Battery Park City

Abstract

The authors report on an ethnographic study of Battery Park City in summer 2002, less than 1 year after 9/11. They sought to understand the impact of the disaster on this affluent residential enclave across the street from Ground Zero. The research team used rapid ethnographic assessment procedures (REAP), a productive yet relatively inexpensive rapid assessment methodology. The methods included participant observation, on-site interviews with a range of residents, and interviews with public officials and community leaders. The authors evaluate their data within a framework of hypothesized alternative “folk models” through which residents interpreted the rapid community change. Some friends and neighbors had left permanently, and many newresidents arrived the following winter and spring in response to strong rent incentives. Findings include a rise in community activism, lingering fear, and a significant fissure in the community between residents who had survived the disaster and the many new residents.

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