Fluid New York
Cosmopolitan Urbanism and the Green Imagination
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- $39.99
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- $39.99
Publisher Description
Hurricane Sandy was a fierce demonstration of the ecological vulnerability of New York, a city of islands. Yet the storm also revealed the resilience of a metropolis that has started during the past decade to reckon with its aqueous topography. In Fluid New York, May Joseph describes the many ways that New York, and New Yorkers, have begun to incorporate the city’s archipelago ecology into plans for a livable and sustainable future. For instance, by cleaning its tidal marshes, the municipality has turned a previously dilapidated waterfront into a space for public leisure and rejuvenation.Joseph considers New York’s relation to the water that surrounds and defines it. Her reflections reach back to the city’s heyday as a world-class port—a past embodied in a Dutch East India Company cannon recently unearthed from the rubble at the World Trade Center site—and they encompass the devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. They suggest that New York’s future lies in the reclamation of its great water resources—for artistic creativity, civic engagement, and ecological sustainability.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Joseph (Nomadic Identities), professor of social science and experimental theater founder, seeks a vision that will form the current and future New York City, suggesting that it should be tied to the waters that have such an outsized influence on the archipelagic city. After exploring the impact of water on the identity of the city, she discusses cultural impacts from the city's history, issues of sustainability for cities, and recent events that are tied to its water-metropolis identity. Joseph addresses vital topics like city planning for ecological sustainability and how the city must meet the needs of a heterogeneous population, though her intensely academic tone is only briefly interrupted when she describes the traumatic impact of Hurricane Sandy on her own family. This highly-detailed work will be of primary interest to those involved in city management and planning of similarly maritime cities; the discussion of climate change preparedness highlights issues that may be applicable in other locales, such as the need for generators in high-rise buildings alongside issues presented by mold, gasoline shortages, and availability of transportation during serious weather events. Joseph expresses both affection and concern for her city, highlighting both its creative potential and provincial hubris it must outgrow.
