New York is Not Hong Kong!

 On Friday, August 30, 2013, the New York Times ran an op-ed by Professor Kenneth T. Jackson endorsing Mayor Bloomberg’s crusade to gain approval for the rezoning of East Midtown prior to December 31, 2013 — the last day of Bloomberg’s third term.

In the op-ed, Professor Jackson calls out LANDMARK WEST! claiming that “its leaders would be happy to stop any change at all between 59th Street and 125th Street.” He goes on to accuse that “those who oppose changes like the East Midtown plan may love New York, but they don’t understand that they are compromising its future as the world’s greatest city.”

LW! proudly stands by our record not only as champions for the buildings and many people of the Upper West Side, but also as stewards of responsible growth and economic development within our vibrant, diverse, and yes, historiccommunity.

We know that Professor Jackson does not speak for all of us when he claims that New York must make an either/or decision if it wants to remain “the wonder city” or if it should “follow the paths of Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston and Savannah in emphasizing its human scale, its gracious streets and its fine, historic houses.” In fact, LW! believes that New York should be proud to be included in the same sentence as these remarkable world-class cities.

The Times stopped accepting online comments in reply to Jackson’s op-ed at 2:41pm after posting 89 comments — the majority of which called the professor to task for his dubious argument to turn East Midtown into an exclusive playground for real estate developers.