Finally, after rarely bringing the issue up, the brilliant caring folks at the NY Times have come to wonder why so much of New York's public housing ended up in highly vulnerable flood zones.
From The New York Times:
How the Coastline Became a Place to Put the Poor
"It’s impossible to talk about the landscape of modern New York without talking about Moses, who leveraged his position as head of the Mayor’s Committee on Slum Clearance to mass-produce thousands of units of high-rise public housing, often near the shoreline. His shadow looms over much of the havoc wreaked by the storm."Well, is only Moses to blame? In the more than 60 years since these policies started - few if any have publicly recognised the clear danger.
'Initially, there was a strict screening process to get into the Rockaways’ new projects. Over time, though, those with steady incomes were encouraged to leave, to make room for people on public assistance. To city officials, the Rockaways’ distant location made it an ideal destination for troubled families and individuals. The projects that lined the seven-mile-long peninsula were soon joined by facilities for recently deinstitutionalized mental patients and high-rise nursing homes."The article is too short but touches on the long history.
My two posts
Sandy and Far Rockaway: Another Tragedy of Urban Planning
Far Rockaway was dumping ground for mentally Ill warehoused in Nursing Homes
I hope very much the New York Times links work.
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