Black Gotham: African Americans in New York City, 1900–2000

For almost four centuries, African Americans in New York City have engaged in ethnic “dream-work,” shaping the city and being shaped by the city in return. The longstanding practice of racism forced a heterogeneous community of Blacks—originating in different parts of the country and the world, speaking many languages, and comprised of different economic classes— to coalesce as a community in order to challenge their subjugation. This article explores the issues, conditions, and experiences that frame the coalescence of the African American community in New York City during the twentieth century, highlighting how racial identities have been produced in the city. In the first part of this article, I reflect on the presence of Blacks in New York City to illuminate some of the common themes that have emerged from the African American experience in Gotham. The second section is a historical exploration of the black experience in New York City, illuminating the conditions, expectations, events, and spaces that have shaped its formation.

     

‘Bringing coals to Newcastle’? Human rights,civil rights and social movements in New York City

In this article we examine the encounter between global human rights ideas and domestic discourses of civil rights and social justice, focusing on processes of translation and adaptation of women's human rights in two ethnographic sites in New York City. The first site is a citywide coalition working for the adoption of a New York City human rights ordinance. The second site is an advocacy organization working on domestic violence issues. We find that the local adoption of human rights in New York City – the ‘domestication’ of human rights – takes place in two central sites: law and social movement. We further find that the process of translation takes place unevenly in the two sites, and it is driven primarily by the actors, mechanisms and technologies in the social movement arena. Overall, we witness the emergence of a domestic human rights movement as a new counter‐hegemonic space, characterized by multiplicity in meanings, ideological heterogeneity and ambivalence from those engaged in its construction.     

Racial Differences in Neighborhood Disadvantage Among Childbearing Women in New York City

Abstract

An ecological framework is utilized in this study to explore the differential neighborhood environments that existed for Black and White childbearing women in New York City during the early 1990s. We examined ecological risk factors for different racial groups in a highly segregated metropolitan city and provide a framework from which we can address issues of oppression and social inequality. This study examines neighborhood conditions and determines the extent to which Black and White women, who gave birth during 1991 and 1992, occupy differing neighborhoods in New York City and in each of the boroughs that comprise New York City-Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens (excluding Staten Island).

High and persistent residential segregation of Blacks and Whites in NYC has put Black women at a clear and significant ecological disadvantage compared to White women regardless of the borough where they lived when they gave birth to their infant. This study found that, when compared to White women, Black women in New York City are at a vast disadvantage regardless of income. In Manhattan and Queens that disparity is the greatest with low income Black women much more likely than low income White women to live in a high poverty neighborhood. Overall, in NYC and across the four boroughs studied, low income Blacks were more likely than Whites to live in neighborhoods characterized by high poverty rates, substance abuse and inadequate health care.     

Family formation and marital selectivity among Colombian and Dominican immigrants in New York City

"Utilizing data from a 1981 survey of Dominican and Colombian immigrants to New York City, and from 1975 marriage certificates for the entire city, this article describes the extent of family formation in the U.S. and patterns of marital selectivity of recent Hispanic immigrants residing in New York City. A core goal of the analysis is the provision of indicators of the extent of and nature of integration processes at an early stage of the immigration." It is found first that "Hispanic immigrants in New York City are clearly long-term settlers, although not necessarily permanent ones. They are forming nuclear families in this country to a considerably greater extent than they are either transferring families from the origin country or residing as unattached temporary migrants. Second, a significant minority of marriages contracted in this country are with spouses of different national origin groups, indicating an openness in ethnic boundaries in the host society context."     

The Function of History in an Americanism Program

This article discusses how local history can be used by teachers to help develop historical thinking skills such as source analysis, the collection of data, and the creation of historical arguments. Using New York City as a case study, this article argues that urban spaces and local communities provide historical evidence that can be read and analyzed. It uses different streets, buildings, and neighborhoods from New York City to show how historical conclusions can be drawn from those resources. It also discusses instructional ideas that teachers can develop in their classrooms.     

Claimsmakers and Contexts in Early Constructions of Homelessness: A Comparison of New York City and Washington,D.C.

This study compares the emergence of homelessness as a “new” social problem from 1977 through 1981 in New York City and Washington, D.C. The two cases illustrate a comparative constructionist method that analyzes evolving claimsmaking activities, the context in which they were embedded, and the interplay between claimsmaking and context. The method aided in identifying why homelessness became primarily a problem of deficient and pathological individuals requiring rehabilitation rather than a problem of poverty and inadequate housing. Resources at stake in New York caused city‐ and state‐level government officials, who advocated a medicalized view, to become central claimsmakers. This typification eventually became dominant nationally. Washington's lack of similar resources allowed advocates framing homelessness as a problem of social justice to take the lead. This proved to be a less durable typification. Both groups were also embedded in different relevant histories and cultures, which also influenced claims‐making and its resonance with the public.     

Urban ecosystem management and change during the past millennium: a case study from New York City

Changes in a deciduous forest and salt marsh ecosystem, Hunter Island, New York City, are related to management over the past millennium. Sequential methods, fossil pollen analysis, map and aerial photography series, and vegetation resampling were performed to supplement the historical and archaeological records. The enhanced ecosystem management history provides an expanded context to examine management planning alternatives.Siwanoy native Americans utilized Hunter Island to provide fuel, land for corn planting, and living space through cutting forests in at least the northeast portion of the island. The fossil pollen record indicates that about the time of site abandonment, the Siwanoy planted the forest opening with hickory. Dutch colonial settlers protected forest in the area, but later the island's forest was cut for the British Navy during the American Revolution. John Hunter created a gentleman's farm on the island beginning in 1812.The New York City Parks Department purchased Hunter Island in 1888 and permitted social agencies to clear trees for recreation during the next 46 years. The chestnut blight eliminated American chestnut from the forest in 1908, and at the same time a hickory bark beetle infestation decimated the hickory population. A survey in 1934 showed that the northeast portion of the Island contained a forest, dominated by oak and yellow poplar, and a field. The island became a day-use picnic site in 1943, and for this purpose all the woody plants with stems less than 10 cm in diameter were removed.Aerial photography demonstrated a trend of forest replacing field over the past century. A resurvey of the northeast section of the island in 1988 revealed that oak and yellow popular remained dominant in the old forest, and the field became a hickory and sassafras stand. The hickory dominance, which is typical of Hunter Island, is unusual for New York City forests and could be related to native American plantings over 700 years ago. The management plan for Hunter Island is focused on preservation of the field and forest legacy of the recent recreation period. Instead of preserving an environmental patchwork common in New York City parks, an alternative management focus could enhance the hickory forest component to represent the former native American cultural setting.     

Residential Preferences: What's Terrorism Got to Do with It?

Security has long been recognized as an element in residential preference and its relative importance has risen with fear of extremist attacks on U.S. cities. Using polling data from 2004, this research investigates whether the security breaches of 9/11 in New York City influenced residential preferences in New York State. Our results confirm that perceived risks are greatest downstate but exert little overall net effect on (re)location plans. A stabilizing effect may be evident where preferences are reinforced among upstate residents who respond to downstate risk by strengthening “stay put” attitudes. An inspection of real‐estate data in the northern reaches of the New York Metropolitan Area suggests a risk‐averse hedging strategy—city residents relocating in stages by acquiring open land and the option to build and move should renewed terrorist attacks occur.     

Rendering Relations/Figuring Paint: The Work of Marlene Dumas in Measuring Your Own Grave

Measuring Your Own Grave is the title of a major U.S. midcareer retrospective of the work of Marlene Dumas that was on view at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in winter 2008/2009. The exhibition presented a vast body of figurative and portrait paintings as well as drawings, notebooks, writing, and collage. Dumas's concentrated work presents the viewer with particularly powerful images that remind one of the corporeal links between public and private life. The work challenges our particular ways of viewing and naming what we see. When looking at the others within her paintings, we are little able to escape looking too at ourselves. This article is an attempt to examine what in Dumas's work makes this so.     

Orphan Trains: Teaching about an Early Twentieth-Century Social Experiment

Between 1854 and 1930, over 200,000 children left New York City, as well as other major east coast cities, bound for families in rural areas. They traveled to towns in New England, the Midwest, the South, and even as far west as Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington. These orphans were the children of immigrant families who were pouring into the United States in search of a better life. Many of these children were abandoned, or their parents had died and they were left to fend for themselves. To address this growing social problem, the process of placing out, or Orphan Trains, was developed by Charles Loring Brace, the director of the Children's Aid Society in New York City. This article summarizes the implementation of the placing-out process, including the social conditions, the underlying philosophy, the basic components, and the public perceptions. A lesson plan, teaching strategies, and materials are provided for teachers who want to explore this social practice when studying the rise of industrialization, immigration, and social change during the beginning of the twentieth century in American History.     

NYU Langone ‘warmline’ expands buprenorphine in NYC

Even in New York City, finding a buprenorphine prescriber can be difficult. The Family Health Centers at NYU Langone have developed a “warmline” to expand its buprenorphine program into Brooklyn, one of the five boroughs of the city (NYU Langone itself is a large academic medical center and hospital based in Manhattan).     

Estimating stormwater runoff for community gardens in New York City

Community gardens are critical ecological infrastructure in cities providing an important link between people and urban nature. The documented benefits of community gardens include food production, recreational opportunities, and a wide number of social benefits such as improving community stability, reducing crime, and physical and mental health benefits. While much of the literature cites community gardens as providing environmental benefits for cities, there is little empirical evidence of these benefits. Here we examine the stormwater runoff benefits of community gardens by comparing two methods to estimate absorption rates of stormwater runoff in urban community gardens of New York City. The first method uses general land cover classes as determined by a land cover dataset; the second methods adds a land cover specific to community gardens — raised beds, typically used for food production. We find that in addition to the stormwater mitigation performed by pervious surfaces within a garden site, community gardens in New York City may be retaining an additional 12 million gallons (~45 million liters) of stormwater annually due to the widespread use of raised beds with compost as a soil amendment.     

Meeting immigrant health challenges: An integrated model in New York City

New York City has traditionally been the portal to America for millions of foreign‐born immigrants. Current immigration echoes this past. Each year, tens of thousands of immigrants and migrants enter New York City. These individuals and families come from diverse cultures and health care systems which continue to impact on their health care needs. How can New York's health care system provide culturally sensitive and epidemiologically informed health services to these immigrants? In 1990, with a grant from the Aaron Diamond Foundation, an interdisciplinary group of professionals established the New York Task Force on Immigrant Health. This paper will describe the work of this unique multi‐disciplinary organisation as it seeks to address issues of health status and service delivery to immigrant populations. The paper will discuss specific issues and strategies with respect to a) the development of data bases, b) ethnographic investigations, c) cross‐cultural and structural barriers to care, d) the creation and analysis of models to integrate traditional and Western bio‐technical health care, and e) the informing and transforming of public policy and programs to result in more linguistically appropriate, culturally sensitive and effective health and social services. The successes of the New York Task Force on Immigrant Health, in a relatively brief period of time, provide both a model and a stimulus for other localities and nation‐states interested in preventing illness and improving the health status of their diverse populations.     

Social context,household composition and employment among migrant and nonmigrant Dominican women

It is argued in this article that the social context of ethnic groups may shape employment patterns by immigrant women. This study examines the effects of household composition on the employment patterns among Dominican Republic migrants in New York City and among Dominicans in the Dominican Republic. This study is based on studies by Tienda and Glass and expands household composition groups. The comparison between countries serves as a control for the effects of culture. The inclusion in the US sample of Colombian migrants serves to further reinforce the effects of social context over cultural influences. Data are obtained from the 1981 survey of 528 Colombian and Dominican migrant women aged 20-45 years living in New York City's Queens borough and 50% of Manhattan borough and a 1978 survey of women living in Santo Domingo and Santiago. Women who lived in the Dominican Republic were better educated and more likely to be employed. Over 50% of migrant women in New York received public assistance, and 88% of women receiving public assistance were female heads of households. In the Dominican Republic, the social context did not include the opportunity for receipt of public assistance. 61% of women living in the Dominican Republic and only 50% of migrant women were currently married. Female headship was 36.8% in the US and 11.8% abroad. Twice as many households abroad included other adult family members. These findings illustrate the importance of social context and household composition in explaining female immigrant employment. Dominican women living in New York with children and without a spouse were less likely to be employed than women with spouses or women without spouses or children. In the Dominican Republic, women with spouses or adult men in the household were less likely to work. Selective migration was ruled out as an explanatory factor.     

Predictors of Alcohol Use among College Students in New York State

Abstract

The prevalence and correlates of alcohol and other drug use were determined for students attending colleges in New York State. The New York State Division of Substance Abuse Services selected a representative sample of approximately 7,700 undergraduate students randomly selected from 22 colleges. Students were given a 10-page questionnaire dealing with patterns of alcohol and other drug use. The vast majority of both males and females reported alcohol use in the past 30 days; however, males (28%) were twice as likely as females (15%) to be classified in the heavier drinking category. White college students (25%) are far more likely to be heavier drinkers than are black students (5%) even after other factors are taken into account. Students attending colleges in Upstate New York areas (24%) have higher rates of heavier drinking than do those in New York City (15%). Multivariate statistical analyses were done to determine the relative importance of various social factors in determining drinking behavior.     

Does the client have a gambling problem?

Representatives from 40 New York City social agencies were interviewed in order to determine the extent to which gambling is a problem among their clients. The findings indicate that (a) agency personnel rarely ask clients about gambling behavior either on intake or with continued agency contact; (b) rarely do clients spontaneously mention gambling as a problem; (c) problem gambling is usually brought to the attention of the agency by the wives of problem gamblers; and (d) gambling is a hidden family problem associated with marital discord and financial disarray. In order to have a better understanding of problem gambling and its vicissitudes it is recommended that agency personnel keep statistics on gambling and gambling related problems.This paper was revised after the untimely death of Leonard S. Kogan, Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Social Research, The Graduate School and University Center, The City University of New York.     

The New York City Beacons: rebuilding communities of support in urban neighborhoods

Established in 1991 in New York City and now operating in at least seven other cities, Beacons are designed to rebuild communities of support for children and youth in urban neighborhoods. The Beacon framework is based on research findings and practitioner experience indicating that programs taking a youth development approach are more effective than those focused on "fixing" specific youth problems. Successful Beacon programs provide positive ways to meet young people's need for safety, a sense of belonging, and mastery; they also provide opportunities for decision making and contributing to others. There are currently eighty Beacons in New York City, serving about 140,000 youth and adults annually. Beacons have been replicated in several parts of the country, including Denver, Minneapolis, Oakland, Palm Beach County, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Savannah. The Youth Development Institute of the Fund for the City of New York provides technical assistance and training to Beacons in New York City and in all seven replication sites.     

Adoption Now: a joint initiative of New York's courts and child welfare system

In November 2002, Chief Judge Judith Kaye attended the National Adoption Day festivities in Albany County and New York County (Manhattan). Although pleased that 600 adoptions were being finalized statewide on this special day, she was concerned to learn more than 6,000 other children were free for adoption but had not yet found permanent families. Judge Kaye reached out to New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) Commissioner John A. Johnson and New York City Administration for Children's Services (ACS) then-Commissioner William Bell to come together and begin a discussion to identify and resolve systemic barriers to adoption. At a press conference in May 2003, Chief Judge Kaye, Governor Pataki, New York City Mayor Bloomberg, and Judges and Commissioners representing counties from across the state announced the Adoption Now initiative that set a goal of finalizing adoptions for 5,000 children (3800 in New York City and 1200 upstate) by the end of 2003.     

The Children's Aid Society community schools: a full-service partnership model

In 1989, the Children's Aid Society (CAS) created an unprecedented partnership with the New York City Board of Education by developing a comprehensive response to the pressing needs of children and families in the northern Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. After three years of careful planning, CAS and the New York City public schools opened the first community school at Intermediate School 218, offering a full array of supports, services, and learning opportunities. Adding, on average, one partnership school per year and remaining very flexible in adapting its model to the individual needs of each community, CAS now has thirteen community schools around New York City. The model's flexibility is seen also in the success of its national and international adaptation-an intentional part of CAS's work.     

纽约增强城市辐射力研究——兼论对广州的启示

研究中心城市的辐射作用具有十分重要的借鉴意义。本文回顾了城市辐射的基础理论,探讨了城市辐射的机理。并以纽约为研究对象,从辐射源、辐射方式、辐射影响因素及辐射效果等方面,对纽约的城市辐射力进行了详尽的研究。最后,借鉴纽约的经验,提出了增强广州辐射力的政策建议。