The Passing of an Exemplary Era
The passing of former New York City Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis has led me to reflect on the changing nature of civic leadership.(1) Gordon was a remarkable person. He was born into a barrier breaking academic, African American family in Chicago. He was educated at Williams and Harvard. As Parks Commissioner (and one the city’s first Black’s to be appointed Commissioner) Gordon was the city official who green-lighted both the establishment of the Central Park Conservancy and the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (now the Bryant Park Corporation). He was a board member of BPRC (and the New York Public Library) during my entire tenure with BPRC. He also founded Jazz at Lincoln Center and was a long-time board member of the Public Theater.
It is possible that if the current City Hall were presented with a proposal to establish a not-for-profit to administer either Bryant Park or Central Park, or both, the proposals would meet with at least some skepticism. This City Hall if focused on parks in low-income communities. They would analyze the proposal through the lens of suspicion of the public sector. The promotion of possible gentrification of the areas around improved parks would likely engender a good deal of internal discussion.
There are two issues here. One is the passing of a cadre of wise, powerful, public spirited civic leaders. The other is a perception by those born after about 1980 that cities are safe places, and that, if anything, economic activity in downtowns needs to be regulated rather than promoted. No doubt young, progressive elected officials like Chi Ossé, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Tiffany Caban assume that midtown Manhattan has always been safe, busy and clean and can’t imagine otherwise.
