Primary Source: Movement and the City
Event Details:
In the era defined by Robert Moses, the car was king. During much of the first half of the 20th century, New York City attempted to rebuild itself in deference to the private automobile. In Nicole Gelinas' incisive and important book, Movement: New York’s Long War to Take Back its Streets from the Car, she investigates how the city’s engaged citizens fought back against this capitulation, detailing not only how they prevailed over some planned highways but also how they successfully advocated, decade by decade, for a revitalized mass-transit system and for more space for pedestrians and cyclists.
In researching her book, Gelinas spent several months at the New York Historical's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library. Join curator Anne Garner as she talks to Gelinas about how a Greenwich Village activist and mother, Shirley Hayes, whose papers the library holds, challenged the city’s plans to run a four-lane highway through Washington Square Park, and how Gelina’s research helped her reimagine Robert Moses’ legacy.
Signed books will be available for purchase before the program starting at 6 pm in the Reading Room
Nicole Gelinas is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a contributing editor of City Journal, and a contributing opinion writer at the New York Times.
Primary Source is a series of free and public programs exploring how the Patricia D. Klingenstein Library at The New York Historical supports new research and historical inquiry. Join us in our renowned Reading Room for behind-the-scenes conversations about New York's past and present, deeply grounded in the Library's rich collections.
Location:
Patricia D. Klingenstein Library Reading Room, The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
Ticket Instructions:
Online: Click the button above. If you need assistance, email libraryprogram@nyhistory.org
Chairman's Council: Email chairmanscouncil@nyhistory.org.
