In October, I had the great honor of hosting and attending a conference with the Rockefeller Foundation at their villa in Bellagio, Italy. The conference, entitled Jane Jacobs Revisited, marked the 50th Anniversary of Jacobs’ seminal book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The small gathering included some of the elite of city building across the globe, including Helle Soholt of Gehl Architects, Edward Glaeser, Jonathan Rose, Kate Ascher, author of The Works and The Heights, Nicky Gavron, first deputy mayor of London, architect Bing Thom, Nabeel Hamdi, and Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s Secretary of Development.
A few days later Gehl Architects, most well-known here for designing the pedestrian plazas in Times Square and Herald Square, visited New York on their biennial work study tour. They hosted a wonderful event for us at 60 Thompson, but not before spending full days biking across all of New York City–from the World Trade Center up the Manhattan waterfront greenway, to Harlem, the Bronx, back down to Times Square, across the Brooklyn Bridge, to Williamsburg and back. According to the team, these study tours contribute to a common reference of best practice and give them a chance to catch-up with friends and collaborators. Here is the video of their adventure. See you guys soon!
Michelle is the founder of Untapped New York and the author of The Art Spy (HarperOne, forthcoming) Secret Brooklyn, Secret New York Hidden Bars & Restaurants, and Broadway. michelleyoungwriter.com
