Touring Midtown Megaprojects with Bob Yaro

Bob Yaro of the Regional Plan Association walks around Midtown Manhattan, reflecting on the effect megaprojects like the modern Penn Station and Javits Center have had on the city.

1 minute read

June 25, 2009, 9:00 AM PDT

By Tim Halbur

On Penn Station's demolition and rebuilding, from the audio interview:

YARO: "This was about greed. And government is supposed to moderate greed, and in this case it didn't do its job. The property was taken by eminent domain, it took state legislation to allow a private company to come in and create the right of ways in and out of this place and assemble a superblock in Manhattan. And then we just handed the keys over to a greedy, speculative developer. It was outragous, but that's what happened in the 60s.

And in some ways, it didn't die in vain, because this atrocity produced the whole historic preservation movement in this country."

FULL STORY: A Walk with Bob Yaro

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 in Urban Omnibus

Energy New York Penn Station Midtown Manhattan Bob Yaro

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