Summary

Before Pauline’s arrival with the company, Maggie recounted the time that Mrs. J. invited the whole office to a local public forum about the housing shortage in the area. Only Maggie and one of her colleagues, Trudy, attended that night. But for Mrs. J it was more than just a forum. Jane Jacobs ran the forum, and Mrs. J used this opportunity to approach Jacobs at the end of the forum to discuss the idea about building the tallest building in New York.

The next few sections detail how Mrs. J got her job at the P.A. The story went back to 1943, just a year before she was hired. The executive director of the P.A. at the time was Austin Tobin. Tobin was ambitious and had many plans, but the chairman of the board of commissioners, Frank Ferguson, had different ideas...