04 July 2008

Privatization of Union Square

A protest in NYC against the privatization of part of Union Square. Neighbors are upset that the public pavillion will be turned into a private restaurant.

7 comments:

VisuaLingual said...

Arrgh...

ThatDeborahGirl said...

Sounds like what Jason is talking about over at the Beacon regarding Fountain Square, 3CDC and the restaurant the city pays for but gets no profit from.

Interesting...I see why they're mad.

CityKin said...

I think this case has some similarites to Fountain Square, which is why I linked to it. The privatization of our public space is definitely a concern of this blog.

VisuaLingual said...

The difference is that there is an outpouring of protest in NYC. Even the Reverend Billy is involved. Here, aside from the Beacon, there seems to be, at best, silence, at worst, excitement over FS and all it now offers.

CityKin said...

I can't work up too much excitement against Via Vite because that corner of the square was already unused because it is over the car-park entrance, and behind the elevators and exhaust shafts. I would however be agitated if further privatization occurs on the square itself.

ekalb said...

A year ago, Architect Ken Cunningham told me there had been a proposal to put a restaurant behind Krohn Conservatory. Not heard anything more about it since then.

CityKin said...

The Park Board did announce that they were investigating the possibility of private restaurants in several parks such as Burnett Woods and Eden Park, but I don't think it has gotten much beyond an idea.