BOOK REVIEW

Essays in the History of New York: A Review

As the old saying goes: “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” By this logic, Any informed New Yorker—any informed citizen—needs to be aware of his place in history; a populous that has a keen understanding of the storied past and of the projected future is one that can wisely support the relevant policy matters of the present. The collection of essays entitled, Essays in the History of New York: A Memorial to Sidney Pomerantz, contributes precisely to that end. Although the language in the collection is admittedly stale and academic at times, the knowledge the book holds is well worth the effort. The essay collection provides a wealth of understanding in New York City’s past demographic, economic and political history that would be the benefit of any responsible voter.

What is very interesting is how well the texts highlight class struggle. These essays each highlight (to varying degrees), how very different the lives of the wealthiest New Yorkers and the poorest New Yorkers have been.  They elaborate on the disparity of wealth, which is such a central issue of our time through historical snapshots of education in a particular district in the lower east side, to Tammany Hall’s grip on the New York City’s political institutions.

After a number of pages which describe the transition from the Dutch system of governance with its Schout, to the English system with its office of Mayor, the book leaps forward into the Jacksonian era to discuss the power concentration of the various social strata in New York City. Surprisingly, the supposed era of the common man saw extreme political deference; despite the expansion of democracy and voting rights to many previously ineligible citizens, political leaders were largely people of extreme wealth and prosperity. Even though voters were less “moneyed,” much of the power still rested with the incredibly wealthy (4% of the population in New York City controlled 80% of the wealth). Because of this the grievances and pleas of the wealthy were often heard first; taxes were low because the wealthy wished them to be, almsgiving to the poor had been outlawed (since it encouraged laziness) and charitable organizations, instead of giving “handouts”, gave advice to the “deserving poor”. The poor were encouraged to be frugal, temperate, industrious and self-dependent by organizations whose leaders knew (and had only ever known) unimaginable wealth.

Even after death, it seems that wealthier New Yorkers had been better off.  A quote from the book: “with a preponderance of large plots…and the ability of the wealthy to take advantage of it.”  Here the wealthy of New York snapped large plots of cemetery land in the then newly constructed Greenfields Cemetery to move their relatives out of those downtown graveyards reserved for the common masses into new spacious pastures.

Another essay describes the struggle of the bricklayers’ union against their employers, other unions and internal disagreement as they engage in a year long strike for an 8 hour day. Huge amounts of money from the coffers of the bricklayers’ union were dedicated to the strike, along with hefty lump sum donations from other unions in order to support their members under this long period of unemployment. The strike was unsuccessful the unions sustained huge losses in the end. No further attempts at attaining the 8 hour day until the progressive era.

History buff or not, this is a book that need be read. The parallelisms the events of the 19^th century have with our own time are frighteningly close. If hindsight is truly perfect, one can only understand the plight America’s silent poor by looking back into history to see the issues the poor faced then, learn lessons from their struggles and apply those lessons accordingly as educated citizens today.