Does Preserving the Past Keep Cities From Moving Into the Future?

In the last 50 years , the preservationist movement has become powerful — perchance too powerful in a place like New York City , where a third of the building are now protected . But the construction we think of today as turning point unavoidably replaced older structure , ones we incline to block were crush in the course towards progress . This provocative video argues that “ save ” so many buildings now will actually do more price than good .

Thevideo by ReasonTVimagines an alternate future : Let ’s say the Landmarks Preservation Act that New York City passed in 1965 — in response to thedestruction of the original Penn Station — was in reality drop dead in 1865 . That would think no Woolworth Building , no Empire State Building , no skyscrapers at all , actually . The marvelous edifice in the city would be Trinity Church , the 284 - base spire that ’s still standing in Lower Manhattan .

In perspective , our desire to protect historical structures is relatively novel . These sentiments around what ’s deserving retain could certainly change in the come decades . In 2065 how many of our current “ landmarks ” will have been demolished to make path for the next loop of our cities ?