NY Times Smacks Roosevelt Island Residents Across the Face
The NY Times today demonstrates how little regard it has for residents of New York City neighborhoods that do not have multi-million dollar condos or well connected political supporters. For instance, an editorial in today's NY Times comes out in favor of the Louis Kahn/FDR memorial at Southpoint Park but does not even mention that there is a great deal of controversy and opposition to the project by Roosevelt Island residents who believe that this particular design is a blight on what could become a beautiful waterfront park. There is no mention in the editorial that when asked in a survey taken by the Trust for the Public Land the residents voted against the Kahn memorial or that the elected President of the Roosevelt Island Resident's Association opposes the Kahn memorial as well (comment 75 to this NY Times City Room Blog article). Nor is there mention that for those Roosevelt Island residents who do support the Kahn memorial, it is primarily due to the great fear that if it is not built this magnificent site would become the location for more luxury condos and never become the waterfront park hoped for and promised.
If one has never been to the southern tip of Southpoint Park, seen the clear open views of the East River and Manhattan/Queens skyline and walked down to the water (not walking above it on a promenade like much of the NYC waterfront) it might be reasonable to support a design by a famous architect that purports to honor FDR. But even assuming such support is reasonable, for the NY Times to editorialize in favor of this project without at least mentioning that many, if not most, of the residents of Roosevelt Island oppose this memorial is a great disservice to the readers and reputation of the so called "Paper of Record". Perhaps the editorial writers should have read this article from their own paper.
But those opposed to the memorial say supporters waited too long. "Kahn's memorial was played out in a different time, a different era, a different world," said Herbert Berman, president of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation. "It was right for 30 years ago, not for now." Today, he said, those who live on Roosevelt Island are interested in less formal uses for the land....The NY Times editorial states:
"Louis Kahn would have done it differently if he were alive today," said Charles McKinney, the consultant in charge of the Roosevelt Island park proposal for the Trust for Public Land. "He was well known for his concerns about creating communal spaces, and he would have understood the importance of this community's concerns, and he would have responded."
The eminent architect Louis Kahn was commissioned to design the memorial, and his concept was simple and elegant. Drawing inspiration from Roosevelt’s defense of the Four Freedoms — of speech and religion, and from want and fear — he designed an open “room and a garden” at the bottom of the island. Trees on either side form a “V” defining a green space, and leading to a two-walled stone room at the water’s edge that frames the United Nations and the rest of the skyline.And:
There’s a magic to the project. That the task is daunting makes it worthy of the man it honors, who guided the nation through the Depression, the New Deal and a world war. As for Mr. Kahn, he died in 1974, as he passed alone through New York’s Penn Station. In his briefcase were renderings of the memorial, his last completed plan.The NY Times editorial is wrong - there is no magic to this project - just raw political and financial power attempting to crush community opposition.
If the editorial writer had done some homework he might have learned that most Roosevelt Island residents preferred this alternative to the Kahn memorial...
"Wild Gardens/Green Rooms," a picturesque park designed by Mark K. Morrison, a local landscape designer who is currently working on security fencing for the United Nations, as well as on numerous Manhattan playgrounds. The design includes a cafe in the ruins of the smallpox hospital and an earth mound providing enough contour for sledding in winter. The removable stage at the edge of a large lawn would be located at the southernmost tip, where Kahn put his granite room open to the sea.But then again it probably does not matter to the NY Times or the supporters of the Kahn memorial what Roosevelt Island residents think of this project in their own neighborhood. We're not rich or politically connected.
The 14-acre "Wild Gardens" would cost approximately $34 million to complete, with a first phase planned at $10 million needed to stabilize the collapsing hospital ruins and clear pathways on the west side to the now inaccessible point. That's $4 million more than Kahn's 2.8-acre memorial design would cost, according to a revised budget prepared in 2003 for the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute by the Plaza Construction Corporation.
Video is a 360 panoramic view of the southern tip of Southpoint Park, Roosevelt Island where the granite structure of the Kahn memorial is proposed to be located. The effect of this crypt like mausoleum will be to destroy this view.
You Tube link of video is here.
Image of Kahn memorial is from Architectural Record.
8 comments :
Wow. So much outrage over somebody's opinion. It wasn't news or anything of importance. Just somebody who wrote an opinion piece about the memorial plans. It was even a very short one at that. And since when can an opinion be wrong?
anon - you are either a kahnunist, or you completely misunderstand the point of an editorial...
I happen to like the Memorial, but that's my opinion. The difference between my opinion and the one printed in the NY Times is that only a handful of people will read mine. It's not just "somebody's" opinion - it's THE NEW YORK TIMES - big difference.
Perhaps the outrage you see here is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. For the last 30 years NY State has been making believe they care about the opinions of the residents; they ask for them, hoping they'll hear what they want, then do whatever they please.
I think what you're reading here is a representation of that frustration. Plus, there are some very strong feelings about keeping the extraordinary views at SouthPoint in tact. As I said up front, I like the Memorial, but I completely understand the intensity of the reaction against it by some of the residents.
the views from southpoint park are great!
except when the park isn't even open.
which is most of the time.
maybe having the park be handicapped accessible might be a nice nod to both FDR and the chronic care patients at coler-goldwater.
maybe it would be good to see some sort of actual evidence (poll?) as to whether many/most/some rooseveltislanders really dislike the kahn idea (not stating an opinion, just saying it would be good to have some evidence one way or the other).
if attention from the state + the park helps to bring a tiny bit more attention to our island, maybe we can get an E/V subway station or just a bit more funding to keep the tram running. now that wouldn't be so bad after all, would it?
then again, maybe it would be better to keep southpoint closed 355 out of 365 days of the year. (ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a bit!!).
To the writer who says the park isn't open most of the time, I'm guessing you're new on the Island. SouthPoint Park was totally off limits for dozens of years until one new Island Board member listened to the residents and forced the powers that be to open it a few years ago. I agaree the hours could be extended, but other than when the UN is in session, it's supposed to be open all day, every day. Why not start a campaign to keep it open longer?
Your point about a poll, instead of opinions, sounds like you're not aware that a real, honest to God poll was taken, Island-wide by the TPL. Unfortunately few people cared enough to participate. However, the results of the poll were used to justify the TPL proposal that's going forward to make a park north of the ruins. In the poll, the residents came out very strongly in favor of the "Wild Gardens" concept and against the FDR Memorial. Even though that poll was used to get the go-ahead for Phase I of the TPL plan, it's now being labeled as "invalid" for the FDR Memorial. That's the stuff that drives the residents crazy.
I agree the park should be more handicapped accessible. The TPL plan called for exactly that.
As for getting more funding to keep the tram running, please don't kid yourself about this being about money. It isn't. If you read the RIOC financials at www.rioc.com, you'll see that the Island runs about a $3 million overage on our Operating Expenses and we have $59 million in assets. The Kahn Memorial will be built and maintained with all private funds and any money raised will be used to cover the maintenance of the Memorial. Remember, it's not designated parkland. No funds will go toward Island expenses.
It's not more money the Island needs, it's more imagination, professionalism, and competence from RIOC. But mostly, it needs more residents to get involved, stand up and insist that we be listened to.
So, I reread the editorial one more time and still don't understand what the uproar is all about. Fine, whoever wrote that piece failed to mention that the memorial is rather controversial among the island population. But so what? The Times likes it. Some of us like it. Some of us don't. Do we know if the majority of us don't like it? Hello, no. I bet that most of us are probably quite ambivalent or don't care too much.
One of the problems with this article is that it is written as though it's a done deal. I think that's dangerous because then the perception is that nothing can be done about it and more people talk about it as though it's a done deal. I'm very against this project and am tired of RIOC and our politicians deciding what they think is best for the island and it's residents. It's a very matriarchal attitude which I resent. Residents did vote against this memorial, and now that vote is not considered valid. This has become a memorial for Louis Kahn and not FDR. We have been promised a park and we are getting a memorial, it's a big difference.When you get to the tip of the island there will be granite walls that will block your east and west views. The entire memorial is granite. We will be getting a cold granite Louis Kahn memorial. If that's what my neighbors want so be it. If not, get off your ass and find your voice. Only when enough people speak out can there be a change.
It would be better to address complaints to Jessica Lappin, not the New York Times. Lappin is supposed to represent the residents of Roosevelt Island. More than 30 years have passed since Kahn's design for Southpoint Park was published. Public sentiments and views about the use of open space have changed since then. Clearly, the residents of Roosevelt Island, as well as visitors from elsewhere, would be better served by a design that emphasizes nature over concrete.
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