How East New York Became a Ghetto

by Walter Thabit, Frances Fox Piven

Overview

In response to the riots of the mid-‘60s, Walter Thabit was hired to work with the community of East New York to develop a plan for low- and moderate-income public housing. In the years that followed, he experienced first-hand the forces that had engineered East New York’s dramatic decline and that continued to work against its successful revitalization. How East New York Became a Ghetto describes the shift of East New York from a working-class immigrant neighborhood to a largely black and Puerto Rican neighborhood and shows how the resulting racially biased policies caused the deterioration of this once flourishing area.
A clear-sighted, unflinching look at one ghetto community, How East New York Became a Ghetto provides insights and observations on the histories and fates of ghettos throughout the United States.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814782668
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	08/01/2003
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Walter Thabit has 35 years of experience in housing, renewal, community planning, city planning, and anti-poverty projects. He lives in New York City.

Frances Fox Piven is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the Graduate School, City University of New York. She is coeditor of Work, Welfare and Politics. Her other award-winning books include Regulating the Poor, Why Americans Don't Vote, and Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail (all with Richard Cloward).

Table of Contents

Foreword by Frances Fox Piven
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Welcome to East New York
2 The Population Wave
3 The Ghettoization of East New York
4 Destruction of the “Target Area”
5 The Uniformed (and Other) Services
6 The Youth of East New York
7 Vest Pocket Planning
8 Vest Pocket Implementation
9 The Model Cities Fiasco
10 School Planning
11 East New York under Siege
12 The FHA Scandals
13 The Community School Board Disaster
14 Rebuilding in East New York
15 The Hard Road to Recovery
16 Policing the Ghetto
Epilogue
Notes
Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years.”
-from the Foreword by Frances Fox Piven

,

“Thabit emphasizes the central role of local institutions in contributing to urban disinvestment and decline.”
-Journal of Urban History

,

“Walter Thabit has written a highly personal and compelling piece of retrospective analysis.”
-Journal of the American Planning Association

,

“Thabit’s writing is lucid and heartfelt.”
-Urban Studies

,

“An excellent source of data and intelligence on the formation of ghettos and the life and struggle within them.”
-Science & Society

Editorial Reviews

"Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years."

from the Foreword by Frances Fox Piven

"Thabits writing is lucid and heartfelt."

Urban Studies

Walter Thabit eloquently tells the story of East New York, a neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn, complementing his close observation of events in the neighborhood with astute analyses of the bearing of larger forces on this big city slum. Events in East New York reveal in microcosm the turbulent national forces that have determined the fate of inner city ghettos across the country over the past 40 years.”
-from the Foreword by Frances Fox Piven

From the Publisher

"An excellent source of data and intelligence on the formation of ghettos and the life and struggle within them"

Science & Society

"Walter Thabit has written a highly personal and compelling piece of retrospective analysis"

Journal of the American Planning Association

"Thabit emphasizes the central role of local institutions in contributing to urban disinvestment and decline"

Journal of Urban History