March 1, 1999
In the late 1980s, the city of Yonkers, N.Y., made national headlines because of a bitter battle waged by many of its residents and political leaders against a federal court-ordered public housing plan. The plan compelled Yonkers to build public housing in the predominantly white east-side districts of the city. The heated opposition to the plan convulsed the city, which complied with the court order only when court-imposed fines threatened to consume the entire city budget. Belkin, who covered the story for the New York Times, follows the housing battle through the eyes of its participants: fearful white residents of the east side; black public housing tenants anxious to escape the misery of the west-side projects; Oscar Newman, the housing consultant and architect who designed the new town houses; and Nick Wasicsko, the young mayor of Yonkers who courageously confronted his own core constituency and tried to get the city to accept the plan (and who, five years later, out of office and out of prospects, shot himself). In her effort to interweave so many personal perspectives, Belkin sometimes loses her focus on the key public policies at stake. She does, however, enable readers to feel the hopes and fears of both the homeowners, who felt that their neighborhoods and property values were threatened by the housing plan, and the disadvantaged public housing tenants, who were seeking redress for years of discrimination and simply wanted a safe place to call home. Belkin's gritty book is a vivid slice of urban politics, racial tension and the difficulties inherent in realizing the American dream.
April 1, 1999
In the 1980 case U.S. v. Yonkers, the Justice Department charged that race determined the location and quality of education in Yonkers, a situation created by the segregation of housing. In 1985 the court ruled that new public housing must be built on the white middle-class east side of the city. By 1988, when New York Times writer Belkin's narrative begins, the stand-off between the federal judge and the city has escalated into war; the judge's orders were not obeyed until his fines brought the city to the brink of bankruptcy. Belkin (First Do No Harm, LJ 1/93) lets a diverse group of individuals tell the story of the battles and then the building, including the mayor, a citizen who protested the decision, and several residents of public housing. This is an interesting look at how a court decision and politics can affect people on an individual level. Although there are no footnotes, it's apparent that Belkin has done a thorough job. Highly recommended for all libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/98.]--Linda L. McEwan, Elgin Community Coll., IL