Pershing Square in the 1920s

This is footage of Pershing Square in the 1920s.

May 8th 2013 Meeting

Attended Meeting yesterday.

Here are the 3 urls on youtube for the meeting. first 5 minutes, middle 21 minutes, and last 5 minutes. I believe having gotten a shaky start at streaming, I have worked out the bugs and should have a single video for next time. The bunker that the conference room sits in is impacting my signal. I am also having problems logging onto the Pershing Square wireless network.

It seems that PAB will cut its public meeting schedule in half, and only meet every other month. Next meeting will be Wednesday July 10th. Pushing the work of PAB to its various committees. It was noted that this is how DLANC does it, all the heavy lifting occurs in committee, with the board merely coming together to vote on the committee recommendations. I don’t believe that DLANC is allowed to cut its general meetings in half. I also believe, from having attended a number of them, that DLANC committee meetings are public, and it is not clear if PAB committee meetings with be.

During the meeting I thought a great deal of Henry Hope Reed, who died last week. His concerns about vendors taking over Central Park for event promotion is a good roadmap for Pershing Square. A great deal to be gained from an afternoon in meditation on his work and that of the The Municipal Art Society of New York.

I am curious to see if the proposed beer garden plays out in Pershing Square. The park is certainly a complex model of the Public Policy process: those who make the policy, the bureaucracy which interprets the policy , and those who enforcement them. This triumvirate around Pershing Square provides a rich and rewarding microcosm into who and how our city runs.

As the meeting wrapped up I wondered if the balance in Pershing Square is not off a bit, looking ahead is a crucial part of the policy making process, but the here and now and the services which that dictates is as much a part of that process as well.

I include a photo of Henry Hope Reed at his beloved, Central Park.

 

Agenda for Pershing Square Advisory Board Meeting May 8 2013

Agenda for Pershing Square Advisory Board Meeting May 8 2013

I have transcribed and typeset the agenda for the May 8 2013 meeting which was posted on the office window at the Pershing Square administrative offices this past Friday.

Please note that the PDF is machine-readable.