PLACESONG SONGBOOK
Automat-ic Pie
Performed before The Landmarks Commission of The City of New York, this song was part of an advocacy campaign to secure landmarks designation for an historic building, originally constructed to house a Horn & Hardart Automat restaurant.
A Separate Peace
A local civic organization sought to block a zoning variance for institutional property that would have led to loss of open space. The song was created as a mock ‘memorial’, to accompany video footage of the site, but the variance was abandoned, in part due to vigorous local opposition.
A Woods So Green
A block association campaigned to prevent municipal sale of open space adjacent to a rail trail. This song was performed at free concert and helped secure additional press coverage for the initiative. Subsequent sale led to a net loss, due to sewage and environmental remediation, for the municipality – a cautionary tale for the age of ‘privatization’.