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Alexandra Dean Hitzler

By Alexandra Dean Hitzler 7/18/12 3:41pm

Making History

Big government meets big business.

Market Ready: Landmarks Commission Approves Brooklyn Municipal Building Shops, Insisting It’s Pro-Business

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has been on the defensive of late, fighting off claims from the real estate industry that it hinders development rather than helping it. But in givings its unanimous approval to the transformation of the Brooklyn Municipal Building—in the newly created, much maligned Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper Historic District—the commission reasserted its role as a steward of both the city’s history and economy.

“It proves again and I don’t know how many times we have to do it, that economic development and preservation go hand in hand and here’s a textbook example of it,” Commissioner Chairman Robert Tierney said in an email. Read More

By Alexandra Dean Hitzler 6/21/12 3:38pm

Jenga!

(Alexandra Dean Hitzler)

Catalonian Tradition of Human Tower Building Rises High in New York

The stale air weighed down heavily on a hushed crowd that stared onwards at a mess of tangled bodies 20 stories and counting above the streets of Manhattan. Silhouetted by a brazen sun, the new fixture leaned precariously against the Manhattan skyline. We, the audience, were in an uncomfortably similar state, packed so tightly that it was not uncommon to feel a stranger’s breath at the nape of your neck—not the ideal situation for an outdoor gathering on the first day of summer, and a scorcher at that.

The crowd held its breath, holding sweaty drinks beneath burnished brow. Why were we braving the excruciating heat of a crowded rooftop? To witness the Castellers de Villafranca del Pendès’s attempted construction of New York’s first-ever castell, or human tower. Read More

By Alexandra Dean Hitzler 6/19/12 3:52pm

Wellness

(Getty Images)

Is Mayor Bloomberg’s Nanny State Already Saving Lives?

We hate to admit it but what if Mayor Bloomberg is right? The smoking ban, the bike lanes, the soda ban, the mass force-feeding of cruciferous veggies—all of it may already be making us healthier.

The Lancet has provided a shot in the arm to the mayor’s efforts to control every aspect of his constituents’ lives. New research published in British medical journal indicates that New York City’s life expectancy rate is rising faster than anywhere else in the United States. Between 1987 and 2009, Manhattan’s life expectancy rose by 10 years, the largest increase of any county, and New York’s other four boroughs were all in the top percentile. Read More