Thursday, January 17, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

posted by Elizabeth Fama

It's a birthday today of sorts: the birth of the Promontory Point Controversy. And in honor of that anniversary, Hyde Park Progress is offering FREE BUMPER STICKERS!

Git 'em here. Git 'em while they're hot.

Seven years ago, on January 17, 2001, the City held a public meeting to show the community its plans for the stretch of revetment between 54th and 57th Street. A Community Task Force was formed. Healthy negotiations with the City occurred. A 9-Point Plan was unveiled. The "Point Savers" rejected it and took over the Task Force. A Compromise Plan was unveiled. The Point Savers rejected that one, too.

Let's see what else has happened since January 17, 2001:

-George Bush was sworn in as President. Twice.
-The twin towers fell.
-We started two wars.
-Slobodan Milosevic was caught, tried eternally, and eventually died.
-We lost a Beatle (*sniff*).
-The EU switched dozens of countries over to the euro.
-SARS, Avian Flu, E Coli.
-Meigs was demolished overnight.
-Martha Stewart was tried, went to jail, got out, and re-established her empire.
-The Bam earthquake, the Indian Ocean Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina.
-Qadaffi transformed himself into a man-about-town.
-Edvard Munch's paintings were stolen. Two years later they were recovered.
-Arafat died, Sharon was incapacitated.
-We found out who Deep Throat is.
-The White Sox won the World Series.

And much, much more. Feel free to add your favorite event of the last 7 years.

And if you'd like a bumper sticker, send an e-mail to me at fama.elizabeth@gmail.com , give me your postal address, and I'll mail you one.


The Point has not been saved. It's time to fix the Point.

8 comments:

chicago pop said...

We found out who Deep Throat is

The first one, but not the second one.

As for bumper stickers, I'll take 2, please.

Peter Rossi said...

Tom Knight (one of the members of the original task force) died.

Peter Rossi said...

Tom was a real fixture on the lakefront as well. Someone who really loved and used the Point.

Peter Rossi said...

More than $1,000,000 has been spent on studies of the feasibility of various plans for the Point.

Elizabeth Fama said...

Thanks to SR for correcting my math: it has been seven years, not six, since Jan. 17, 2001.

Shame on me for not being able to subtract. Shame on the University for granting me 4 degrees.

Peter Rossi said...

The Point Has Not Been Saved.

It's time to fix the Point.

that says it all!

Elizabeth Fama said...

I'd like to reassure everyone that the bumper sticker offer is for real. Send me an e-mail and I'll mail you one. I have close to 100 of them to give away. Your name and address will remain confidential, and I won't use personal information for anything other than mailing the sticker out to you.

If you don't have a car, you can tape one inside the front window or door of your house or apartment (as Jack Spicer has done with his STP sticker), or put one on your bicycle. Get creative (but don't stick them on public property)!

Jennifer said...

Could you hook me up with two more? I got impatient and stuck mine to a laptop that never sees the light of day.