The 1930’s were hard for everyone, but as usual, the poorest of the poor are affected on a much larger scale than the rest of society. During the Great Depression, LaGuardia understood the need for public housing and secured some funds to start housing projects. Did these projects help those in need?
    First Houses was NYC Housing Authority’s first project, and it was located on the Lower East Side. Unlike the other projects, acquiring the land for this project was relatively easy as Astor voluntarily sold his land to the Authority in what was thought to be a benevolent act. Was it really a benevolent act? I don’t think so. I think Astor sold his land because prices in the area were already very low and because nobody had the necessary capital to buy all the land. Besides this small objection that I have to the First Houses, I think it is admirable that the city finally decided to help those in need. What I found interesting in the Marcuse article is that the Authority knew that rehabilitation was more expensive, and still went ahead with it. On top of that, they used workers from the WPA to renovate the houses and angered the unions. Naturally, the pay for the WPA workers was lower than that of union workers, so the unions thought their wages were going to be lowered because of competition. It seems as if whatever the government tried to do, someone was unhappy. As they tried to create housing for the poor, the poor (WPA workers) and the not so poor (union workers) were unhappy. A more in-depth look at pricing shows that the houses were actually unaffordable for the lowest classes, but were rather built for those rising towards the middle class.
    Shortly after the Harlem riot of 1935, LaGuardia announced that the next housing project to be built would be the Harlem River Houses. While it seems as if this housing project actually started as a result of social reform and a step towards equality, the case is not so (at least in my opinion). While the project did release tensions in Harlem, the decision to build it in Harlem was taken due to the fact that the Authority feared that blacks would think they are entitled to the Williamsburg houses. Since the government did not want blacks to migrate to Williamsburg, they decided that the best solution would be to build projects in Harlem as well. Besides the unethical reason behind the decision, the Harlem River House apartments were also not given to those in grave need, but rather to those who had “good character,” “tidiness,” and who were deemed appropriate by the Authority.
    At first glance, the housing projects seem like a complete success, but were they really successful? Did they really help those who were most in need? Unfortunately, not at all…(reasons above)