Reshaping Manhattan’s midtown
The joy of teaching, according to Professor Jerold Kayden of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD), “is seeing your students ripen into mature professionals who then make a real impact in the world.” Nothing could better illustrate Kayden’s success in that goal than the role now being played by his former students in “one of the most major rezoning proposals that has occurred in New York City in years.” At issue is a proposal — certified Monday and moving quickly into the approval process — by the NYC Department of City Planning to revamp the 70-block area around Grand Central Station, where zoning restrictions have long restricted the height of buildings, to allow for structures twice as tall. The department says the increased density would allow the iconic neighborhood to retain its place as “a world-class business district and major job generator.” The plan has come under fire from critics, including, in a...