The Manhattan Project: A Theory of a City

288 Pages·2015·12.05 MB·English

by  David Kishik

T H E M A N H AT TA N P R OJ E C T

T H E M A N H AT TA N P R OJ E C T
A T H E O R Y O F A C I T Y
D AV I D K I S H I K
STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
STANFORD, CALIFORNIA
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
© 2015 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permission
of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kishik, David, author.
The Manhattan project : a theory of a city / David Kishik.
pages cm. — (To imagine a form of life, III)
An imaginary sequel to Walter Benjamin’s Arcades project.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-8603-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. New York (N.Y.)—Social life and customs—20th century. 2. New York (N.Y.)—
Civilization—20th century. 3. Cities and towns—Philosophy. 4. Civilization,
Modern—Philosophy. I. Title. II. Series: Kishik, David. To imagine a form of life , 3.
f128.52.k54 2015
974.7'10904—dc23
2014033655
isbn 978-0-8047-9436-7 (electronic)
Designed by Bruce Lundquist
Typeset at Stanford University Press in 10/14 Adobe Garamond
CONTENTS
Preface I CAN’T AFFORD TO ♥ NY ix
Introduction THE ROSEMAN HYPOTHESIS 1
FIRST PART
First Chapter BENJAMIN IN NEW YORK 9
Second Chapter NOT TO LOOK UPON 11
Third Chapter BACK TO THE FUTURE 16
Fourth Chapter THINK LOCALLY 19
Fifth Chapter IMPLOSION 23
Sixth Chapter SHEER LIFE 27
Seventh Chapter A SECRET ABOUT A SECRET 30
First Threshold INTERPENETRATION 35
SECOND PART
Eighth Chapter LIVINGRY 41
Ninth Chapter THINGIFICATION 45
Tenth Chapter REALITY OVERDOSE 48
Eleventh Chapter THE DISENCHANTED ISLAND 53
Twelfth Chapter DEMOCRACITY 59
Thirteenth Chapter (AD)DRESS 63
Fourteenth Chapter NONARCHITECTURE 67
Fifteenth Chapter TRUTH IS CONCRETE 70
Second Threshold INFRASTRUCTURE 74
THIRD PART
Sixteenth Chapter EMPIRE 81
Seventeenth Chapter THE URBAN REVOLUTION 86
Eighteenth Chapter HYPOTHESES ON MODERN CITIES 91
Nineteenth Chapter URBAN PHILOSOPHY 95
vi CONTENTS
Twentieth Chapter HOME RULE 100
Twenty-First Chapter CITY OF REFUGE 104
Twenty-Second Chapter ARENDT’S CITY 108
Twenty-Third Chapter HERE COMES EVERYBODY 112
Third Threshold ECOPOLIS 116
FOURTH PART
Twenty-Fourth Chapter THE LIBRARY 123
Twenty-Fifth Chapter THE ECONOMY OF PHILOSOPHY 127
Twenty-Sixth Chapter BUSINESS ART 130
Twenty-Seventh Chapter MODES OF ASSOCIATED LIFE 134
Twenty-Eighth Chapter JACOBS’S CITY 138
Twenty-Ninth Chapter HOW NEW WORK BEGINS 141
Thirtieth Chapter TRANSACTIONS OF DECLINE 145
Thirty-First Chapter EMINENT DOMAIN 149
Fourth Threshold DEAD-END STREET 154
FIFTH PART
Thirty-Second Chapter AT NIGHT 161
Thirty-Third Chapter GARBAGE STUDIES 166
Thirty-Fourth Chapter JUNK 171
Thirty-Fifth Chapter LOST 175
Thirty-Sixth Chapter PERFECT DAY 179
Thirty-Seventh Chapter A THEORY OF THE HOMELESS 181
Thirty-Eighth Chapter THE HOMELESS PHILOSOPHER 188
Fifth Threshold A TALE OF TWO CITIES 192
SIXTH PART
Thirty-Ninth Chapter HARD-KNOCK LIFE 199
Fortieth Chapter SEX AND PHILOSOPHY 203
CONTENTS vii
Forty-First Chapter AN IMAGE OF EXISTENCE 209
Forty-Second Chapter NO IDEAS BUT IN THINGS 214
Forty-Third Chapter THE MARRIAGE OF REASON AND SQUALOR 218
Forty-Fourth Chapter CRITIQUE OF PURE MOVEMENT 220
Forty-Fifth Chapter LIFE SENTENCE 230
Sixth Threshold SPINOZA IN NEW AMSTERDAM 235
Acknowledgments 241
Notes 243
Illustration Credits 263
Name Index 265
Place Index 269
Subject Index 271

PREFACE I CAN’T AFFORD TO ♥ NY
WALTER BENJAMIN, whose spirit hovers over the surface of every page in this book,
had a special knack for subverting literary conventions. He did, however, admit
that he is a faithful observer of at least one established rule: “Never use the word
‘I’ except in letters.”
This was more than just a matter of style. Like every good philosopher, or like
every good criminal, Benjamin employs this device in an attempt to leave minimal
evidence that could implicate him in the writing of his own work. By scrubbing
his identity off the text, he wishes to give the impression that his arguments could
be made by anyone and be as true; that the I in I think is no one in particular.
Friedrich Nietzsche, whose spirit will never rest in peace, came to realize that
a great philosophy is always “a confession of faith on the part of its author, and a
type of involuntary and unselfconscious memoir.” Nevertheless, this book is no
ordinary philosophy, let alone a great one. So I would like to begin by speaking
frankly, rather than obliquely, about the personal circumstances that led to its
composition.
I FLEW TO NEW YORK with my two best friends a few days before our high school
graduation ceremony. It was my first time on a plane, or abroad, and the farthest
away I had ever gotten from my family’s home in Jerusalem.
It may sound corny but the honest truth is that during our tour of the city I
did not fall in love only with this place but also with one of my friends. This was
a tricky situation, because the other friend had already been half-secretly in love
with her for months.
After we got back, my feelings only intensified, and she felt the same. So after
a few months we had to tell our mutual friend about what was going on behind
his back. Unfortunately, understandably, it drove a wedge between him and us for
a very long time.
But then she left to study dance in New York of all places, while I stayed in
Israel until I was released from the army. We had a long-distance relationship for
three years. I guess that the mental image of our future selves living together in
the Big Apple made this romantic limbo slightly less painful.
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WAITING FOR ME in the fifth-floor walk-up apartment she
had just rented for us in the East Village. But when I arrived from the airport,
a neighbor told me that she had been taken to the hospital three hours earlier. I
dropped my suitcase in the half-furnished bedroom. A few unnerving minutes
ix