Manhattan's newly opened Hudson Yards is all shine and no substance, and New York City deserves better says Alan G Brake in this Opinion column.

This past weekend, the public gained access to much of the first phase of the vast Hudson Yards development on Manhattan's Far West Side, one of the island's last major swaths of developable land, now outfitted with trophy architecture, an enormous mall, a new public plaza, and several spaces seemingly designed for Instagram.
Developed by the Related Companies and Oxford Properties, Hudson Yards is an architecture of advanced capitalism, and, through its design and programming, it communicates its purpose clearly to the public. What does it tell us"
Hudson Yards is not for us, because "us" means me, you, anyone, and everyone. Hudson Yards is for them, a narrow band of wealthy individuals, tourists, and high-income workers. Hudson Yards is not for us, because it is a development, not a neighbourhood. Hudson Yards is not for us. Hudson Yards is for them
Hudson Yards is not for us, because, where there should be a street, there is a mall. Where there should be park, there is a vehicular drop-off area for private cars.
The Far West Side has always been Manhattan's service entrance, a warren of loading docks, highway channels and exit ramps, gritty and mostly charmless. Hudson Yards makes these conditions worse.
Hudson Yards has turned 30th Street from 10th Avenue to the West Side Highway into a series of parking garage...