Urban Underground vrs. Big Developers

First job out of social work school (after being 1-Y for the draft) was as community liaison from NYC Dept of City Planning to the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan (along the west side.)   That job was going pretty ok, and I had hooked up with a group of radical urban planners called the Urban Underground.   These were part of a larger group of graduated lefties who were trying to take the SDS (students for democratic society) model off campus, organized around professions/careeers.   So there were city planner, welfare worker, teachers, etc group in this umbrella organization, Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS.)

John Lindsay was the liberal (Republican) mayor of NYC and Manhattan was under economic and political pressure to "upzone" its zoning regulations.   Up zoning meant allowing taller buildings on site.   That in turn made it economically viable and desirable to tear down existing structures to build new bigger ones.   Essentially low income housing would be torn down and replaced with luxury housing, forcing middle class and poor people out of Manhattan.

Initially Lindsay and his City Planning Commission opposed the push by developers to upzone (from Residential 8, to Residential 10.)   They needed some data.   So somehow,  though I was hired for my community organizing and not my technical planning skills, I was assigned to do a "windshield survey" to see if this change was needed.   The Administration and City Planning were arguing to the developers that there still remained many R-8 sites that were developable and so the R-10 was not needed.   I conducted this survey and found, in fact, that there were many good developable R-8 sites in Manhattan.

Ultimately, pressure from developers caused the City Planning Commission to reverse course and publish its intention to upzone.   They claimed that they had conducted studies that there was little R-8 developable land left in Manhattan and that the upzoning was needed.  The Urban Underground mobilized.   We authored a nifty brochure based on the RCA Victor ad with the dog listening to "his master's voice" on an old victrola, replacing the masters with developers,  and the obedient dog with the City Planning Commission.  I recall our words in the brochure were pretty close to, "City Planning provides fig leaf for big developers."  That's a nice turn of phrase I've used many times since...including describing the role of worker training in job safety.

We also made successful contacts with local community housing advocacy groups throughout the city.  So on the day of the hearing, I and four other members of the Urban Underground testified at the radio broadcasted public hearings.   I took a day off work, as did several of the others who were City Planning Employees.   Some of the five worked for planning consultants.   Jacque Leavitt who teaches planning at UCLA was our leader and most grounded technical expert.   I (the newcomer in the group) had by chance been thrust in the role of the whistleblower.   I testified, that I was the one who had conducted the research, and that, in fact, my agency was lying about the results.   There was plenty of R-8 land left that cold be developed for housing.   WOW!.   Big brouhaha.

I and Urban Underground were on the front page the the NYTimes for our points and whistleblowing.   The City Planning Commission (lead by its one very liberal member) deep sixed the proposal to upzone.


So what happened to us rebels.   Those who worked for the agency received a written notice summoning us to a meeting with management.   We were advised we could bring legal counsel if we wished.   We figured we were going to be fired so were ready with a plan for the next escalation.   Recall that student sit ins against the War in Vietnam were taking place throughout the nation. We worked out in advance that if fired we would sit in at the City Planning Offices, joined by some community groups.   We even bought chain to lock up and close the building (or chain ourselves together?)  At any rate they ended up whining how they agreed with us all along, appreciated our sincerity, but had to make this concession for the greater good of getting Lindsay reelected.  

I went back to work.   But I had no assignment, no work to do.  I was also prohibited from using the telephone at work and from going into and City Planning files.   I hung out for about 4 months till it got too boring.   Then I quit and went to work full time for MDS supporting their city wide structure and opening a leftie political coffee house on the upper west side.   More of that later.