Category Archives: Profiles

Response: Amanda Burden Wants to Remake New York

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The New York Times article “Amanda Burden Wants to Remake New York. She has 19 Months Left,” by Julie Satow was very well-written. What I enjoyed most about the article was the different points of view Satow highlighted. She mentioned not only Burden’s propositions for New York City, but also those of her opponents, which made for a good article. For example, the opinions of Miguel Acevedo, president of the tenants’ association at the Robert Fulton Houses, added more dimension to the story. It showed that Burden does not only have time against her, she also has representatives from different organizations against her too. It lets the readers of the article know that Burden’s job is a very ambitious one.

I also enjoyed how the article was written in terms of style. Satow did a good job introducing Amanda Burden. Listing Burden’s accomplishments in the beginning of the story allowed Satow to transition to Burden’s roadblocks smoothly.

Amanda Burden

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This profile on Amanda Burden is very carefully crafted and constructed. The author introduced the readers to Burden by describing her physical attributes. This allows readers to form an image of the person before his or her story is told. By quoting Burden on her own vision (“I like to say that our ambitions are as broad and far-reaching as those of Robert Moses, but we judge ourselves by JaneJacobs’s standards”), Julie Satow sets the stage perfectly to introduce the varying views of Burden’s ideas. Providing quotes from Burden’s supporters and critics gives the reader a better understanding of how Burden has changed the city and why rezoning might be an issue. Instead of painting a rosy picture of Burden, including critics’ comments also gives the reader a chance to form his or her own opinion of Burden. I was intrigued by Satow’s inclusion of the details of Burden’s personal life. It seemed impertinent to the subject matter, but I realized as I read the rest of the article that without those details, Amanda Burden couldn’t have been portrayed as a whole person. The article is focused on her professional career, but without her history, the article might have read more like a resume than a feature of a person.

Amanda Burden

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By: Teresa Roca

I really enjoyed reading these articles on Amanda Burden. Both authors did a great job of describing Amanda’s history, accomplishments and current projects. They wrote the information in a way that was informative of current issues, while continuing to profile Amanda. I thought sources played an important role in both pieces. In Satow’s, the sources allow the reader to learn more about Amanda by hearing accounts from people close to her. In Cardwell’s piece, I found it interesting how one of her quotes referred to Burden as, “the Wicked Witch of the West,” showing how there are people who disagree with the work she has been doing. Overall, both of these pieces have given me ideas for my profile in regards to structure and detail.

Blog Post #1: Amanda Burden Article Response

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I like the way the writer began with Amanda Burden’s physical appearance. The details that the writer focused on such as the 60s style hair and her sheath dress immediately puts a picture to mind to what Burden might be like upon first impression.

It’s interesting how the writer focused a bit on Burden’s past of being a socialite and a fashionable “it girl.” These images of her are quite surprising given her job description. It also helps define her image of New York City and her goal to rebuild and update its neighborhoods to better suit the modern times.

Burden’s take on gentrification as “improvement of neighborhoods” rather than as a burden (no pun intended) sheds light on its positive aspects, such as making the city more livable and breathable despite the many buildings that seem to be sprouting up everywhere.

The last statement of hers really struck me since she mentioned maintaining the identities of the neighborhoods. I think despite the development and gentrification that’s being done, it’s important to keep their distinctive characteristics (i.e. small businesses).  Those identities really depend on the residents themselves that have lived and built their lives in these neighborhoods.