March 19, 2009
Out on the balcony at 14 Wall St. for Access Restricted
NewYorkology contributor Moses Gates is an urban planner, part-time tour guide, and full-time Gothamphile. He reports on the the high up, the low down, and the out-of-the-way in New York City. All pictures are by Steve Duncan, an urban explorer whose extensive NYC photography can be seen at UnderCity.org.
The top floor of 14 Wall Street last week opened its doors for a lecture seemingly at odds with its formal trappings, situated directly across from the New York Stock Exchange.
The now empty 31st floor, originally intended as J.P. Morgan’s personal apartment, was the venue for the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s latest “Access Restricted” event.
The presenter was Robert Neuwirth, author of “Shadow Cities: A Billion Squatters, A New Urban World” in which he describes his experience living in squatter communities in cities such as Nairobi, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul and Mumbai.
But his Wall Street talk was about the informal economy, which is also the topic of his next book.
The informal economy is made up of the everyday financial transactions throughout the world that happen without any of the trappings — licensing, insurance, contracts, duties and tariffs — that governments and large financial institutions might officially require.
According to Neuwirth, the informal economy is soon projected to make up over half of all global economic activity, and is by no means restricted to the developing nations and squatter settlements that were the setting of his first book. Neuwirth illustrated the point using himself. For starters, the natty olive suit he was wearing was picked up on the cheap in the Garment District. One of his favorite places for lunch, he said, is an unlicensed corner stand in his neighborhood.
His main point is that the informal economy ends up affecting everyone in some way or another - even, or maybe especially, in a global capital like New York, where it ranges from Canal Street knockoffs to illegal sublets on Fifth Avenue.
The setting for the lecture was most recently occupied by an upscale French bistro called The 14 Wall Street Restaurant, but its now closed and gutted.
Guests who stayed late for the lecture were treated to an amazing view on the terrace, right below the ziggurat roof that served as the model for the logo for Bankers Trust.
Access Restricted will return March 30 with a panel discussion called “Urbanism, Inc.” on the real estate and financial sectors’ influence on urban development and policy. The event will be held at the landmarked Down Town Association. Registration opens March 20.
Related links:
City’s 1997 Landmarks Preservation Commission report on 14 Wall Street, (Formerly Bankers Trust Building (in pdf)
Christopher Gray on the Bankers Trust Building (2007)
Earlier: From atop Chase-Manhattan, debating the NYC brand
In Bank of New York’s Red Room for Access Restricted
March 19, 2009 2:40 PM in Architecture, Cheap Stuff, Downtown
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