Cityscape

NYT: Why Should Orr Pick On Just The DIA? What Can He Do With The DSO?

May 30, 2013, 2:19 PM

Nationally known author Mark Binelli, a native metro Detroiter now living in New York, is among those alarmed by emergency manager Kevin Orr's signals that DIA treasures might be among assets up for auction in a municipal bankruptcy.


Mark Binelli, born and raised in Detroit, has sarcastic and serious messages for the emergency manager.
[Photo from markbinelli.com] 

In a New York Times commentary about challenges being discussed through Friday at the Mackinac Policy Conference, which he likens to the Davos conference of global leaders in Switzerland, Binelli wonders sarcastically what else could be liquidated.

Why stop there? Perhaps as part of a settlement, Mr. Orr can negotiate with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra to play at creditors’ annual shareholder luncheons, or work out a deal wherein laid-off auto workers perform free annual tune-ups on the limousines of bank executives.

Better yet, he could tear a page from the Chrysler turnaround — which, of course, ended with the company’s being purchased by Fiat. See where I’m going with this? Italians love art, they love cars, and they know how to monetize old ruins!

In a different world, Mr. Orr might instead consider more aggressively challenging the city’s creditors, or lobbying for the sort of federal cash infusion received by the faltering banks and auto companies.

Binelli wrote a well-reviewed book, "Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis,” published last November. Deadline Detroit posted a short excerpt the week it came out.


Read more:  The New York Times


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