The contrasts made within the first few sentences place Amanda Burden as an infiltrator. “…her…sophisticated dress contrasting with the worn-out rug.” This is not merely an observation but Julie Satow’s assumption of what Ms. Burden may feel when she is inside some of New York’s oldest buildings.
The article highlights Burden’s portfolio of revitalization in New York but the writer is fair in that she offers the point of view of the critics, too. However, there seems to be a bias that leaves us with an image of a large construction ball, swinging over New York to cut it down to the status quo. Burden’s own credentials create her defense in this piece.
Amongst details of a fashionable woman of well-to-do stature who has dated socialites and experienced a couple of failed marriages, we still get a glimpse into Ms. Burden’s accomplishments. For these projects Satow does follow with criticisms from various sources. She seems to focus on the impact gentrification has had on the local community. Even in the second to last paragraph she explains Burden’s relocation plans as clustering greater density around transit hubs. It is evident that this cluster-effect is Satow’s view of Burden’s projected developments being consolidated and – expected to take up to 30 years- jammed into 19 months.
