Urban Ecology of Stuyvesant Town Life Sciences Essay

Urban Ecology
Michael Feller
Urban Ecology of Stuyvesant Town
Stuyvesant Town is a neighborhood in New York City. The town is the largest housing development town of New York City and the entire United States. According to Speed (2018), it has a total population of 21462. Living in Stuyvesant Town offers residents an urban feel, and most of the residents live in rental houses. The town has a lot of restaurants, bars, parks and coffee shops. There are also a lot of public schools that are above average and most of the people living there are retirees and young professionals (Plunz, 2016).  The major cities within Stuyvesant Town are Stuy Town and Peter Cooper Town. Most of the residents of the town described it not as tourist attractions but as a place that offers the satisfaction of living in the city and a place to hang one’s hat at night. According to Plunz, (2016), Stuyvesant Town is nicknamed as affordable housing right in the middle of Manhattan. It has uniform buildings which looked like a prison. The red bricks complex was constructed in 1942 by the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. The paper describes the urban ecology of Stuyvesant Town which is composed from my observations when I visited the town. I went through some books in the library and a few literature reviews that helped me understand the History of this City back to 1942.
I had the opportunity to live in Stuyvesant town in New York City since2016 to study in SVA. This provided me with real opportunity to know more about the ecological landscape of the town, human use, nature and life patterns of the people residing within this town. During my stay in Stuyvesant apartment, I could visit Marian Sameth Archival Library more often to learn more about the history of Stuyvesant. Significant information about the town could be found in a document known as CHPC’s by Ruth Dickler. History says that the town was a middle-class community where girls were expected to go to college and take computer lessons. Stuyvesant Town is narrated to have been purchased by Tishman Speyer for almost $5.4 billion in 2006. The town is named after Peter Stuyvesant who had a large farm that occupied the city cite in the 17th C. Stuyvesant town was formerly a post-war housing development for the sake of the World War 11 veterans. In the city, I was a regular visitor to Peter Cooper Village, a village named after the founder of Cooper Union known as Peter Cooper. As you walk across the town, there are firmly built apartments made of red bricks and buildings stretching from First Avenue to Avenue C.
Before walking around the town or making any step, you will be able to watch the trees sapling and the play equipment glowing in the sun. Looking around, you could see kids’ dirt about on bicycles, roller skaters and tricycles in the local playground which was about 80 acres of land. In Peter Cooper village, I realized that there was a river to the East known as East River or Avenue C. To the west of the neighborhoods there are two parks which are known as Stuyvesant Park and Gramercy Park. Other cities within the town are Alphabet City and East Village. There is a two-block park to the west, and it was surrounded by Stuyvesant High School, Stuyvesant Square, St. George’s Church and the Beth Israel Medical Center. Most of the buses are always filled with people carrying shopping bags from nearby stores. The town is bordered to the North with a bay known as Kips Bay.
During my stay in StuyTown apartment, I realized that the town is peaceful and quiet. The town is comprised of apartment buildings, and many roads are going through it that gave the town a wonderful urban feeling. My observation was that most of the roads were curved and several trees were covering the town. From the trees, I also realize squirrels were also found here. At the center of the town was a park that harbors a fountain and playground for children. The apartments are spacious and remodeled units with several trees and grassy areas within the residence. The red brick 13-story buildings are connected by winding, tree-lined landscape pathways. These separated the residents of the town from public sidewalks and city traffics. I noticed that these pathways led to the Central Stuyvesant Oval. According to Speed (2018), the buildings had a cruciform layout made up of about 2-5 crosses. The apartments were parallel to the surrounding streets such as 20th Street, Avenue C, 14th Street, and 1st Avenue (Speed, 2018). Another observation I made was that most of the entrances to the apartments were constructed facing the Central Stuyvesant Oval. It was difficult tracing direction within these complexes due to the winding and diagonal paths.
There is a playground which is usually used as a skating rink in the winter. In 2017 while at the playground I met a friend called Raphael and from there we bonded quite well and became very close friends. The town has a good number of playgrounds and courts for basketball, bocce ball, roller hockey among others such as cafes, community centers, green markets, and a library. Usually during the evening walks along 11th Street, I could not stop asking Raphael questions about the City until I became used to it and the way of life. Stuyvesant town has a good number of grocery stores with less shopping going around within the city. Walking into the Union Square area which was about 1.5 miles to the west you will notice that there many shops. Some of the shops I came across were Whole Foods, a Best Buy, Filene’s Basement, and Barnes and Noble Bookstore which became my central shopping points during my stay here. For anybody who wants to have an experience with nature will always visit Green Oasis Village which is just a walking distance from the town. The fastest means of transportation usually used is the L train 1st and 14th Avenue. According to me, the Central Park remained my most favorable place to have a rest.
My night time stay at StuyTown made me realize that there is little nightlife in the town. Furthermore, Speed (2018) points out that the town benefits a lot from its geographical location to cooler neighborhoods like the East Village. Stuyvesant town has a convenient location which makes other cities in the islands rely on its housing. Stuyvesant Town is centrally placed and can be termed as a city within a city. The apartments were detached from the encompassing city and neighborhood streets that surrounded it. The town has few points of entry with no building on the common sidewalks. Stuyvesant Town has a multilevel arterial highway which had an underground level for heavy traffic, a ground floor level for ordinary traffic and an elevated level for fast and one -way traffic. The Town’s apartment has street parking all through it with several parking garages mostly used by the residents. I observed that most of the residents walk a very long distance to get access to the subways at 1st Avenue L train stop. I was made to understand that the costs of the Apartments in Stuyvesant Town were set based on its proximity to 1st Avenue and 14th Street (Speed, 2018).
Another observation I made during my stay is that the town is full of white races. I struggled to meet even a single person from a different race, but this was close to impossible. This according to me was an indication that the town completely lacks racial diversity. Therefore, the town can be fully criticized for its racial exclusion policy that has only allowed most developments in the town to be whites only. Similarly, the two history books I have been reading about the Housing and Urban Renewal by historian Kenneth T. Jackson’s and Hillary Ballon confirms and criticizes the whole issue of racial discrimination. The Historians points out tha...