Will Anyone Care About Ground Zero’s Cultural Tenants?

Now that we know which of New York’s arts groups will be housed at Ground Zero, it’s time to ask an important question: will these art centers really have any significant cultural impact? John Rockwell isn’t sure: “The winners were picked not because anyone gave first thought to their worthiness as art, but because they represented a canny mix of institutions likely to make downtown a better place to live and do business… [but] arts gentrification tends to work best in this city when applied to underutilized old industrial neighborhoods, rather than already-crowded residential districts.”