Preserving South Street Seaport : : The Dream and Reality of a New York Urban Renewal District / / James M. Lindgren.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter New York University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Lindgren, James M.,
• Place / Publishing House: New York, NY : : New York University Press, , [2014]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource

Preserving South Street Seaport tells the fascinating story, from the 1960s to the present, of the South Street Seaport District of Lower Manhattan. Home to the original Fulton Fish Market and then the South Street Seaport Museum, it is one of the last neighborhoods of late 18th- and early 19th-century New York City not to be destroyed by urban development. In 1988, South Street Seaport became the city's #1 destination for visitors. Featuring over 40 archival and contemporary black-and-white photographs, this is the first history of a remarkable historic district and maritime museum. Lindgren skillfully tells the complex story of this unique cobblestoned neighborhood. Comprised of deteriorating, 4-5 story buildings in what was known as the Fulton Fish Market, the neighborhood was earmarked for the erection of the World Trade Center until New Jersey forced its placement one mile westward. After Penn Station’s demolition had angered many New York citizens, preservationists mobilized in 1966 to save this last piece of Manhattan’s old port and recreate its fabled 19th-century “Street of Ships.” The South Street Seaport and the World Trade Center became the yin and yang of Lower Manhattan’s rebirth. In an unprecedented move, City Hall designated the museum as developer of the twelve-block urban renewal district. However, the Seaport Museum,whose membership became the largest of any history museum in the city, was never adequately funded, and it suffered with the real estate collapse of 1972. The city, bankers, and state bought the museum’s fifty buildings and leased them back at terms that crippled the museum financially. That led to the controversial construction of the Rouse Company's New Fulton Market (1983) and Pier 17 mall (1985). Lindgren chronicles these years of struggle, as the defenders of the people-oriented museum and historic district tried to save the original streets and buildings and the largest fleet of historic ships in the country from the schemes of developers, bankers, politicians, and even museum administrators. Though the Seaport Museum’s finances were always tenuous, the neighborhood and the museum were improving until the tragedy of 9/11. But the prolonged recovery brought on dysfunctional museum managers and indifference, if not hostility, from City Hall. Superstorm Sandy then dealt a crushing blow. Today, the future of this pioneering museum, designated by Congress as America’s National Maritime Museum, is in doubt, as its waterfront district is eyed by powerful commercial developers. While Preserving South Street Seaport reveals the pitfalls of privatizing urban renewal, developing museum-corporate partnerships, and introducing a professional regimen over a people’s movement, it also tells the story of how a seedy, decrepit piece of waterfront became a wonderful venue for all New Yorkers and visitors from around the world to enjoy. This book will appeal to a wide audience of readers in the history and practice of museums, historic preservation, urban history and urban development, and contemporary New York City.This book is supported by a grant from Furthermore: a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface and acknowledgments -- Abbreviations -- Introduction. “Salvation on the east river”: how a clever editor saw Jehovah’s light -- 1. “Eloquent reminders of sailing and shipbuilding”: how the seaport and world trade center (re)made Fulton street -- 2. “The kind of civilized vision that new yorkers are not supposed to have”: how historic preservation shaped lower Manhattan’s development -- 3. “Ships, the heart of the story”: how tall ships became big news -- 4. “Look at our waterfront! just look”: how earth day boomed the seaport -- 5. “A million people came away better human beings” how the past mended the present -- 6. “Shopping is the chief cultural activity in the united states”: how the seaport sold its soul -- 7. “They tore down paradise, and put up a shopping mall”: how speculators and rouseketeers created a bubble -- 8. “The museum was intellectually and financially bankrupt”: how the seaport fared after the bubble burst -- 9. “It’s tough when you have a museum in a mall”: how the seaport (almost) succeeded -- 10. “A ship is a hole in the water into which you pour money”: how maritime preservation (almost) won -- 11. “Sometimes you just can’t get a break”: how 9/11 torpedoed the seaport -- Conclusion. “Nobody knows that we’re here”: what happened to that promised salvation on the east river? -- Notes -- Index -- About the author