Third day: Student presentations in the field

Teams about to leave

Quite a 'walking' day started at 09:00 in front of our hotel with full enthusiasm. Professor van Weesep and Professor van Vaart has divided the group into two and I joined the van Weesep team today. We had 12 students in the group, forming 6 teams. Today 4 teams took us to their study areas, guided us and provided information on the neighborhoods and presented the results of their first observations. Really well-done!

Tessa and Thijs telling their story

We've started in the neighborhood of Thijs Olthof and Tessa Dorresteijn: Riverside/Manhattan Valley. They took us to a walk starting at the Straus Park, which is a special memorial named after Isidor Straus and his wife Ida, who died in 1912 when the Titanic sank. The neighborhood was initially a wealthy area though in time it deteriorated.

Affordable housing from Mosses period

Corner of Columbus Avenue

Zigzagging between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue Thijs and Tessa showed us the different phases the neighborhood went through. It was very interesting to observe different 'faces' of the neighborhood reflecting to e diverse types of housing and retail and diverse styles of architecture. It is amazing how it differs from one street to another and sometimes even from one side of the street to the other.

Yvette and Melanija telling their story

Dacota

Following Tessa and Thijs's enthusiastic presentation, we've moved from Manhattan Valley towards Upper West Side with the guidance of Yvette Lanting and Melanija Tacconi. They took us to the Central Park's corner to begin the tour. Their neighborhood covered the fancy condominiums facing the Park, where also the forerunner 'The Dacota' is located. This co-op apartment building was built in 1880s when the Upper West Side of Manhattan was sparsely inhabited. Taking us through streets with amazing brownstone houses and luxurious residential condominiums, Melanija and Yvette showed us the transformation of the 19th century up-market housing areas very nicely. We had a lunch break at the Whole Foods and rested a little before we headed towards Brooklyn Heights with Maurits Brenninkmeijer and Max Klijnstra leading us.

Max and Maurits telling their story

Maurits and Max presented the idea of super gentrification that has been taking place in Brooklyn Heights through the last decades. Lets have a look at what Francois Weil (A History of New York, Columbia University Press, 2000, p. 98) says about this historical neighborhood:

One of the oldest houses on the Willow Street

'Indisputably, the most impressive growth was Brooklyn's, 'New York's dormitory', according to Charles Dickens. Around 1815, its landowners, among them the merchant Hezekia Beers Pierrepont, transformed themselves into property developers. They divided their lands into small parcels and, in less than a decade, turned Brooklyn Heights-the area that overlooked the ferry pier on the East River- into a fashionable neighborhood. What was once a little village became a leading American residential suburb.'  No doubt the neighborhood is a fashionable residential area to live again. 'Super gentrified', with the words of Loretta Lees (Urban Studies, Vol. 40, No. 12, 2487–2509, November 2003), the neighborhood has become the destination of highly-paid, formerly single now married with young kids, people.
Max and Maurits very smartly showed us the evidence of such transformation in the area (day-care centers, playgrounds and parks). Though they had a great difficulty to keep us under control when we walked along the pier with spectacular views over lower Manhattan they handed the flag to the final group of the day: Alberto Giacometti and Bas van der Reep.

Alberto and Krijn telling their story

Alberto and Bas's study area, South Brooklyn, was not very far from Brooklyn Heights. In fact we could simply walk there. Though also a gentrifying neighborhood, the area had a completely different feel compared to the Brooklyn Heights.

Houses with front gardens

The Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens reflects another history of New York, the Italian immigration.
Alberto and Bas pointed out that the area has a dominant white population though historically it was an Italian neighborhood with a special architectural style of houses with large front gardens. Though the Italian population decreased in time, affected by the increasing prices due to gentrification, their existence is still quite visible in the area.

Alberto and Bas leaded us to walk along the streets where we could see Italian flags, small Madonna statues in the front yards and even a community center for Italians. We've walked along these beautiful streets and noticed the presence of the young population in the area. We've walked along the colorful shopping streets and also noticed the wide variety of restaurants, cafe's and shops, though  towards the end the Italian presence was more prominent. A job really well-done!

Overall the research teams did very well. I was quite surprised with how quickly they adjusted to their study areas and developed a knowledge to guide us. I've heard from many of them that the preparations that took part in Utrecht was extremely useful for them and coming to the field they would have an absolutely new perspective on their areas. By the end of the walk it became difficult to keep eyes off the attractions on the shopping streets of South Brooklyn and everybody did definitely need some rest so we called the day off! Tomorrow is a new day with new adventures, which will start around the Times Square...