(2086) IT IS TIME TO STOP BLAMING ROBERT MOSES: PROMOTING SELF-DETERMINATION IN THE SOUTH BRONX, NEW YORK

摘要

In his Pulitzer Prize winning book "The Power Broker Robert Moses and the Fall of New York" RobertCaro (1975) reminds the reader that Moses, as the leader of numerous New York City buildingcommissions over four decades "clear[ed] land" for improvements in the city's infrastructure, "heevicted the city's people...and tore their homes down." This had " vast import on...the social fabric ofthe cities, on the quality of life that the inhabitants led." (Caro, p. 7.) It has long been thought that thevast city planning that Moses instituted, relocating the poor, including immigrants, to Moses built drabhousing on the fringes of the city, was a major cause of unrest and apathy.This paper contends that it is time to promote personal self-determination among those who live belowthe poverty level in the South Bronx, New York, the poorest zip code in the United States (Kozol1995). Empowerment programs such as the Community Center at St. Mary's Recreational Center andothers will be highlighted as those programs that have started to promote the economic andeducational self empowerment needed to leave the passive acceptance of a controlling city planner inthe 20th Century. The reader is invited to read further for an understanding of the active selfempowerment of the South Bronx in 21st century.In the 1970's South Bronx crime was rampant due in part to a lack of educational and economicopportunity in what was a forgotten section of New York City. It was the area where new immigrantswere sent because they could not afford Manhattan housing; toxic waste dumps were located thereand no one cared to address the issues of health and welfare until a few lone souls such as JonathanKozol, (Kozol,1995) addressed the issues and wrote about what was happening.The 41st precinct in the Bronx reported in the 1970's that “Two thirds of the 93, 000 people who lived[in the South Bronx] fled in the 70's” (Fisher, 1993.) Bronx' Morris High School graduation rate was31% when the schools, thanks to The New Vision for Public Schools, were divided the very largeschool into five campuses. (Herszenhorn, 2005). There are now themed schools, such as the HighSchool of Violin and Dance.The exciting news is that in 2014-2015 the climate is changing in the South Bronx for the better. Theorganizations that are described in this paper are just some of the many private and publicorganizations that got the message. They have, with sustained attention and hard work, started to turnaround this formerly blighted area with vision and concern for the children and all who live in the SouthBronx. The area also known as Morrisania after founding fathers, the Morris family, one of whomsigned the Declaration of Independence; and Mott Haven after a founding iron works family is on therebound. Crime is down and the Morris High School graduation rate in 2014 for at least one of thenew five high schools was 66 percent in 6 years. (Inside Schools, 2015)The following organizations are vibrant examples of a movement toward personal self determinationburgeoning in the South Bronx today. Their Mission Statements and activities exemplify activeapproaches to health, wellness, education and self pride in the exciting borough of New York Cityknown as the “South Bronx.” Action goals are highlighted in bold letters.