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September 6, 2007
Neoliberalism and Labor's Stirrings
Labor Day in New York City
Counterpunch
By Joseph Grosso
One could argue that Atlantic Yards is at the epicenter of the conflict between old and new New York (emphasis added):
As New York City has joined the nation-wide shift over the last quarter-century from an industrial center to a service economy, it has become a city of financial, legal, and real estate elites funding large-scale cultural and high rise projects while living on an underpaid pool of service labor terrorized by intrusive policing. During the Bloomburg years these trends have accelerated and plans are works to reshape some of the few historically working class neighborhoods. While most attention has focused on Bruce Ratner's Atlantic Yards that would knock down many housing units and bring the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn (further signaling the "arrival" of the old borough), other projects will redesign the waterfronts of Brooklyn and Manhattan with luxury high-rises and transform whatever is left of the city's industrial centers. Local community resistance has been able to get some of the money earmarked for affordable housing, though the definition of "affordable" remains quite blurry.
Posted by lumi at September 6, 2007 8:33 AM