“Whose Bronx?” Regime Politics and the Evolution of Community Power at the Kingsbridge Armory

This thesis traces the 30-year history of redevelopment activities at the Kingsbridge Armory in the Northwest Bronx, as community groups have mounted an expanding challenge to development-as-usual in New York City. Using urban regime theory as a lens, I deploy archival research and interviews to assess the tensions that emerge when regime politics collide with a building movement of community power at the Kingsbridge Armory over time. I argue that New York City’s predominant urban economic development regime is not structured to accommodate an organization that is both a grassroots leader and a developer, and that as community power continues to evolve, the regime’s traditional arrangements become increasingly untenable. I ultimately assert that the increasingly structural movement of community power at the Kingsbridge Armory requires a reimagining of the informal processes, logics, and roles that have defined New York economic development.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Phillips, Natalie

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Huntley, Eric

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
• Copyright retained by author(s)

Licence dc:rights.uri

• https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/162057

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/162057