How East New York Became a Ghetto

The author was involved in planning a low- and moderate-income housing project in the Brooklyn neighborhood of East New York as Mayor Lindsey's administration half-heartedly responded to the urban crisis that helped spark the riots of the 1960s. He describes East New York as a case study in the racist "ghettoization" of a neighborhood that is all too typical in the United States. He explains how as formerly rural-based African American and Puerto Rican populations moved into the city, they were channeled into East New York, where they were economically exploited by landlords, real estate brokers, and many others, as well as neglected by city government which utterly failed to provide the neighborhood with schools or other essential city services. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR