NCJ Number
121834
Journal
Atlantic Monthly Dated: (September 1989) Pages: 72-78
Date Published
1989
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Based on on-site visits to 60 public housing complexes and 140 separate buildings in poor neighborhoods of New York City, as well as interviews with public housing employees, this article discusses drug use and crime in these facilities.
Abstract
Most of the public housing developments in ghetto areas of New York City are part of the legacy of Robert Moses, New York City's construction coordinator from 1946 to 1960. They reflect his preference for large complexes of more than 1,000 units and for towers seven or more stories high. Today, much of the city fabric around the complexes has been destroyed. Because the buildings contain no commercial facilities, the projects have become highly distinct urban environments, consisting of cores of housing ringed by businesses and services catering exclusively to the poor. The lobbies and courtyards of public housing buildings have become crack supermarkets. The users commit crimes against residents to obtain money or goods to be exchanged for crack. The homeless are using the public areas of the buildings for shelter at night. Employees and residents of the public housing facilities live in fear of criminal victimization. All who can afford to leave public housing do so, leaving only the indigent to prey upon one another.