Jane's Walk NYC (From Home)

Our Jane's Walk tour starts in Washington Square Park. Robert Moses planned to build the Lower Manhattan Expressway, to be funded as ‘slum clearance,’ right through Washington Square Park. The plan called for upscale high-rises to be built in place of multiple blocks where 132 families and 1000 small businesses also resided. Jane Jacobs chaired the Joint Committee to Stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway, joined by members like Margaret Mead, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lewis Mumford, William H, Whyte, and Charles Abrams. They were successful in blocking the project in 1958, but Jacobs continued to fight the same battle when the plans resurfaced in 1962, 1965, and 1968.

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was an urban planner, author, and activist. This Jane’s Walk NYC (from Home) weekend, we’re joining our friends at MAS and Urban Archive to share a virtual Jane’s Walk story, exploring historic photos of NYC. #JanesWalkNYC