Battle for Bed-Stuy: The Long War on Poverty in New York City

by Michael Woodsworth

Half a century after the launch of the War on Poverty, its complex origins remain obscure. Battle for Bed-Stuy reinterprets President Lyndon Johnson’s much-debated crusade from the perspective of its foot soldiers in New York City, showing how 1960s antipoverty programs were rooted in a rich local tradition of grassroots activism and policy experiments.Bedford-Stuyvesant, a Brooklyn neighborhood housing 400,000 mostly black, mostly poor residents, was often labeled “America’s largest ghetto.” But in its elegant brownstones lived a coterie of home-owning professionals who campaigned to stem disorder and unify the community. Acting as brokers between politicians and the street, Bed-Stuy’s black middle class worked with city officials in the 1950s and 1960s to craft innovative responses to youth crime, physical decay, and capital flight. These partnerships laid the groundwork for the federal Community Action Program, the controversial centerpiece of the War on Poverty. Later, Bed-Stuy activists teamed with Senator Robert Kennedy to create America’s first Community Development Corporation, which pursued housing renewal and business investment.Bed-Stuy’s antipoverty initiatives brought hope amid dark days, reinforced the social safety net, and democratized urban politics by fostering citizen participation in government. They also empowered women like Elsie Richardson and Shirley Chisholm, who translated their experience as community organizers into leadership positions. Yet, as Michael Woodsworth reveals, these new forms of black political power, though exercised in the name of poor people, often did more to benefit middle-class homeowners. Bed-Stuy today, shaped by gentrification and displacement, reflects the paradoxical legacies of midcentury reform.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Urban Planning

422 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2016

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book covers the ground level fight to prevent the decline of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn from the second World War through the mid 70s (at least in detail). It is mostly the story of people, some of whom you know (RFK, a succession of NYC mayors) and the many many preachers and community leaders that tried to save their neighborhood.

Good intentions again and again meet the reality of the ground, and the competing interests of self help, professionalization, and no small amount of corruption and politics tear organizations apart. The author does a very good job in having the changing cast of characters live on the page. You can feel their long concluded struggles for respect and a safe place to live.

That said it does kind of peter out towards the end. Perhaps detailed coverage of the 78 blackout would have been too depressing, or maybe the author plans a sequel to cover the gradual slide towards utter ruin and decidedly mixed salvation in gentrification in detail.

Also as a side note, being a resident this really helps the neighborhood come alive. If you aren't a resident a small glance at a map might be helpful.