May 3rd and 4th: Take a Walk, Occupy-Style

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”

Those were the words of Jane Jacobs, the visionary urban planning activist who once wrote a treatise declaring “Downtown is for People.”

Jacobs went to bat against former Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, chairing a committee to stop Moses’ plan to build an expressway through Washington Square Park and the West Village.

Jacobs’ legacy continues to resonate with New Yorkers today: in the comments section of a new YouTube video by anti-Spectra-Pipeline group Occupy the Pipeline, one commenter notes that the intended West Village gas pipeline will run alongside a toddler playground in Hudson River Park and laments, “What would Jane Jacobs do?”

This Saturday would have been Jacobs’ 97th birthday, and New Yorkers are invited to take to her beloved city streets for the Municipal Arts Society’s annual Jane’s Walks.

The above was excerpted from a listing on Metro-NY. See below, three fantastic tours hosted by Occupy-related groups!

A People's History of Wall Street

Date: Saturday, May 3rd. 2:00 PM

Meeting Place: Museum of the American Indian, On the front steps, 1 Bowling Green.

This 1.5 hour tour tells the story of American capitalism from the people's point of view, from the mouths of Occupy Wall Street activists, workers, and scholars of finance. This tour will undo the mystique of this infamous street, allowing us to see past the grand institutional facades of this neighborhood and lay bare the lies, injustice, and fraud committed everyday. We begin at the Museum of the American Indian, where we'll hear how the land itself was stolen from the Lenape by the Dutch East India Company. We'll then walk along Wall Street to hear how big business has cloaked their theft of both private and public funds both physically -- in large buildings of Neo-Roman columns -- and in their operations by using a complicated language and operating procedures. On our list of stops are the country's largest banks, the NY stock exchange, NY Federal Reserve, churches and a final stop at Zuccotti Park, where we'll hear how you can make simple changes to your life in order to get free of Wall Street's wrath.

99 Pickets Greenwich Village Walk

Date: Saturday, May 3rd. 4:00 PM

Meeting Place: Washington Square Arch, Meet under the arch, we will have a banner.

Part of the charm that drew Jane Jacobs to Greenwich Village was in its eclectic, human-scaled businesses. Since her time, small, independent, locally-owned Village shops have been increasingly replaced by big box stores, and NYU continues to expand in the community. At what cost has this been, especially for those who work in the neighborhood? On this tour, the NYC worker solidarity group 99 Pickets will explore locations where local worker struggles are happening and places where goods made by oppressed workers are sold. We'll hear from community leaders and scholars of labor history, have literature on hand, and give actionable next steps at each location. Interspersed with stories from current struggles, we will highlight historic locations in New York worker justice history, and discuss how Jane Jacobs's model of activism can be a model for socially conscious everyday city dwellers.

Occupy the Pipeline: Secrets of Death Avenue

Date: Sunday, May 4th. 5:00 PM

Meeting Place: Small, triangular square just north of 14th St. at 9th Ave. (across 9th Ave. from the Apple store) next to the Pain Quotidien kiosk

Do you know who Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses are? Aside from many other things, Jane was a woman who created a movement against Robert's plan to wipe out lower Manhattan neighborhoods with a highway (which could have meant 'bye bye Washington Sq Park!') She was incredibly bright, tough, visionary.....and her movement succeeded. Let us take you on a historical walk of the West Village (complete with NYC Cowboys protecting you from killer trollies before The High Line was built) up until the modern day Death Avenue where terror lurks below the brand new Whitney Museum of American Art being constructed in the West Village. You will hear from the actual works of art in the Whitney permanent collection who are now an endangered species, you will get to see Jane and Robert have a boxing match on the cobblestone streets, and you will leave feeling educated, revived, hopeful and interested in building a city that makes our lives beautiful and easy. Come join the fun.