URBAN DESIGN STUDIO/ FALL - 95
HARLEM
URBAN ABANDONMENT
In Harlem it is relatively cheap to demolish vacant buildings. As a
result an enormous erosion of the traditional residential block
system, commercial and industrial infrastructure has taken place.
Harlem has suffered housing loss and job loss as a result of the
sub/ex-urban expansion of the city and the restructuring of the central
city to serve as offices for the global economy. Disinvestment has been
a norm in such "Inner Periphery" areas of the "Dual City", a situation
which is compicated by institutional racism and is far worse than
statistics alone might indicate. 
The abandoned Washburn Wire Factory on 116 Street at the river's edge
graphically illustrates the loss of jobs in the East Harlem area.
Proposals have been made for a Film Studio and now a Community College
at the site. It lies within the Harlem Empowerment Zone at the rivers
edge, with many other abandoned factory sites.It is currently occupied
by Homeless people driven from Mid-town and Downtown in an effort to
improve the city's image.