner Adrian Benepe is to “provide refuge from urban life and increase property value.” Where the structure is located looks very out of place because it is right where Hillside meets Midland Parkway. Hillside is one of the least appealing areas part of Jamaica Estates and it is usually not considered part of the neighborhood because it is one of the outermost borders. This area is where the subway is and it is most likely one of the least expensive places to live in the neighborhood. The memorial is surrounded by grassy areas with shrubs and bushes. This is to reflect the appearance of the neighborhood that it signifies you are entering. Jamaica Estates is known for being a neighborhood that preserves as much greenery as possible.

Chapter 7&8 Summary

In these two chapters Jane Jacobs argues the value of diversity in big cities. She argues that the larger a city is the more diversity that is present. According to Jacobs whenever there is a city or area that has an abundance of variety in its commerce, you will find that that area also has diversity in other areas, such as cultural and religious diversity. Jacobs believes that everything in cities has uses and the people that inhabit and visit the area are called its users. There are places that have primary and secondary uses and both play vital roles in the City and the way it runs. Places that have primary uses are those that draw people to the place on their own such as offices and people’s homes. Places that have secondary are those that serve the people that are drawn by the primary use places such as delis and drug stores.

SIdewalks of Jamaica Estates

There are many different types of people who use the sidewalks of Jamaica Estates; students going to school, mothers and fathers going to work, women going to work in homes as nannies or maids. Around the sidewalks surrounding my house is a school, a temple and many houses. My neighborhood is not like many New York City neighborhoods that have lots of drugstores, restaurants, stores and delis. Mine is very residential and therefore the for the most part the only people that frequent these sidewalks are the inhabitants of the houses that line them. Usually on the weekdays you see people walking to and from the bus stops on the of the sidewalks. There is a man in between the bus stop and the school with a food truck that sells breakfast foods and coffee to students and commuters. In the mornings the school buses block most of the sidewalks on the way to the bus stops so you have to squeeze through in between the buses and peoples fences or walls. On Saturdays, because there are so many Jewish temples in the area, you see lots of people walking there in the mornings with their kids. Sunday is the day to relax and that is exactly what people around these sidewalks do. People are out walking their dogs, running to get exercise, and some kids might be in the basketball courts at the schools. The people who use this sidewalk are all different ages and from different cultures and just like in Jane Jacob’s book they crave privacy in their lives therefore they tend to keep to themselves when they are walking around.

Chapter 3 Summary

In this chapter Jane Jacobs talks about the different ways sidewalks affect peoples’ lives. She argues that in the city people are in theory brought together but there is really no togetherness because people don’t socialize with the anonymous people on their sidewalk. People probably do this because in the cities privacy is such a precious commodity and people in large cities feel that if they talk to somebody on the street in the morning, then whatever they say will be around the whole neighborhood in the evening. People choose to socialize with the people they trust such as the guy at the candy store or the deli across the street. Another argument Jacobs has about the lack of “togetherness” on the sidewalks and the neighborhoods is because the cities and suburbs that are being planned only suit one demographic of people and the other people that don’t fit the mold this plan for people socializing with their neighbors in pre-planned places just doesn’t work.

Great American Cities Summary

By writing The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs is trying to get people, more so city planners, to change the way that think cities should be built. She shows us how that the City planners don’t completely understand the people that are going to be living in the areas that are being built. The city planners need to think more about what the residents need than about what the neighborhood will physically look like. She wants us to understand that it is not about how much money you spend on the project that is the final word in the success of the project, but rather how the entire community can work for its residents. Meaning not putting in upscale shopping centers where the residents of the neighborhood will not be able to afford what the stores sell. They should put in a more practical shopping center with a grocery store and a pharmacy. A successful city is that which is being supported from both ends, that way the relationships between residents and city planners is a good one.

Forgotten Lampposts

Forgotten-NY.com is basically a website that is dedicated to places and objects in and around New York City that most tourists, and probably a lot of New Yorkers, do not know about. Fifth avenue is probably one of the most famous avenues in New York, it might even be the most famous. There is a part of this website that has a section dedicated to the different types of lamps you can find on this acclaimed avenue. The lampposts along 5th avenue all have different themes. on the lower part between Washington Square Park and to 23rd street there is the slotted lamppost. This type of lamppost which was introduced in the 1960s was designed by Donald Deskey.
Fifth avenue has the most dual masted lampposts (one light faces each side of the street) out of any North-South running street in New York City. In the 1920s until the 1940s the main lamppost that was used was called the Type 24M twin. These lampposts had very intricate designs on the bases and cast-iron designs going off of the posts out to the lamps. In 1985 5th avenue started to use a different type of lampposts which were very simple, unattractive lampposts with the lamp resembling a shoebox. Then in 1990 the Department of Transportation started to use “retro” to add to the character of the Avenue. One of the most popular lamps not only on Fifth Avenue but throughout New York City is what the website called “RoboLamps” and the first appeared on Fifth Avenue in 1992.
I think that the people who did this website did a section on the lamps of fifth avenue to show how much effort the City puts in to making the streets look nice even down to small details like what types of lamps they use. The different designs and styles of lamps show the various types of architectural styles that New York City has seen through the different eras. During artistic eras there were many lamps with scrolling cast iron on lamps and intricate engraving on the bases. During times when everything was sharp with edges and lines the lampposts reflected that with having sharp angles and lines as well. This part of the website was enlightening because you never really think this much work goes into what lamps people use in the City.