Skip to comments.
The Billionaires’ Park
New York Times ^
| November 30, 2014
| DAVID CALLAHAN
Posted on 11/30/2014 6:27:36 PM PST by Second Amendment First
CAN billionaires remake the Manhattan shoreline? Apparently so, in light of the news that a new park will be just offshore in the Hudson River, largely financed by the media mogul Barry Diller and situated, conveniently, a short walk from his office in Chelsea.
The new park will also be near the High Line, allowing for an easy tour of how private wealth is remaking the citys public spaces. This trend isnt unique to New York: Philanthropists are also busy reshaping the riverfront of Philadelphia and building a green corridor through Houston. In Tulsa, Okla., a vast new park system is being financed in part by the billionaire George B. Kaiser.
While its hard to argue with more parks, or the generosity of donors like Mr. Diller, this isnt just about new patches of green. Its more evidence of how a hollowed-out public sector is losing its critical role, and how private wealth is taking the wheel and having a growing say over basic parts of American life.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: barrydiller
Like those rich people who bought up the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone Park and gave it to the people, now controlled by the government and will close it to punish them.
To: Second Amendment First
All of these efforts will be praised by the NYT.
Until the Koch Bros. decide to finance a park. I'm afraid THAT little stunt will somehow cross the line and be widely attacked.
2
posted on
11/30/2014 6:31:24 PM PST
by
ClearCase_guy
(Democrats have a lynch mob mentality. They always have.)
To: Second Amendment First
....or all the libraries and museums and schools founded by “robber barons” ....
To: ClearCase_guy
George Kaiser was and is a big obola bundler...he gained multiple millions from a solar energy fiasco financed by we the taxpayer and he laid off many employees on his way to padding his bank accounts....
like Ted Turner, Bill Gates and Buffoon, they don't just "donate" ...they donate to make something better for them....like less of the rabble near them, fewer taxes to pay, more puffed up arrogance over how "good" they are.
4
posted on
11/30/2014 6:45:00 PM PST
by
cherry
To: Second Amendment First
Just what you would expect, once a communist mayor has been elected.
Such a farce.
5
posted on
11/30/2014 6:48:30 PM PST
by
Steely Tom
(Thank you for self-censoring.)
To: Second Amendment First
So Mr. Diller & ux make a $130 milllion donation to the city in the form of a park, and the
New York Times can only whine that it's in the wrong place, and has the wrong amenities.
Clare Booth Luce was right: no good deed goes unpunished.
6
posted on
11/30/2014 6:58:00 PM PST
by
southernnorthcarolina
("The power to tax is the power to destroy." -- Chief Justice John Marshall, 1819)
To: Second Amendment First
Its more evidence of how a hollowed-out public sector is losing its critical role, and how private wealth is taking the wheel and having a growing say over basic parts of American life. Or might it be that the public sector has spent its money foolishly -- on exorbitant contracts for and the pensions of public employee unions?
7
posted on
11/30/2014 7:03:48 PM PST
by
okie01
(THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA: Ignorance on Parade)
✓ FReepathon begins October, 1, 2014 ✓ Happy Halloween! October, 31, 2014 ✓ Happy Thanksgiving! November, 27, 2014 ✓ Season's Greetings! November, 28, 2014 ✓ FReepathon is still on! November, 30, 2014 __ Please donate today. Tomorrow is December 1, 2014 |
|
|
We're going to need a big push to
wrap this up. Let's git 'er done.
8
posted on
11/30/2014 7:31:28 PM PST
by
RedMDer
(I don't listen to Liars but when I do I know it's Barack Obama.)
To: Second Amendment First
A declining public sector, burdened by budget cuts, creates a vacuum... Things are going to get a lot worse, too. Nondefense discretionary federal spending will fall to its lowest level in modern history by 2017, leaving Washington less able to finance projects like new parks and infrastructure. Absolute nonsense.
9
posted on
11/30/2014 7:52:44 PM PST
by
iowamark
(I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy)
To: Second Amendment First
They donated the park but did they donate the revenue stream for upkeep and operating it?
10
posted on
11/30/2014 7:58:48 PM PST
by
Lurkina.n.Learnin
(It's a shame nobama truly doesn't care about any of this. Our country, our future, he doesn't care)
To: Second Amendment First
I’d like to know where I go to get back the 38 seconds of my life I wasted reading that sorry excuse for an article.
11
posted on
11/30/2014 8:43:52 PM PST
by
Milton Miteybad
(I am Jim Thompson. {Really.})
To: cherry
.... ...they donate to make something better for them....like less of the rabble near them, .... And more toll roads and "Lexus lanes", which they needn't, if the tolls are stiff enough, share with cruddy little Toyota Tredias and Pontiac Azteks, and the rest of the automotive panoply of the proto-Morlock "little people".
12
posted on
12/01/2014 12:42:20 AM PST
by
lentulusgracchus
("If America was a house, the Left would root for the termites." - Greg Gutfeld)
To: Second Amendment First
What “hollowed-out” public sector?
13
posted on
12/01/2014 5:08:28 AM PST
by
Oratam
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson