As many as 3.5 million Americans suffer from homelessness every year. Homelessness can be caused by lack of affordable housing, increased unemployment, minimized minimum wage, deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill, housing and social service cuts, as well as many other reasons. Specifically in the 1980s, the quality of life of New Yorkers decreased as more people lacked affordable housing and remained homeless. Koch (Mayor 1978-1989) initially did not internalize the depths of the homelessness crisis because he thought of it as only temporary. However, as time passed throughout his time in office, he noticed that this issue was serious relevant enough for him to address. He developed transitional shelters that provided private rooms for families as well as support services to help residents develop professional skills, apply for benefits, and find permanent housing. Koch also built many of these permanent housing projects and for the next decade, 4,000 apartments per year are built for shelter residents.

Rather than providing a temporary fix towards a large problem, a community in Boston attempted a more permanent solution. In the Affordable Housing Forever’s Solution article, it mentioned a woman named Correa as a success story because she was able to afford to buy a house with only $940 in mortgage payments per month. She was able to buy her house through a land trust initiative, Dudley Neighbors Incorporated, that removed vacant properties from the private market. This gave Correa and many other families the ability to purchase a house and be able to pass that same house onto their children. It’s remarkable how the trust was able to function and maintain affordable housing. Many problems arise from lack of affordable housing such as homelessness, sex trafficking, and educational issues for children brought up in unstable environments. Hopefully, programs like this one will flourish, despite the gentrification complications in the current housing environment.

Along with the gentrification of Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, came the fear from residents of other neighborhoods, like Brownsville, that their neighborhood would experience similar gentrification. Following the Trash Riots in 1970 in Brownsville, many protests sprouted from the unequal cutting of funds and resources to Brownsville. 25 percent of Brownsville’s residents in 1977 relied on public assistance, however, after 1980, things started to look better for the residents of Brownsville. Many groups provided aid in the reconstruction of the neighborhood. Affordable housing was made an importance, by building more homes and obtaining subsidies from the government to lower the prices of homes. One of the most successful parts of this project was the Nehemiah Plan, which provided housing for low income families, and provided an outlet for families to live in and contribute to making a better life for themselves. However, had Brownsville residents not protested in the 1970s, would the Nehemiah housing exist? Wealthy people could have gentrified Brownsville like other neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Because the severe trash situation in the early 70s in Brownsville, I don’t think affluent people saw any value in gentrifying Brownsville, leaving the neighborhood open to rehabilitation for its current residents. By investing in middle class families, the government will prevent many of the would be families from falling into poverty by not being able to afford a home. Attempting to go to the root cause of so many harmful side effects of the lack of affordable housing will hopefully lead the housing crisis to be no longer an issue.

References:

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/16/realestate/perspectives-the-nehemiah-plan-a-high-volume-builder-yearns-for-land.html?pagewanted=all

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/14/nyregion/homeless-in-city-facing-koch-edict.

htmlhttps://nextcity.org/features/view/affordable-housings-forever-solution

https://nextcity.org/features/view/east-harlem-neighborhood-plan-upzoning-affordable-housing

It’s crazy how different an area like Times Square, originally Longacre Square, is today than what it was a century ago. The once poverty-stricken, crime-filled, prostitute packed Times Square was changed drastically into the family friendly Time Square of today.  By 1960, the New York Times had called the block on 42nd street between 7th and 8th avenues “the worst block in town” (Reichl 1999). In 1984, there were 2,300 crimes on the block, with 20% of them being serious felonies (Carlson 2010). What made the scene shift from crime and prostitution to a family-friendly environment that tourists from all over the world cherish?

Reichl made me aware of the public policy decisions that set this atmosphere shift. Planned by a public commission in 1901, the city announced that construction would begin for the city’s first subway line, making 42nd street the central to the project. Stressing the importance and unified approach for the subway, public and private sectors worked together on this project for a variety of both of their economic interests. Wealthy people moved farther uptown to newly constructed respectable neighborhoods were built in response to increased economic growth. Reichl defined suburbanization as “the migration of wealthier residents to less developed areas outside the central city” which sounds to me a lot like gentrification. Affluent people moving into a neighborhood and driving up the prices there. Yes, many people weren’t living uptown and it was mostly abandoned or rebuilt for manufacturing. By 1890, Times Square was no longer “uptown.”

Because Times Square has the largest concentration of advertising space in the world,  it became the became a stage for commercial culture and not just the entertainment district. As a result of the Idustrial Revolution and increased production of goods, Times Square tourism increased which foreshadowed the tourist-filled Times Square of today. On becoming more family friendly, Disney began presenting live stage versions of its movies in 1992 in the New Amsterdam Theater. Ideas that good would triumph evil came with the presence of Disney and symbolizing a new popular entertainment shift of the neighborhood. Over the next few years, Disney bought the New Amsterdam Theater and brought companies with similar ideals to work alongside them. From puttin on Beauty and the Beast to now Phantom of the Opera, the New Amsterdam Theater greatly impacted the vibe of the block. The theater went from an office and a nightclub to the home of so many feel-good shows. Disney renovated the theater and decided to build a hotel, entertainment  and retail complex in 1995 (Kennedy 1995), known today as E-Walk with movie theaters, Madame Tussaud’s and Ripley’s: Believe It or Not, among other family friendly attractions.

To answer the prompt of the topic, the Revanchist movement came to be characterized by hatred, bitterness that comes with loss, and a loathing of modernity, dedicated to stopping the forward flow of progress. Rebirth, however,  has more of a definition of starting to flourish or increase after a decline. Times Square was skewed towards rebirth because progress and modernity increased in the area in the last century. The effects of the subway and of Disney in the neighborhood greatly impacted the neighborhood in the spirit of rebirth and revival. A place rampant with crime and prostitution became a tourist destination filled with Mickey Mouse and visiting families.

 

Reichl, A  (1999) Reconstructing Times Square: Politics and Culture in Urban Development

Carlson, J (2010) Flashback: Times Square, 1986 Gothamist http://gothamist.com/2010/11/08/flashback_times_square_1986.php#photo-1 (Last Accessed March 13, 2017.)

Tucker, J. A. (2016) The New Revanchism: The Theme of Politics Today. Foundation for Economic Education. https://fee.org/articles/the-new-revanchism-the-theme-of-politics-today/ (Last Accessed March 13, 2017.)

Kennedy, S G (1995). “Disney and Developer Are Chosen To Build 42d Street Hotel Complex”. New York Times. p. B2. Last Accessed March 13, 2017.