The fascinating 400-year history of one New York City block
![The moon rises over New York, as seen from the Eagle Rock Reservation in West Orange, New Jersey in this April 26, 2013 file photo. New York City is iconic in any weather, but the warm season adds a special flavour to its bustling streets, leafy parks and world-famous skyline. The summer is about to draw to a close, as fall begins in the northern hemisphere with the Autumnal Equinox on September 22. Picture taken April 26, 2013.](https://assets.weforum.org/article/image/large_rRK66-U3bhM7DrE72Sy8GELMDvNwtMDQIZRRagCUeHE.jpg)
William Easterly, professor of economics at New York University, charts the economic destiny of one New York City block. Image: REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: CITYSCAPE SOCIETY)
![A hand holding a looking glass by a lake](/uplink.jpg)
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
Stay up to date:
United States
A new project goes hyperlocal—taking on just 486 feet of Greene Street between Houston and Prince Streets in SoHo—to explore cycles of development and decline over 400 years of New York City history.
William Easterly, professor of economics at New York University, traces a single block’s series of reincarnations as a red light district, the center of the garment boom, an artists’ haven, and finally a luxury strip. In doing so, he celebrates the role of individual citizens and entrepreneurs in charting the economic destiny of their neighborhood.
“I think the advantage of looking at things at the local level is you can really see the bottom-up way in which a lot of good things happen,” says Easterly in the video. “And conversely, you can see the possible damage that could be done by somebody trying to exert control from the top down without adequate local knowledge.”
Don't miss any update on this topic
Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.
License and Republishing
World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
The Agenda Weekly
A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda
You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.
More on Urban TransformationSee all
Lisa Chamberlain
June 28, 2024
Matthew Cooper and Marco Fengler
June 19, 2024
Anu Devi and Ashiss Kumar Dash
June 18, 2024
Michael Purton
June 10, 2024
Görkem Elverici
June 7, 2024
Mikolaj Sekutowicz and Johnny Ayoub
June 5, 2024