The Rand Fire Project was probably the most inhumane response to building abandonment that I have ever heard of. Letting your city burn down in order to “get money for new housing” is a disgusting idea, but it was popular amongst political leaders in the 1970s. During this time period there were many “plans” going into effect that were not good in the first place, and only got worse during the execution.

This reading had me concerned about the handling of governmental agencies and intellectual institutions. They all were aware of what the Rand Fire Project was and what it did to New York City, and other cities in the country, from the start. In the 1976 hearings about the fire service reductions, many politicians there knew about the atrocities that this service caused to their neighborhoods, and were still in its favor. Even the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development knew about it and defended it by citing the awards it received from professional societies. Hopefully, now the public is more keen to noticing when something is wrong and more vocal in acting against it.

Reducing the size of the fire department was supposed to just affect the poor communities. Accelerating the demise of poor neighborhoods opened up the opportunity to create a new and better city. This was a logical approach to those with power because they viewed the poor as destructive to themselves and to the city. And just like Robert Moses, they saw a physical problem in need of a physical solution. Not only was the physical city burnt down, the social ties were also burnt down. They didn’t see the deeper social ties that Jane Jacobs saw, which gives an identity to the city. Unfortunately, in this case the solution not only hurt the poor, it also hurt the neighborhoods that were doing better.

This is an important part of this city’s history that we should always keep in our minds. Plans like the Fire House Project should not ever come to effect again. The physical and social aspects of a city are linked to each other and we need to keep that in consideration when considering the future of New York City.

Discussion Question: What measures are there today to prevent such misinformation from spreading? How can we inform the poor without having too much bias?