Sources

TOPIC: GENTRIFICATION

Annotated Bibliography

 

Dwork, Deborah. “Health Conditions of Immigrant Jews on the Lower East Side of New York: 1880–1914.” Medical History 25.01 (1981): 1-40. Print.

When in 1880 Jews first immigrated to Lower East Side, there where certain conditions that didn’t favor them. Firstly they lived in a very poor sanitary environment. Secondly because of their religious beliefs they often had inadequate supply of nutrients in their body. Despite these adverse conditions, very surprisingly, Jewish community had a generally lower disease rate, and high infant mortality then their counterpart Americans, and other immigrants. This study examines how their health was drastically effected by “Americanization” process. The density of the Jews in the Lower East Side, and the congestion caused many problems. Also they often had to work long hours, which added to their emotional pain of displacement.

 

“History of the Lower East Side.” Lower East Side New York. Lower East Side Business Improvement District, 2010. Web. 6 May 2014.

Krucoff, Rebecca . The Lower East Side. New York: The New York Public Library, 2002. Print.

 

Lepkoff, Rebecca, Peter E. Dans, and Suzanne Wasserman. Life on the Lower East Side Photographs by Rebecca Lepkoff, 1937-1950. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2006. Print.

Although a picture book, this book has plenty of relevant information on the transformation of Lower East Side, its markets, and work force. The peddlers served the Jewish community and were relocated to indoor markets. Many families supported themselves by selling food. Families who owned pickle stands sold pickles from wooden pickle barrels. In 1934 first major private housing complex was constructed, that displaced many Italian families in lieu of more middle-class immigrants. The five square blocks of the Lower East Side, where most of the non-citizens lived were very successful in opposing Americanization. Most common places of congregation were coffeehouses, cafes, and wine cellar (They are still present and are the most common places where people socialize). The pictures and the captions provide a vivid portrayal of the change in the Lower East Side.

 

Martinez, Miranda J. Power at the Roots: Gentrification, Community Gardens, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2010. Print.

This book focuses on the community of Puerto Ricans enclave known as Loisaida. The first major wave of Puerto Ricans immigration began in 1940s and went on until 1970s. During the 1970s, when the city was going through urban crisis, the neighborhood housing conditions began to deteriorate. Rural Puerto Ricans saw the empty land and began planting, which greatly reduced the pollution. It was the community’s way of fighting against gentrification. As the housing became expensive, most of the Puerto Rican started concentrating around the eastern side, and some were displaced out of the neighborhood. The book goes into detail over the struggle between Mayor Giuliani and community gardeners over space. And as more and more Puerto Ricans were displaced out of the Lower East Side in search of public housing, their influence in the community declined. The book ends on how this might affect Puerto Ricans in the future and the consequences of spatial polarization.

 

Mele, Christopher. Selling the Lower East Side: culture, real estate, and resistance in New York City. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000. Print.

 

Mendelsohn, Joyce. The Lower East Side Remembered and Revisited: A History and Guide to a Legendary New York Neighborhood. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. Print.

Since there are so many historic landmarks in the Lower East Side, we are most likely going to include a page for it. Most of the information for it is going to come out of this book. The 97 Orchard Street and the tenements was a settlement place for the Jews. It was a major shopping area and the streets were filled with bargain shops. (Some of the clothing stores still carry out bargaining with customers). The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is a preserved pre-old tenement building. The Freeman alley was once a place known for drinking, drugs, and sex but now it has transformed into a “hip destination.” The Katz’s delicatessen was founded in 1888. Now it serves over two thousands customers a day. On Sundays several blocks are closed because of traffics. We are going to list other appetizer stores like Russ & Daughters in this page.

 

Moynihan, Colin. “Brian Rose and Edward Fausty’s Images of the Lower East Side.” The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 1 March 2013.   Web. 6 April 2014.

A comparison of images taken by Brian Rose and Edward Fausty in the Lower East Side in 1980 with images taken by Rose in 2010 of the same area, this article is a visual presentation of how the neighborhood has changed over time. According to the short text accompanying the images, in 1980 there had not yet been any gentrification, and New York’s fiscal crisis was visibly noticeable. This is apparent in the images; the 1980 photographs have a much more raw, broken down feel compared to the 2010 photos. However, Mr. Rose, the photographer, cautions people against viewing places as a study of “then and now,” instead recommending that one look at “the continuum.”

Ocejo, Richard E. “The Early Gentrifier: Weaving A Nostalgia Narrative On The Lower East Side.” City & Community 10.3 (2011): 285-310.Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.

The author of this article examines gentrification in the Lower East Side through the viewpoint of “early gentrifiers”. He discusses the critical mindset that people who moved in to the Lower East Side in the 1980’s feel towards young hip people moving in now. The “early gentrifiers” feel that the newcomers are destroying the social identity and the collective memory of the Lower East Side. He also explains that the residents of the Lower East Side had created a “nostalgia narrative”, which is a narrative seen through the eyes of the residents depicting all the memories and qualities of a place at a time of loss, which fueled their opposition. Then the author speaks about why such an approach and attachment to a place can create flawed perceptions and opinions regarding change.

 

Riis, Jacob A. How the Other Half Lives: Studies among the Tenements of New York. New York: Dover, 1971. Print.

In this book Riis describes the horrid conditions in which the people of the tenements lived. He depicted how the immigrant populations like the Italians, and the Jews resided in overcrowded, filthy, and disease filled milieu. He also describes the sweatshops that paid very stingily, which led many of the immigrants to work for long hours. The neglect and greed of the upper classes was the reason tenements were in that state. This book opens up the tension between the upper class and lower class, and we are going to tie that to how gentrification affects each class.

 

Schmelzkopf, Karen. “Urban Community Gardens as Contested Space.” Geographical Review 85.3 (1995): 364. Print.

This article focuses on community gardens in Loisaida, a poor section of the Lower East Side neighborhood. It discusses the importance of the gardens as a source of food as well as the other economic and social purposes they serve. Urban renewal and the environmental movement of the 1970s facilitated creating these community gardens to give residents a way to produce their own food.

 

Lower East Side New York. Lower East Side Business Improvent District, 2010. Web. 6 April 2014.

A collection of information about the Lower East Side, mainly for the consumer, as it includes tabs to search for places to Explore, Shop, Eat, find Nightlife and Events. The website was created by the Lower East Side Business Improvement District, a non-profit economic development organization which (among other things) operates a visitors center and supports beautification of the neighborhood, and was founded officially in 1992, though it has worked under other titles and organizations for over 40 years. The website includes dropdown menus that link to listings of museums, restaurants, bars, grocery stores, and other places of interest in the city. Well-laid out and moderately easy to navigate, the website is a quick and easy resource for visitors, or those looking to learn more about current trends in the Lower East Side.

 

“What We Talk About When We Talk About Food: Using Food to Teach History at the Tenement Museum.” The Public Historian 34.2 (2012): 79-89. Print.

The Tenement Museum has walking tours on the Lower East Side. Visitors taste foods and see the history of food in the neighborhood from a historian’s point of view. The article discusses how immigrants shape their identities through food as well as the Lower East Side community. Immigrants and U.S born citizens both use food to create culture in the neighborhood.

Ziegelman, Jane. 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement. New York: Harper, 2011.