Jane Jacobs

Activist, journalist, and groundbreaking outsider who shook up the field of urban planning: Jane Jacobs is one woman you definitely want to know more about.  Sometimes credited with bringing down Robert Moses (learn about him in our only 2- part episode:  Moses Part 1 and Moses Part 2), she used grassroots organizing and the media to draw attention to serious flaws in his plans to raze much of Greenwich Village and run the Lower Manhattan Expressway ("LoMex") through some of the coolest parts of the city. Her first book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is required reading for students of urban planning. A controversial figure on her own right, her work has been criticized for being short-sighted.  Read some of her books and make up your own mind!

Or at least start with a couple of her amazing paragraphs about the ballet of the sidewalk.

Take a listen to our seventh episode to brush up on the (perceived) squalor of Five Points.

Yes, it's true!  Brave, creative people are writing an opera about Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs.

Ric Burns' PBS documentary "New York" is amazing and everyone should watch it, from start to finish. The whole thing is on YouTube.  But here's a 27- minute clip about Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses.  

All of Jane Jacobs'  books

Hey You Know It is another amazing podcast on Podbean, starring our friends Jacquetta Szathmari and Katie Kazimir.  We're the special guest stars in the July 27, 2014 episode!

Have you listened to the promo for our ABC Gotham Pub Quiz event, which will be Sunday Aug 17 at 4 pm? 

For ABC Gothamites who are parents and want to attend the Pub Quiz:  Barclay's Center is 2 blocks from the Pub Quiz location.  Sunday Aug 17th at 3 pm, the Marvel Universe Live is happening there.  They kids will love it.