ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CITY
Homelessness
Homelessness in New York City
Homelessness is usually associated with insulting words such as bum, loser, and lazy. People do not choose to be homeless. Circumstances enforces homeless upon the individual that are facing homelessness. New York city is known to be a city that never sleep, it is common to see young adult, women and men in the street. When people picture New York City. The images of opportunties, light high standard of what it means to be an American. Most people called it the big apple. However, things aren’t always so sweet in the city. Due to the perception of New York City, homelessness is a major trigger because tourist migrate to New York for better opportunities. As a New York resident, I have witnessed dramatic increase in housing income, gentrification plays a huge role. It is already hard for a low-income family to provide for their family now that there are new people coming into the city it becomes harder for the people to maintain the little that they have. Looking back through history people such as Robert Moses had a big influence on homelessness and gentrification. Robert Moses was a Chairman of mayor committee from 1949-1960. He led the largest slum clearance program in 1950 and was the middle man between public and private interests. Moses vision didn't include the poor, hispanics, blacks and small business owners. He was a strong believer of keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer. Moses vision had an impact on the city housing segregation, tenant relocation and racial segregation. In Ella Howard novel Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America, Howard states “New York’s urban renewal projects were dramatically shaped by the influence of Robert Moses, who embraced liberal values of social uplift through government intervention. Moses hoped the working class would benefit from many of the broader changes he would make, but saw no place for the skid- row homeless in his sanitized version of the city and attempted to erase them from the urban landscape” (Page 123). Howard shows that Moses wanted to keep the people that were poor removed from their home and eventually that lead to them being homeless. While Moses main objective was to have the developments, he was building cater to the working class, the downfall was to have the people rushed out of the neighborhood. This trigger the homelessness of the resident that were being rushed out. They didn’t have a place to go and their hard work and saving they had been doing went down the drain. Robert Moses ability to control where developments were created influence gentrification known in the city today. Those who lived in the community for years are suddenly being forced out by developers who do not see the value of the people living in the community that can bring financial gain.
Homelessness is usually associated with insulting words such as bum, loser, and lazy. People do not choose to be homeless. Circumstances enforces homeless upon the individual that are facing homelessness. New York city is known to be a city that never sleep, it is common to see young adult, women and men in the street. When people picture New York City. The images of opportunties, light high standard of what it means to be an American. Most people called it the big apple. However, things aren’t always so sweet in the city. Due to the perception of New York City, homelessness is a major trigger because tourist migrate to New York for better opportunities. As a New York resident, I have witnessed dramatic increase in housing income, gentrification plays a huge role. It is already hard for a low-income family to provide for their family now that there are new people coming into the city it becomes harder for the people to maintain the little that they have. Looking back through history people such as Robert Moses had a big influence on homelessness and gentrification. Robert Moses was a Chairman of mayor committee from 1949-1960. He led the largest slum clearance program in 1950 and was the middle man between public and private interests. Moses vision didn't include the poor, hispanics, blacks and small business owners. He was a strong believer of keeping the rich richer and the poor poorer. Moses vision had an impact on the city housing segregation, tenant relocation and racial segregation. In Ella Howard novel Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America, Howard states “New York’s urban renewal projects were dramatically shaped by the influence of Robert Moses, who embraced liberal values of social uplift through government intervention. Moses hoped the working class would benefit from many of the broader changes he would make, but saw no place for the skid- row homeless in his sanitized version of the city and attempted to erase them from the urban landscape” (Page 123). Howard shows that Moses wanted to keep the people that were poor removed from their home and eventually that lead to them being homeless. While Moses main objective was to have the developments, he was building cater to the working class, the downfall was to have the people rushed out of the neighborhood. This trigger the homelessness of the resident that were being rushed out. They didn’t have a place to go and their hard work and saving they had been doing went down the drain. Robert Moses ability to control where developments were created influence gentrification known in the city today. Those who lived in the community for years are suddenly being forced out by developers who do not see the value of the people living in the community that can bring financial gain.
References
“Frank Dillane Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/frank_dillane_772116.
FreeSpiritMedia. “Gentrification and the Housing Crisis: A Leading Cause of Homelessness.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 June 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8oj5TN3Ijo.
Howard, Ella. “Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America.” Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013, pp. 123.
shantitlc. “Urban Renewal Robert Moses.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Oct. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJsA8Zb2l4.
Homeless in Brooklyn: Gentrification Closing in
By Phyllis Huang
All the pictures above are from google search
“Frank Dillane Quotes.” BrainyQuote, Xplore, www.brainyquote.com/quotes/frank_dillane_772116.
FreeSpiritMedia. “Gentrification and the Housing Crisis: A Leading Cause of Homelessness.” YouTube, YouTube, 23 June 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8oj5TN3Ijo.
Howard, Ella. “Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America.” Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013, pp. 123.
shantitlc. “Urban Renewal Robert Moses.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Oct. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngJsA8Zb2l4.
Homeless in Brooklyn: Gentrification Closing in
By Phyllis Huang
All the pictures above are from google search