After the World Trade Center: Rethinking New York City

This book attempts to address some very important issues however it falls short of the mark. I feel that with the passing of time many of the controversial 'thought provoking' articles will be recognized for the knee jerk reactions that they really are. Certain articles, such as the one on the history of the land itself, stand out as fine works of academia but they are drowned out by the overwhelming majority of articles that could have benefitted from more depth and objectivity.

An incredibly exciting (intellectually, emotionally, in all sorts of ways) collection of essays on loss, memory, & community focused around the former site of the WTC. The authors come from a variety of disciplines: history, philosophy, urban planning, anthropology, english & others. This diversity makes for a rounded & stimulating reading experience. It's 8 years old as I write this but the contents, particularly in the first half, feel fresh & pertinent. Really a great book.

Before Sorkin assembled critiques and designs into Starting from Zero, he teamed up with fellow CUNY professor Sharon Zukin. The urbanist and sociologist together are, in my mind at least, a heavenly match; I absorb and enjoy Zukin's book as much as I do Sorkin's. The two co-authored the introduction, but after that they express their own takes on post-9/11 New York City alongside a slew of other great minds: Marshall Berman, M. Christine Boyer, Keller Easterling, David Harvey, Neil Smith, and Mike Wallace, among many others. I didn't pick up this book until last year, much too long after its publication to have enthusiasm for the topic; like other New Yorkers, I've moved on, swept along by the city's Bloomberg-era show more transformations.
(Written in 2018) show less