By Jennifer Ross
The Amanda Burden Story, written by Julie Satow, is a complicated profile story of a woman’s job to transform the image of one of the nation’s largest cities through the governmental tool of rezoning. Ms. Burden, an expat of the socialite world, goes to great lengths, a feat many higher political professionals do not attempt in their own work, of understanding the issues before her in order to make a decision to the best of her ability. Some may call this an exemplary model of professionalism, while others may view it as micro-management.
Amanda Burden
Image: Wikipedia
In my opinion, Satow gives an unbiased view of Burden. Satow gives both the good, such as the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars created as a result of the rezoning of Chelsea and its formerly-abandoned elevated-subway line, and the bad, with threat of gentrification infecting the city through extensive redevelopment of areas once left in the dark from new business. More importantly, for every quote in favor of Burden, she counters it with another quote against her. With the amount of quotes from many different sources, one can deduce that much research and effort was poured into the article by Satow. Now, whether the information in the article is in the portrayal image of what one would think a story on Burden would be, that is a normative statement I would not say.
The image I am left with of Burden is one of many distinctions. For a woman with her attention to detail and decision making skills, with the ability to stand before persuasive developers and not be swayed one way or the other, one would not assume she came from a background of opulence and luxuriousness many of us have not, and may never, experience. I can see how some people may see her in a negative light, due to either her decisions of improving the city, which could have led to “gentrification”, or to her ancestral background, assuming everything was handed to her on a silver spoon. In today’s world it can be difficult for some to see a woman in this position, with her character of strength and determination. Overall, I prefer to accept both sides of her as they are because not one person in this world is either good or bad completely.
