What the Builder Built
New York magazine|Jul 31 - Aug 13, 2023
Under Mayor Bloomberg, Dan Doctoroff remade the city with astonishing speed. Now, as New York is again mired in crisis, he faces his own
JUSTIN DAVIDSON
What the Builder Built

On the day I meet Dan Doctoroff, I walk across Manhattan from the Shed, which he created, to the East River Esplanade, which he planned; catch a ferry, which he launched; get off at the Long Island City waterfront, which he reclaimed from industrial neglect; and enter a café overlooking Hunters Point South Park, where he once envisioned an Olympic Village. Eventually, I leave him by Citi Bike, which he dreamed up.

Those verbs are a shorthand, of course. He didn’t create, plan, launch, reclaim, envision, or dream up anything single-handedly. His role as deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding in the Bloomberg administration was to adopt ideas (some his, many not), convince others that they were feasible and good, then maneuver those fantasies into reality. Even so, it would be hard to spend a day moving around New York and not encounter at least one item on his long list of urban accomplishments. Every time someone sees a show at the Whitney, scans a brain in Columbia’s Greene Science Center, runs a mile at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, buys a saw at the Home Depot in Bronx Terminal Market, watches the Mets play at Citi Field, commutes by subway to Hudson Yards, boards a ferry to Governors Island, or watches the sunset from Brooklyn Bridge Park, that person is animating parts of the city that once existed only as documents on Doctoroff ’s desk. His stint in government lasted from 2002 to 2008, surely among the most consequential half-dozen years of any city builder’s term in New York history. He wasn’t, as some have claimed, the 21st-century Robert Moses; he was Moses in a hurry.

Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin Jul 31 - Aug 13, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye New York magazine dergisinin Jul 31 - Aug 13, 2023 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Verily, Are the Kids All Right?
New York magazine

Verily, Are the Kids All Right?

A Romeo and Juliet production that's all (vape) smoke and shimmer.

time-read
6 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Masterpieces, Then and Now
New York magazine

Masterpieces, Then and Now

The Met reunites Siena Renaissance paintings for the first time in centuries.

time-read
4 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Heritage Regained
New York magazine

Heritage Regained

A fantastical documentary follows the return of 26 plundered artworks to Benin.

time-read
5 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Emilia Pérez States Its Case Right Away
New York magazine

Emilia Pérez States Its Case Right Away

The film's impressive opening number drops you into a world of corruption and chaos.

time-read
6 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
WHEN KYLIE JENNER WRITES A NOVEL
New York magazine

WHEN KYLIE JENNER WRITES A NOVEL

Celebrities occasionally like to try their hand at fiction. But who’s really the author?

time-read
5 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Emily Watson Is in Charge
New York magazine

Emily Watson Is in Charge

The double Oscar nominee grew up in a cultlike organization. Acting became her way out of it.

time-read
10+ dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
RESTAURANT REVIEW: Everyone's Eating at Bridges
New York magazine

RESTAURANT REVIEW: Everyone's Eating at Bridges

Manhattan's hottest restaurant doesn't play it safe.

time-read
4 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Upstairs From His Favorite Italian Restaurant
New York magazine

Upstairs From His Favorite Italian Restaurant

Ryan Lawson designs other people’s places differently from how he did his own Village apartment.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
165 MINUTES WITH...Mike and Kiki Tyson
New York magazine

165 MINUTES WITH...Mike and Kiki Tyson

After a near-death experience, the boxer is preparing, his wife by his side, for his big fight against Jake Paul.

time-read
9 dak  |
November 04-17, 2024
Neighborhood News: Attention, Satmar Shoppers
New York magazine

Neighborhood News: Attention, Satmar Shoppers

At Williamsburg's W Mall, a milchig food court and refuge for weary mothers.

time-read
1 min  |
November 04-17, 2024