This dinner, which benefited the preservation work of the Society, saluted the life and work of Jane Jacobs, an early GVSHP advisor and pioneering urban planner and preservationist. Author, humorist, and Village resident Calvin Trillin, and New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger spoke about Jane Jacobs’ legacy and impact on New York today.
CLICK HERE for the Villager article about this event.
CLICK HERE for a press release about this event.
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
July 5, 2006
*REMEMBERING JANE JACOBS
Remembering Jane Jacobs: On June 28, over 150 people turned out in Washington Square Park for “Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration,” a memorial and celebration of Jane Jacobs’ legacy sponsored by the Center for the Living City at Purchase College and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and hosted by the Parks Department. Speakers included Jane Jacobs’ son Ned, Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert Tierney presenting a proclamation from the Mayor declaring June 28th “Jane Jacobs Day” in New York, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, who introduced a resolution in the State Assembly honoring Jane, GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman, former NY Times and New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger, and many others from the fields of government, environmentalism, civil rights, and community planning. CLICK HERE for pictures and HERE for text from speeches from the event. See coverage of the event in The Villager and E-Oculus.
On June 22, Community Board #2 also approved a proposal by GVSHP to honor Jane Jacobs by giving a secondary street name to Hudson Street between 11th and Perry Streets, where Jane lived: “Jane Jacobs Way.” Special thanks to Borough President Stringer and Assemblymember Glick for their support for the proposal. On July 10, Community Board #2’s Parks Committee will hold a third and final hearing on a proposal by GVSHP to honor Jane Jacobs by renaming Bleecker Park and Sitting Area at Bleecker and Hudson Streets, near where Jane lived, for her. Such a renaming would include permanent plaques containing information about Jane’s history and significance to the neighborhood and the world.
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman addressing the crowd in Washington Square Park for the Jane Jacobs memorial, A Public Celebration. To his left are Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair Robert Tierney, and to his right is Center for the Living City Co-founder Roberta Brandes Gratz.
On June 28th over 150 people turned out in Washington Square Park to participate in “Jane Jacobs: A Public Celebration,” the New York City public memorial for Jane Jacobs. The event was sponsored by the Center for the Living City at Purchase College, which was founded in collaboration with Jane Jacobs, and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Speakers from the fields of urbanism, journalism, environmentalism, economics, publishing, civic activism, the arts, and local business spoke about Jane Jacobs’ impact and legacy.
CLICK HERE for pictures from the event
CLICK HERE for text of speeches from the event
CLICK HERE for GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman’s speech
CLICK HERE for text of Mayor Bloomberg’s proclamation honoring Jane Jacobs at the Public Celebration
CLICK HERE for text of resolution passed by New York State Assembly honoring Jane Jacobs, introduced by Assemblymember Deborah Glick
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PRESERVATION ALERT
from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
May 25, 2006
*HEARINGS on POTENTIAL STREET and PARK RENAMINGS for JANE JACOBS
on JUNE 5th & 13th
Hearings on Potential Park and Street Renamings for Jane Jacobs: At GVSHP’s suggestion, Community Board #2 will be holding public hearings on the possibility of renaming a park and/or a street in Greenwich Village in honor of Jane Jacobs. Street and park renamings are a frequently-used method of honoring an important figure in a neighborhood, and we feel that no figure could be more important to the history of the West Village than Jane Jacobs. GVSHP has suggested that the Board consider renaming Bleecker Park and Playground, on Hudson Street near where Jane lived, in her honor, and that the stretch of Hudson Street near West 11th and Perry Street where she lived also be given a secondary street renaming in her honor (i.e. ‘Hudson Street’ would continue to be the name of the street, but one or more blocks would have a secondary street sign that would also say “Jane Jacobs Way”). An honorary secondary street renaming for a section of Washington Street near the West Village Houses has also been suggested and will be discussed. Jane played a critical role in creating the West Village Houses after defeating a City plan to build a series of high-rise “towers-in-the-park” on the site.
GVSHP feels that both the park and street renamings would be very appropriate ways to honor Jane. City parks bear permanent plaques containing information about their namesakes and what that person’s significance is, and this would be a great way to ensure that Jane’s connection to and impact upon her neighborhood are always remembered. Jane’s ideas about how intimate and varied street life were key to maintaining the vitality of cities – a commonly accepted notion now but a heretical idea at the time – were illustrated in her ground-breaking book “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” In it, she used the example of what she called the “delicate sidewalk ballet” of her block of Hudson Street to demonstrate this idea. For this reason, GVSHP has suggested that it would be appropriate to rename this street in her honor.
HOW TO HELP:
To join GVSHP or support our preservation efforts, CLICK HERE.
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Jane Jacobs, 1916-2006
April 29th, 2006
Dear Friend,
We here at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation have been truly touched by the tremendous outpouring in response to the news of Jane Jacobs’ death earlier this week. It’s hard to live in the Village, in New York, or in any vital, dynamic urban environment and not feel that your daily life was affected by this incredible visionary. Jane, who served on the GVSHP Board of Advisors for many years, was an inspiration to us, and will continue to be.
A memorial service in New York City for Jane Jacobs is currently being planned for June; when we know exactly when and where, we will be sure to let you know.
In the meantime, GVSHP has been looking at possible ways to permanently honor and memorialize Jane Jacobs in Greenwich Village. We have reached out to Council Speaker Quinn, the Parks Department, and the Community Board to suggest the possibility of an honorary renaming of the stretch of Hudson Street near where she lived and wrote for Jane, as well as to rename the nearby park containing Bleecker Playground and the adjacent seating area in her honor.
There will be a very preliminary discussion of the possibility of renaming the park in Jane’s honor at the Community Board #2 Parks Committee meeting this Monday night, at 7:30 pm, at Housing Works, 320 West 13th Street. The public is welcome to attend and to provide input about this or any other idea for honoring Jane Jacobs through our local parks. If you cannot make this meeting, don’t worry – no decisions will be made at this meeting, and the discussion will continue at future meetings before any decisions can be made.
Our proposal for an honorary renaming of Hudson Street for Jane Jacobs will also be discussed in the June meeting of the Traffic and Transportation Committee of Community Board #2; date, time, and location TBD (we will let you know).
Arguably the most important way we can honor Jane Jacobs is to continue to work towards the diverse, vital, humane and livable communities she wrote and spoke about. Thanks in large part to her, we have just such places right here which we can continue to fight to preserve.
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Statement from Andrew Berman, Executive Director, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, on the passing of Jane Jacobs:
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation was greatly saddened to learn of the death of Jane Jacobs on April 25th at the age of 89 in Toronto. Jane, the author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” was perhaps the most critical figure in the fight to save Greenwich Village and older urban neighborhoods everywhere. In her writings she created a brilliantly convincing rationale for why older neighborhoods should be saved, and in her activism she created a flawless blueprint for accomplishing this goal if the powers that be did not recognize this wisdom on their own. Jane was a trailblazer who revolutionized the way we think about cities, planning, and preservation. We are all so deeply indebted to her.
Here at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, our work was constantly informed by all that Jane had done, and she served as a constant inspiration to us. Whether it was her call for preserving the Greenwich Village waterfront or to maintain a diverse mix of uses in our neighborhoods, Jane’s vision was as resonant to us today as it was to Villagers more than a generation ago. We were honored when Jane allowed us to interview her extensively for our “Preservation Pioneer” oral histories project. She will certainly be remembered, and she will certainly be missed.
Some tributes to Jane Jacobs upon her passing:
Jacobs' Legacy Remembered, Metro
Obituaries in the News, Jane Jacobs, The New York Times
Jane Jacobs, Social Critic Who Redefined and Championed Cities, Is Dead at 89, The New York Times
Jane Jacobs, Urban Activist, Is Dead at 89, The New York Times
Jane Jacobs, Writer on Cities, Dies, United Press International
Jane Jacobs, in Her Own Words, The Village Voice
Godmother of the American City, Metropolismag.com
Jane Jacobs, Author and Activist, Dead at 89, am New York