City of New
This is something I've witnessed unfold and can't ignore. It lies very close to who I am and I feel obligated to photograph what is happening. What is going on is fundamentally different from other development booms in the history of New York City. #cityofnew is my experience watching in horror as the New New York City rises post 2007 financial crash as if we have learned nothing. The new residential and mixed use slender towers that are beginning to rise over the rest are a soaring metaphor of all what is wrong and corrupt with thefinancial influence in contemporary New York development: anonymous international money parking for the global elite... At the cost of the thread of our city. The trickle down effect of these buildings and their inflated valuation skew the entire real estate market, and the sustainability of the neighborhoods these mega projects take place (and more rampantly on a smaller scale with deceitful large rental projects and assorted development in low-income and neighborhoods of color) further make my home, New York City, nearly impossible to afford and live sustainably. This is being examined at the 100 year anniversary of a building massing law established in 1916 as the biggest zoning resolution the city has ever seen: created to allow light to the streets as building soared with straight vertical faces, buildings would have to rise proportionally in relation to the amount of space it occupys. This spawned the "wedding cake" and 1/4 size towers from a larger base that we see with tall buildings post 1916. This massing law has been wildly abused in the 21st century in transfer of "potential buildable space" to increase a maximum FAR or "floor area ratio"without capping building height; This needs investigation. In contemporary New York developers "collect" the buildings adjacent to the development site to "transfer" FAR and give the development project the "air rights" from the existing buildings. This can take decades to accomplish and see the projects to an end. This should be illegal and needs revision. The LPC is crippled in protecting the city's history thru this process, whether buildings are being demolished or kept because they were built before 1916 and have valuable transferable FAR. I am curious as to who is suppressing the LPC within the municipal government. De Blasio is simplystanding by and seeing thru what Bloomberg and the past few mayoral terms who are pro-development have established and certainly play a part in the grand scheme, and are making millions in the process. Who is getting kickbacks? The LPC lies silent and swaths of history are demolished on a monthly basis as they fail to intervene. Where is the corruption there? The municipal government and developers continue to build to the sky - not for the inhabitants of NYC but for their own interests and bottom line. When is the next breaking point? Cooper Ray, New York City, 2016 City of New #1 appeared as an exhibition at the Bushwick Community Darkroom in August 2016. The 100 year anniversary of the 1916 zoning resolution