Mention one new detail that you learned from the documentary segment that none of your classmates have commented on previously.
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November 3, 2017 at 11:41 pm
During the Great Depression, there were many hardships that New York citizens had to face. Approximately one third of the working class was unemployed and wages were being cut down in half. As a result, tenants could no longer pay their rents and had to be evicted from their houses. They moved to public spaces where they would not need to pay rent such as the bridges, parks, and dumpsters. Some created Hoovervilles in these places and it was named after the president to place blame him. Hoovervilles were places where citizens would create their new homes and they used materials such as wood and cardboard to construct houses. People needed assistance and relief to survive during this difficult time and went to bread lines to obtain nourishment every day. These lines were extremely long as they went around the block and tightly packed. As a result, some did not receive anything to eat. The packed lines also prevented anyone from skipping the line since many were in need of soup and bread. The food situation got so out of hand that desperate women and children had to search dumpsters to find some food. As the citizens in New York suffered, their anger led to a demand for change and improvement from the government.
November 4, 2017 at 1:38 am
From watching this documentary, I was shocked to learn about the achievements that were accomplished within the U.S. during the Great Depression. One would think that during the Great Depression, nothing new was created or built but after watching this documentary, I learned that this theory proved to be false. From watching this documentary, I learned that a ton of new parks, playgrounds, roads, swimming pools, and beaches were uncovered, created, and established. I find it interesting that during such poor economic conditions, society was still progressing forward and building establishments and innovations for the future.There was more building-creation during this time period, a time period full of depression, economic downturn, and desolation, rather than during the end of the 20th century when the economy was in full-force moving forward.
November 4, 2017 at 6:08 pm
On the Eve of the stock market crash there were fewer than 2 million people unemployed in the United States. In less than two years the number rose to 8 million and in three years to 13 million. As stated in the video it was “nearly a third of the nation’s workforce.” It is shocking to hear that 6 million people became unemployed due to the economic collapse in less than two years. However, New York City was the most affected. At first, people denied the crash, but as time passed more businesses were closing down so people began realizing how serious this situation was. Agriculture was limited in the city and people relied on factories and small businesses for money. It was a ripple effect in the city, businesses closed and people could not pay rent. They were evicted out of their houses and depended on bread lines for sustenance. These lines for free food reminded me of the stories my mother used to tell me about the Soviet Union. She had to stand in line for hours just to receive some items like bread and cheese in order to feed her first born child. Her suffering was the result of a corrupt government, which made me think how disorganized the government was during the 1930’s. There were no insurances and no government programs in order to help keep people off the streets. Instead, those in the middle and lower class were highly affected by this financial crisis.
November 4, 2017 at 8:07 pm
One of the most influential political and social figures of New York City during the 20th early to mid 20th century was public figure Robert Moses. Known as one of the most radical ex-congressman of New York, Robert Moses drove forward the idea of New York’s tomorrow in an aggressive and confident way. The nature of Moses’s campaigning skills was to be so assertive that it was impossible for him not to earn the attention of New Yorkers. Many citizens were drawn to him simply bases off of his fearless persona. Moses was known for his courage to stand up against the forces of the city that he did not approve of and war with an unflinching fist against the legislation of New York City. He was a politician for the people, a true “scrappy” New Yorker who knew how to relate himself to the people from whom he wanted votes, and wanted to help.
Moses was a reflector of New York City, a “one person melting pot”. He was somebody who was not only comfortable with difference, but celebrated it. Having a Jewish mother, an Italian father, and a background in Episcopalian faith, Moses knew the life of a diverse New Yorker and lived to represent a constituency of varied human beings. If there were a personality more suited to call themselves a representation of New York City in the early to mid 20th century than anybody else, it was Robert Moses.
November 4, 2017 at 9:58 pm
One detail that I learned while watching the documentary LaGuardia was the power of the invention of the car in the expansion of suburbanization. The car enabled people to expand beyond the limits of the city and revolutionized transportation. For the first time, there was a quick and convenient way to live on the outskirts of Manhattan yet still be immersed in the city life. As said in the documentary, “the car unravels tight, closely knit, interdependent urban regions.” This invention led way to the construction of highways and a network of towns outside the bubbling city. The car almost uprooted the need for cities to begin with, as it disrupted the need for such tight, congested living and working environments. The gridded, vertical nature of the city where the home and workplace were combined competed with the vast nature of the suburbs which primarily consisted of houses and winding streets. Prior to the mass production of the automobile, making it much easier for those of the middle class to own one, people needed to live near their workplace, in the heart of the city. As a result of the creation of roads and interstates, this led to commuters living in suburbs- as such, the majority of people living in Long Island today work in Manhattan.
November 5, 2017 at 5:50 pm
At the time, New York City was devastated and still recovering from the great Depression. Unemployment rates were as high as 50% of the population. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s actions certainly aided the recovery from the Great Depression, but it was Fiorello H. La Guardia, the mayor of New York City, who contributed most to the restabilization of the economy in the heart of the nation. In 1933, La Guardia became the mayor of NYC and was determined to change the fate of the city. In less than a month, he successfully dissolved the corrupt political system that ruled over Tammany Hall. Over 1000 government positions secured for Tammany loyalists were open to the citizens of New York. The civil service system was refined such that power was given to those with merit and proficiency in their fields. In addition, he implemented a series of public works programs, similar to those of FDR’s New Deal, and significantly revitalized NYC’s employment and infrastructure. Over 10,000 jobs were provided as a result. Ultimately, his efforts were crucial to the redevelopment of the social, economic, and political factors of living in New York City.
November 5, 2017 at 9:26 pm
What I found so interesting about this segment of the documentary were the ways New Yorkers protested the Great Depression. When citizens were evicted and kicked out of their homes, they decided to form their own homes; calling them “Hoovervilles” in spite of President Herbert Hoover, New Yorkers lived in these sprung up shanty towns just to survive. They built their houses, or shacks rather, of driftwood or discarded planks and were prominent on the East River and in Central Park. On top of this, protests were rampant in the streets of New York City. Especially in places where garment factory workers lived, such as Harlem and the Bronx, these protests were a call for government action. Too many workers were being laid off; in some areas, up to one in three workers ended up unemployed. Eventually, New Yorkers throughout the city participated in rent strikes, where many people would protest against their landlord and agree to not pay their rent together. Luckily, thanks to then Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York was one of the first states to receive government programs to help combat unemployment and poverty.
November 6, 2017 at 12:01 am
Rumors of malfeasance surrounded around city hall in 1931, James John Walker a flamboyant a charming mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932. Under his order, the city was under total chaos and spiraled out of control. He was a horrible major who did not care for the wellbeing of the city. Walker did not show up to meetings until noon and often decided the leave by 3 o’clock in the afternoon. He was a charming individual and frequently wrote songs like his famous song, “Will You Love Me in December as You Do in May?” It told from the documentary that when Robert Moses come into the office in the morning, Walker will see a pile of papers on his desk and ask if there are any checks if not, he easily sweeps all of the papers off the desk. He was a lazy and unreliable major, who had no successful accomplishment to benefit the people of the city. His nonchalant attitude did not help the local residents during debts of the Great Depression. There was no money provided by the state or federal government, so Walker only borrowed for money. Under his administration, he cut public services and laid off many workers.
Finally, in the Fall of 1930, Walker had his investigation which inevitably led to his ultimate downfall. The investigation revealed the horrific corruption in the city government and found malfunction in the police department in the judical system. For example, many arrested prostitutes were let go after a payment. The police would expose middle-class workers through arrest and threaten them to pay off the officers for release. On May 26, Walker testified himself in the County Court House and walked confidently through the crowds. The Chief Investigator and judge was Samual Seabury. Even Seabury was mystified under the charming aura of Walker, therefore, Seabury had to turn sideways to avoid making eye-contact with Walker. After the investigation, reports stated that Walker was involved in fraud and illegal money deposit with the public’s revenue. At the end of the summer, Walker left office and the person behind all of this investigation was Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt ensured that Walker was replaced by the person who is more reliable for the people and the city.
November 6, 2017 at 1:15 am
One interesting fact that I learned from this documentary was how Laguardia took over as Mayor of New York City during one of the most financially difficult times the city has ever faced. Seeped deeply in the Depression, Laguardia knew he must take action as soon as he stepped into the office. His first actions were to eradicate corruption from the system as he implemented merit based systems instead of loyalty processes that were subtly rooted in the government. From previous knowledge I had known that he had the nickname of “The little FLower” because of his short height of five feet two inches. However, I was surprised to find out that this little man had to be physically restrained multiple times to be kept from attacking other officials. He often let his short temper get the best of him and forgot to take care of his public image. Despite his shortcomings, the New York City civilians had a special place for him in their hearts as he was zealously involved in all of the city’s action. He was definitely not afraid to show his vulnerable and human side even as a powerful politician, and this quality won over the hearts of many and allowed him to serve three terms as mayor. He accompanied the police force on official raids to stop crime, led orchestras at Carnegie Hall and demanded that he be given no special attention as he went about in New York City.
November 6, 2017 at 4:08 am
Something I took away from this segment of the documentary that was entirely new to me was the aggressive and swift manner in which LaGuardia took over the city the instance he was elected to be mayor. On a first note, I found it curious that, on January 1st, 1934, as LaGuardia was taking his oath and being sworn into office as mayor of New York City, people across the nation were celebrating the end of prohibition. However, what really struck me was the fact that LaGuardia did, in fact, take over New York City in its worst point. When we discuss fiscal problems nowadays, we talk about unemployment in the 4-8% range as being problematic; when LaGuardia became mayor, the city’s unemployment rate was nearly 50%.
However, LaGuardia proved to be precisely the leader New York City needed at the time. He was unafraid to start working on his goals for the city from his very first day; in fact, upon walking up the stairs on his first day as mayor, he shook his fist at city hall and yelled, in Italian, “No More Free Lunches!” His plans for the city involved what he called a major housecleaning, saying that he not only wanted to clean the streets, but also that he was going to clean “every department of nasty Tammany politician.” In mere weeks, he had dismantled New York City’s famed political machine and started a system of scientific civil service, built on expertise and merit. He would remain in office for 12 years, and would accomplish one of his major goals and most-needed steps for the city’s recovery: the dismantling of the Democratic political machine.
November 6, 2017 at 7:04 pm
In the documentary, I learned even more about what occurred during the depression. Like most, the previous knowledge I had about the depression was the amount of people that were now unemployed and the rise of bread lines and unemployment lines for government aid. Jimmy Walker, the mayor of New York City from 1926 to 1932, only worsened this for those in New York. Walker was tried for almost a million dollars in fraud and eventually left New York to go to Paris with his mistress. Around this time Franklin Roosevelt was beginning to run for the presidency and attempted to distance himself from this and resigned rather than to be fired because of the Walker incident. This helped Roosevelt’s popularity and the new mayor of New York City became LaGuardia. He represented the people and was different than those in Tammany and once in office, he began to dismantle the jobs associated with Tammany. He was loved by the people for his direct involvement with events in the city. He would accompany the police on raids, help put out fires, and even once conducted the City Orchestra. He also was passionate about eliminating crime and would collect slot machines, destroy them, and then dump them. He wanted to return New York City to how it was before the depression and to make it even better.
November 6, 2017 at 7:32 pm
The main thing I took away from this segment of the documentary was just how much the Great Depression had impacted New York City. Prior to watching this, I always knew the Great Depression hurt America as a whole but I never thought about what the conditions were like in New York City individually. According to the documentary, approximately one million six hundred thousand of the city’s six million nine hundred thousand residents were on some sort of relief. The documentary also said that hundreds of women and children would wait for the garbage trucks to dump trash at the 96th street dump because they would all search through the garbage and take what little food they could find.
November 7, 2017 at 3:08 am
I had always assumed that the effects of the Depression set in rather quickly once the stock market crashed, but the documentary explained that the masses did not immediately see it as a significant change from the norm. Rather, the process was gradual, and one thing led to another, starting from decline of the financial sector. Industries began cutting wages and laying people off, but it took three years before unemployment reached the extent of which we usually think when the topic of the Depression arises. The taxes of the Empire State Building, which had been constructed not long ago during this period, were paid using the money from sightseers, and that was essentially the only source of money for the structure. This seems strange because the last thing on which I would expect people to spend their limited supply of money is something that is not strictly necessary for survival. I would have thought that even walking past the exterior of the building would have been enough to satisfy the curiosity of the public, but the fact that the building was able to pay its taxes at all indicates that people had entered the Empire State Building simply for the sake of entering. Such an act suggests that the presence of art transcends physical and material issues.
November 7, 2017 at 3:27 am
The 1930s was a time of great anxiety and frustration. Through this documentary, I was able to understand how rapidly the rate of unemployment was increasing during the Great Depression. Starting on the eve of the stock market crash, 2 million people were unemployed. Then less than two years later this unemployment rose up to 8 million. Soon after a year, about 13 million people were jobless, making up one-third of the nation’s workforce. The effects of this crash were most visible in New York. There were massive evictions, failing banks, and several suicides. One part of the documentary which really opened my eyes to the crash was how there were lines of men pressed together for food and only those in front would likely receive it. Almost 1,600,000 people were on relief rolls. I found it heartbreaking to learn that women and children would run towards the garbage after it was dumped from trucks to find food. It is so difficult to hear how these people had to go to the extent of digging through garbage to survive.
By 1931, several people were evicted from their homes. Those that could, doubled up with family and friends. People sprung up upon East River, Hudson, and Central Park when they were ousted, and those areas were called Hoovervilles in spite of President Herbert Hoover. There were large-scale relief programs, but it was disheartening to know that it rarely reached those intended because Tammany officials pocketed most of the funds and made sure most of the rest was distributed to party regulars.
November 7, 2017 at 4:25 am
One of the most interesting parts of the documentary for me was the discussion of “hoovervilles” or shanty-towns that popped up in public parks when people lost their homes. Thousands of individuals lost their homes when the depression hit and they were forced out onto the streets. They earned their nicknames because of dislike toward the ineffective action or just inaction of President Herbert Hoover during the depression. I recall seeing a photograph of some of these make-shift homes and I cannot imagine what it must have been like living in them. I found it was comparable to the occupy wall street movement that occurred several years ago, with the difference being these people did not choose to live in the park, they simply had no where else to go. In a city of 6 million over 1.5 million were in need of food or economic assistance. I found the sheer magnitude of people affected shocking and devastating.
November 7, 2017 at 11:28 am
There was a seismic change brought about the New Deal, President FDR’s response to the Great Depression that struck the nation and NYC. The nature of the relationship between politics and the average citizen was ultimately and forever changed. Before then, politics and the people were two separate entities. After the New Deal, there was a palpable relationship between the people and politics in the sense that the two were inseparable and intricately connected. Housing and public reform, social security systems, and public works programs lead to the resurrection of New York City. And this, no one could deny, was all due to the politicians. Thus, everyone who benefitted from the reforms of the government now involved himself or herself in government. Before this, there was no connection between the two parts of the country besides military support and security. The idea that the government had the responsibility to interject economically, provide social security, and to keep people from starving was a completely alien notion. There is also another tremendous change that is brought about by the New Deal. New York was the unofficial capital, the economic capital, the marketing capital, and the cultural capital. However, as the New Deal was applied to every region of the United States almost equally and made every part of the US rise together, New York was now almost equal to other cities. This could be seen as a bad thing as New York loses its almost unchallenged role as The City or it can be seen as a new chance to compete and what better city to compete than the City that embodies competition?
November 7, 2017 at 8:47 pm
One new detail I learned from the documentary was the fact that New York City had such an influential and ground-breaking mayor like LaGuardia. In particular, it was his personality traits that struck me as unique. People in the documentary described him as hot-tempered, loud, and dramatic, not in a bad way, but almost in a humanizing sense. Most politicians, even to this day, are seen to be polite and mannered all the time, as if they are not like normal people who act out and get angry some times. LaGuardia was a man not afraid to show this side of himself. Although he had to censored and reprimanded at times, it did not stop him or the people from loving it. He reminded me of modern day politicians, using media to his advantage. In the documentary, it says he was very much aware of the media and how it portrayed him. Using his dramatics and brash personality, LaGuardia used the media to showcase his radical movements about New York City in almost a theatrical way. LaGuardia loved to go out in the streets to bars, ripping out slot machines, and then smashing them with his axe. He would take all the guns and throw them off the side of the boat. And this was all caught on tape for the public to see.
November 7, 2017 at 9:00 pm
One new detail that I learned about from the documentary was the close relationship between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia. Mayor La Guardia saw great potential in President Roosevelt’s New Deal. The unlikely alliance between the Democratic president and the Republican mayor helped Mayor La Guardia to secure billions of dollars in federal aid to fund major public works projects in New York City during the Great Depression. These funds were used to finance the construction of highways, airports, bridges, hospitals, schools, and colleges that profoundly impacted the city. As a result, New York became a showcase for the New Deal and a “laboratory of civic reconstruction”. Similar federally funded public works projects were undertaken all across the country in an attempt to revitalize the American economy.
November 13, 2017 at 1:18 am
One new detail that I took away from the documentary that hasn’t been mentioned yet is some of the people who helped make the New Deal a success. The key to understanding the role of people like LaGuardia and Robert Moses is to understand the New Deal. While the New Deal was implemented country-wide, it largely originates from the reconstruction of New York City. After seeing the effectiveness of the New Deal, New Yorkers invade Washington and demand for this social reform to be brought to the rest of the country. Many people played a very important role in bringing about this change. For example, Roosevelt’s right hand, Harry Hopkins, a social worker who signed a large number of checks for social reforms. There’s also Frances Perkins, the U.S. Secretary of Labor, who was back from the Triangle Fire days and applying lessons that were learned from that tragedy on a national scale. Pioneering the use of airplanes for government purposes, LaGuardia flies all the way to Washington D.C. to ask for help from Roosevelt, a personal friend of his. After getting the federal funding he needed, LaGuardia turned to Robert Moses, who was known as “the man who could get things done.”
November 13, 2017 at 10:25 pm
It was very interesting and new to learn about Mayor Fiorello. Unlike what others commented, I expected a mayor to do such things such as make rapid decisions and legislative changes and take the office by storm (as he likely wasn’t the first to). The fact that he also came to office in one of the most worst times wasn’t surprising either. Lincoln became president in the ‘worst time ever’ with the nation nearly tearing itself in half, Obama could also have been considered to have become president at the ‘worst time ever’ for having so many issues with foreign affairs in the Middle East and war. And like other presidents, it also wasn’t surprising that through tough times, he accomplished great things, saving NYC from a period of grave depression. What I was really surprised about was how alive he was. From how he skipped up the steps to his first day at office, to how he comically took over and conducted the orchestra at Carnegie Hall, it was funny how such a man could be so active and alive. I expect a man of politics and words to do great things… in the office. But Fiorello took me by greater surprise by the kooky things that he did, like rushing on a motorcycle sidecar to a nearby fire? Assisting police raids? As random as the examples in the documentary seemed, it proved to me how devoted he was to his city. He did his work, but he loved the city and it showed in his actions.
December 21, 2017 at 1:59 pm
The documentary taught me a few different things about New York City in the 1930’s. Firstly, I was very surprised by the amount to of corruption that was ongoing in the city hall. Unemployment went from 2 million to 13 million in America and industries were suffering. Hoovervilles were popping up even in central park. With all this said, Jimmy Walker was being a charismatic but deceptive mayor taking lots of the money for himself. People were starving and going homeless and he was enjoying himself stealing money meant to aid the people suffering during the great depression. The documentary also showed how good and honest of a leader Laguardia was and it shows how he really helped change NYC a lot for the better.