"I lived in a tenement."

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Sunday, July 12. 2009

"I lived in a tenement."

Above: Lower East Side of Manhattan, 1937, where many waves of immigrants found their first foothold in America. Those 1860s-1890s tenements are still standing, in what is now one of the hippest young neighborhoods of NYC.

Below: Mulberry St., NYC, c. 1900, packed with southern Italian and Sicilian immigrants. The misguided Progressives wanted to tear down these neighborhoods, from the time of Teddy Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson.

What's a "slum"?

The Dylanologist and I have always been interested in the tragedies of urban planning, and fans of the organic, natural growth of urban areas designed by market forces and human desires, not by hubris-infected government experts.

One of his great-grandmothers, 1st generation Irish, raised 5 kids (with great success) in a NYC tenement, using bureau drawers as cribs. The Dyl said to me the other day:

"I lived in tenements for eight years. No elevators: two to three-story walk-ups, no a/c, shared bathrooms down the hall, unreliable heat, no cable, no phone, no wireless, with one tiny room with a dirty window and an old single bed with one thin, lumpy mattress. For the first four years, my parents paid around $30,000 per year for the privilege, and for the second four years, closer to $40,000."

Here's Jane Jacobs:

Posted by Bird Dog in History, Our Essays, The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 12:06 | Comments (9) | Trackback (1)

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When I was there in the sixties you could rent an apartment in the lower east side for $12/month. Of course, anything unwatched disappeared, the area abounded with addicts, and the entrance smelled of urine. But there was a kitchen with stove and bathtub (a metal cover made it a table), and front room and two bedrooms.

On the other hand, I rented a room in a nice apartment on 113 Str. south of the Columbia campus. The Algerian born (1906) french lady who rented it paid $35/month; she had been there forever. Such are the wonders of rent control.

#1 chuck on 2009-07-12 12:36 (Reply)

"For the first four years, my parents paid around $30,000 per year for the privilege, and for the second four years, closer to $40,000."

Wow. That education better have paid off nicely. I (and my parents, hard to say where the line was drawn) only paid about $100/mo in Gainesville, FL in the early 1980's for a room in a decent 4-bedroom house that was relatively safe. By this standard, I saved well over $120K over 4 years (assuming I would have had it to save in the first place. The Dow was at, what, 1300 or so? Invested in an indexed Dow fund, I would have at least $750K. Not to mention what was "saved' on tuition. Different strokes for different folks, I suppose.

#2 KRW on 2009-07-12 13:05 (Reply)

That was including tuition

#2.1 bd on 2009-07-12 13:08 (Reply)

The City University of New York, which included such top-1% in the country's colleges as CCNY and Brooklyn College, had no, that's right 0, zip, nada, tuition until the 70's.
When I attended in the mid-60's, and making it in academically was the only way, there was a $35/year student activities fee. My several hundred dollar a year New York State Regents Schiolarship, won by exam, paid for my used text-books.

#2.1.1 Bruce Kesler on 2009-07-12 16:06 (Reply)

That is one big Thank You to your fellow New Yorkers!

#2.1.1.1 Bird Dog on 2009-07-12 20:56 (Reply)

Wait a minute... when is something ever free. I mean, someone had to pay for all those tuition free years. BD gives a big thank you to the New York taxpayers... but that's just it, isn't it, Bruce, you got your education courtesy of the taxpayers. Not 'free' at all.

#2.1.1.1.1 Luther on 2009-07-13 00:12 (Reply)

Yes, Luther, courtesy of the taxpayers, and in my case very gratefully. I came from extremely poor circumstances and otherwise could not have gone to college, even with the 30+ hours a week I worked while in college. But many others there were not from as limited circumstances, but chose to go because of the low cost for a top-notch degree, this shifting costs on to taxpayers. The balloon blew up as NYC went bankrupt in the '70's. Now at CUNY there is tuition, comparable to other public U systems elsewhere, and scholarships for the poor and an active fundraising from grateful alumni. A more sensible approach.

#2.1.1.1.1.1 Bruce Kesler on 2009-07-13 09:00 (Reply)

Well, Bruce, I came across a little snarky I suppose. But felt it needed to be said in keeping with the masthead up there and also with the apparent overall philosophy of the blog and its writers. It smacked of hypocrisy in other words. I certainly don't hold it against you that you availed yourself of opportunity and I'm glad you were able to make the most out of it. Sorry to have personalized my point and thanks for responding.

#2.1.1.1.1.1.1 Luther on 2009-07-13 10:51 (Reply)

Absolutely no apologie needed. Your comment was entirely right on, which is why I replied to elaborate.
It's similar to the current healthcare debates. Really all that's necessary is some help for the truly poor (including assets, which most current programs ignore) and for those whose extreme conditions require a subsidized high-risk pool, some more skin in the game among patients' co-pays, and some reasonable tort reform to reduce excess defensive medicine costs. All that's affordable, indeed would likely save some. Instead, we're being steered toward an unaffordable fake subsidy to all, with all being taxed up the wazoo, into hastened national bankruptcy, to give control over 1/6th our economy to some D.C. and hangers-on's power and personal enrichment.

#2.1.1.1.1.1.1.1 Bruce Kesler on 2009-07-13 12:37 (Reply)

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Sunday, July 12. 2009

"I lived in a tenement."