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October 19, 2011
A Block Party Without a Block: A Community Survives Long After Its Homes Are Razed
MetroFocus
by Sam Lewis
Documentary filmmaker Jim Epstein, whose short doc on the razing of Manhattantown we posted last month, spoke recently with WNET's blog about modern-day parallels.
Q: The city still uses eminent domain as a strategy to clear private land for development…Is your film in part a cautionary tale?
A: My piece is actually an opening short for the “The Battle for Brooklyn,” a new documentary about the Atlantic Yards Project. I think there are absolute parallels between the urban renewal programs of the ’50s and ’60s and contemporary urban development projects. In Moses’ era, city officials used the urban renewal program as a tool to prevent “white flight,” and they often built public housing or cultural institutions. Today, the city invests in large-scale projects with the mantra of “growth” and “economic development,” but we see the construction of new stadiums and shopping centers.
My favorite Robert Moses quote is, “someday you’ll thank me for these projects and forget about these people.” I’m paraphrasing his actual words, but I think it reflects how we remember this era of urban renewal.
Posted by eric at October 19, 2011 1:05 PM