Private Lives/Public Spaces: Homeless Adults on the Streets of New York City

by Ellen Baxter, Kim Hopper

The results of a 15-month study, begun in December 1979, on the homeless in New York City, Private Lives/Public Spaces caused a sensation when it was released in 1981. The report deals primarily with the contemporary causes of homelessness, the conditions and operational procedures of public and private shelters, and strategies of survival on the streets. It was the first major study on homelessness in New York City and galvanized efforts to deal with the situation.

129 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of preparatory research for a paper on NYC park "ownership" in my urbanism class. This book was not just a bombshell for its contemporary audience in 1981 (widely regarded as the first major report on modern homelessness in NYC), but a sobering read for a modern one. Social institutions, events, and urban policies no longer in the collective memory of American urban society are reviewed and expanded. This report gives a direct insight into the development of homelessness as a social problem and the homeless population as "cultural tokens, living symbols of a species of alienation and dispossession peculiar to our times."

The writing is definitely intended more for researchers or for reporters than a mainstream audience. This was originally a ethnographic report conducted in relation to the NYC Community Service Society, after all. The report is sometimes too assumptive that things like 75 cent showers in Grand Central Station's bathrooms (???) would continue to be commonplace and not worthy of further explanation for future audiences. There are points, too, where I winced at the language and framing that is used, but this can be seen as symptomatic of its time: the transitionary period from homeless admonishment and casual dehumanization to homeless advocacy. For the most part, the report does a wonderful job in presenting to its contemporary readers for the first time the idea of homeless people as victims of circumstance and a shrinking social safety net, not individuals who are criminal, insane, or dangerous in nature that simply "refuse" help.

I think anyone interested in late '70s/early '80s New York and where the city stood on homelessness, low-income housing, public vs. private social initiatives, housing rights legislation, and/or the penalties from mass deinstitutionalization should take a look. There are surely many better books and reports on NYC homelessness by now, but Private Lives/Public Spaces was incredibly important for homeless advocacy when first released and serves now as potent time capsule.