Sink or Swim, Brooklyn

1947, World War 11 has just ended. The country is buoyant. But Brownsville, a gritty Brooklyn neighborhood, is experiencing enormous change. Southern blacks and Puerto Ricans are moving into this traditionally Jewish/Italian working class neighborhood. Tension on the streets is palpable.


Since his birth six year-old Stevie Alpert has endured illness, fear and anxiety. Plagued by nightmares he often sleepwalks. His mother, Rachael, half-jokingly says, "Stevie is more active at night than dur...