For WHOM: The Public

The public that would benefit from this narration are those who currently reside in Lower Manhattan specifically, and New York City has a whole. This narrative can also be applicable to the broad discussion of gentrification and urban displacement. 

Although we know that there is a lot of rich history that defines this area, the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway was an idea that (luckily) never came to fruition. Manhattan is known for it’s constant construction, and has been subjected to various criticism of gentrification (including of the Soho area, which Jane Jacobs fought to save in fighting this project). Living in an era of rapid technology development and modernization, as we race to build the tallest skyscraper, or the fastest car, it is easy to forget about the unglamorous consequences. It is important to remember that General Motors built Futurama to sell cars; it doesn't matter what the "product" is now -- the private sector, and the government, always have an agenda. Therefore we must learn, and inform ourselves so that we are aware of when our government values profit over humanity, or when it values one life over another. And then we must act upon that knowledge.

We truly must do better. And it always begins with a narrative.

Saving New York City. How Highways Kill Cities: A Story of Jane Jacobs and the LOMEX Proposal is a multimedia project created for the course History of Media and Communications at NYU, Spring 2017. 

← Previously: From Sullivan to Mott