Author: John J. Finucane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780595428304
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
In the South Bronx during the 1960s and 70s, unscrupulous landlords and their torch-men set in motion a murderous wave of arson-for-profit, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and injuring, maiming, and killing thousands more-including firefighters. Yet New York's mayor consistently refuses to give the fire department the manpower it needs to investigate the arson, and thousands of suspicious fires go uninvestigated. Jackie Mulligan and his brother firefighters stand up to the heartless evil of the slumlords by demanding that the mayor take action. But when the mayor refuses, Mulligan and his men take a stand against the arsonists, putting their jobs-and their lives-on the line. For Mulligan, the fight has become personal. And there will be only one winner. " John Finucane has written a riveting and fast moving novel Not only does he nail the drama in a way only an experienced firefighter can, he literally puts the reader inside the fire scene Reading John Finucane's comprehensive description brought back memories of my admiration for firefighters everywhere." -Charles J. Hynes Kings County District Attorney Former Fire Commissioner of NYC Author of first novel, Triple Homicide "For twenty years John Finucane breathed the acrid smoke, hauled the heavy hoses, and climbed the telescoping ladders for New York City's heroic fire department. He now writes about it from the gut-with verve, power, and poignancy. This is a fireman's fireman, pulling no punches and telling the story of a firefighter in New York's grittiest neighborhoods during the turbulent 1960s and 70s." -Roger D. McGrath, Ph.D. Author, Gunfighters, Highwaymen & Vigilantes Featured Commentator on the History Channel
When the Bronx Burned
Author: John J. Finucane
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780595428304
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
In the South Bronx during the 1960s and 70s, unscrupulous landlords and their torch-men set in motion a murderous wave of arson-for-profit, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and injuring, maiming, and killing thousands more-including firefighters. Yet New York's mayor consistently refuses to give the fire department the manpower it needs to investigate the arson, and thousands of suspicious fires go uninvestigated. Jackie Mulligan and his brother firefighters stand up to the heartless evil of the slumlords by demanding that the mayor take action. But when the mayor refuses, Mulligan and his men take a stand against the arsonists, putting their jobs-and their lives-on the line. For Mulligan, the fight has become personal. And there will be only one winner. " John Finucane has written a riveting and fast moving novel Not only does he nail the drama in a way only an experienced firefighter can, he literally puts the reader inside the fire scene Reading John Finucane's comprehensive description brought back memories of my admiration for firefighters everywhere." -Charles J. Hynes Kings County District Attorney Former Fire Commissioner of NYC Author of first novel, Triple Homicide "For twenty years John Finucane breathed the acrid smoke, hauled the heavy hoses, and climbed the telescoping ladders for New York City's heroic fire department. He now writes about it from the gut-with verve, power, and poignancy. This is a fireman's fireman, pulling no punches and telling the story of a firefighter in New York's grittiest neighborhoods during the turbulent 1960s and 70s." -Roger D. McGrath, Ph.D. Author, Gunfighters, Highwaymen & Vigilantes Featured Commentator on the History Channel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780595428304
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 236
Book Description
In the South Bronx during the 1960s and 70s, unscrupulous landlords and their torch-men set in motion a murderous wave of arson-for-profit, driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and injuring, maiming, and killing thousands more-including firefighters. Yet New York's mayor consistently refuses to give the fire department the manpower it needs to investigate the arson, and thousands of suspicious fires go uninvestigated. Jackie Mulligan and his brother firefighters stand up to the heartless evil of the slumlords by demanding that the mayor take action. But when the mayor refuses, Mulligan and his men take a stand against the arsonists, putting their jobs-and their lives-on the line. For Mulligan, the fight has become personal. And there will be only one winner. " John Finucane has written a riveting and fast moving novel Not only does he nail the drama in a way only an experienced firefighter can, he literally puts the reader inside the fire scene Reading John Finucane's comprehensive description brought back memories of my admiration for firefighters everywhere." -Charles J. Hynes Kings County District Attorney Former Fire Commissioner of NYC Author of first novel, Triple Homicide "For twenty years John Finucane breathed the acrid smoke, hauled the heavy hoses, and climbed the telescoping ladders for New York City's heroic fire department. He now writes about it from the gut-with verve, power, and poignancy. This is a fireman's fireman, pulling no punches and telling the story of a firefighter in New York's grittiest neighborhoods during the turbulent 1960s and 70s." -Roger D. McGrath, Ph.D. Author, Gunfighters, Highwaymen & Vigilantes Featured Commentator on the History Channel
Before the Fires
Author: Mark Naison
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823273547
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
Residents of the South Bronx during its promising postwar decades tell their stories in their own words. In the 1930s, word spread in Harlem that there were spacious apartments for rent in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. Landlords, desperate to avoid foreclosure, began putting signs in windows and placing ads in New York’s black newspapers that said “We rent to select colored families”—by which they meant those with a securely employed wage earner and light complexions. Black families moved in by the score, beginning a period in which the Bronx served as a borough of hope and upward mobility. Chronicling a time when African Americans were suspended between the best and worst possibilities of New York City, Before the Fires tells the personal stories of men and women who lived in the South Bronx before the social and economic decline of the late 1960s. Located on a hill overlooking a large industrial district, Morrisania offered migrants from Harlem, the South, and the Caribbean an opportunity to raise children in a neighborhood with better schools, strong churches, more shopping, less crime, and clean air. It also boasted vibrant music venues, giving rise to such titans as Herbie Hancock, Eddie Palmieri, Valerie Simpson, the Chantels, and Jimmy Owens. Rich in detail, these interviews describe growing up and living in communities rarely mentioned in other histories. Before the Fires captures the optimism of the period—as well as the heartache of what was lost in the urban crisis and the burning of the Bronx. “Excellent . . . profound, moving.” —Robert W. Snyder, Rutgers University, Newark
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 0823273547
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 195
Book Description
Residents of the South Bronx during its promising postwar decades tell their stories in their own words. In the 1930s, word spread in Harlem that there were spacious apartments for rent in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. Landlords, desperate to avoid foreclosure, began putting signs in windows and placing ads in New York’s black newspapers that said “We rent to select colored families”—by which they meant those with a securely employed wage earner and light complexions. Black families moved in by the score, beginning a period in which the Bronx served as a borough of hope and upward mobility. Chronicling a time when African Americans were suspended between the best and worst possibilities of New York City, Before the Fires tells the personal stories of men and women who lived in the South Bronx before the social and economic decline of the late 1960s. Located on a hill overlooking a large industrial district, Morrisania offered migrants from Harlem, the South, and the Caribbean an opportunity to raise children in a neighborhood with better schools, strong churches, more shopping, less crime, and clean air. It also boasted vibrant music venues, giving rise to such titans as Herbie Hancock, Eddie Palmieri, Valerie Simpson, the Chantels, and Jimmy Owens. Rich in detail, these interviews describe growing up and living in communities rarely mentioned in other histories. Before the Fires captures the optimism of the period—as well as the heartache of what was lost in the urban crisis and the burning of the Bronx. “Excellent . . . profound, moving.” —Robert W. Snyder, Rutgers University, Newark
Report from Engine Co. 82
Author: Dennis Smith
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0759521425
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 165
Book Description
From his bawdy and brave fellow firefighters to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district where he works, Dennis Smith tells the story of a brutalising yet rewarding profession.
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 0759521425
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 165
Book Description
From his bawdy and brave fellow firefighters to the hopeful, hateful, beautiful and beleaguered residents of the poverty-stricken district where he works, Dennis Smith tells the story of a brutalising yet rewarding profession.
A Plague on Your Houses
Author: Deborah Wallace
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781859842539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
A Plague on Your Houses is a scorching indictment of the decision to close fire companies in New York in the 1970s and a frightening study of the way misguided and malevolent social policy can spark a chain reaction of enormous and unforeseen urban collapse.
Publisher: Verso
ISBN: 9781859842539
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
A Plague on Your Houses is a scorching indictment of the decision to close fire companies in New York in the 1970s and a frightening study of the way misguided and malevolent social policy can spark a chain reaction of enormous and unforeseen urban collapse.
South Bronx Battles
Author: Carolyn McLaughlin
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520288998
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Community activist Carolyn McLaughlin takes us on a journey of the South Bronx through the eyes of its community members. Facing burned-out neighborhoods of the 1970s, the community fought back. McLaughlin illustrates the spirit of the community in creating a vibrant, diverse culture and its decades-long commitment to develop nonprofit housing and social-services, and to advocate for better education, health care, and a healthier environment. For the South Bronx to remain a safe haven for poor families, maintaining affordable housing is the central—but most challenging—task. South Bronx Battles is the comeback story of a community that was once in crisis but now serves as a beacon for other cities to rebuild, while keeping their neighborhoods affordable.
Publisher: University of California Press
ISBN: 0520288998
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 362
Book Description
Community activist Carolyn McLaughlin takes us on a journey of the South Bronx through the eyes of its community members. Facing burned-out neighborhoods of the 1970s, the community fought back. McLaughlin illustrates the spirit of the community in creating a vibrant, diverse culture and its decades-long commitment to develop nonprofit housing and social-services, and to advocate for better education, health care, and a healthier environment. For the South Bronx to remain a safe haven for poor families, maintaining affordable housing is the central—but most challenging—task. South Bronx Battles is the comeback story of a community that was once in crisis but now serves as a beacon for other cities to rebuild, while keeping their neighborhoods affordable.
South Bronx Rising
Author: Jill Jonnes
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 1531501222
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
Thirty-five years after this landmark of urban history first captured the rise, fall, and rebirth of a once-thriving New York City borough—ravaged in the 1970s and ’80s by disinvestment and fires, then heroically revived and rebuilt in the 1990s by community activists—Jill Jonnes returns to chronicle the ongoing revival of the South Bronx. Though now globally renowned as the birthplace of hip-hop, the South Bronx remains America’s poorest urban congressional district. In this new edition, we meet the present generation of activists who are transforming their communities with the arts and greening, notably the restoration of the Bronx River. For better or worse, real estate investors have noticed, setting off new gentrification struggles.
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
ISBN: 1531501222
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
Thirty-five years after this landmark of urban history first captured the rise, fall, and rebirth of a once-thriving New York City borough—ravaged in the 1970s and ’80s by disinvestment and fires, then heroically revived and rebuilt in the 1990s by community activists—Jill Jonnes returns to chronicle the ongoing revival of the South Bronx. Though now globally renowned as the birthplace of hip-hop, the South Bronx remains America’s poorest urban congressional district. In this new edition, we meet the present generation of activists who are transforming their communities with the arts and greening, notably the restoration of the Bronx River. For better or worse, real estate investors have noticed, setting off new gentrification struggles.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning
Author: Jonathan Mahler
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312424305
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
By early 1977, the metropolis was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam." And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in New York's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts, one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city, was the subtext of race. The brash and confident Jackson took every black myth and threw it back in white America's face. Meanwhile, Koch and Cuomo ran bitterly negative campaigns that played upon urbanites' fears of soaring crime and falling municipal budgets. These braided stories tell the history of a year that saw the opening of Studio 54, the evolution of punk rock, and the dawning of modern SoHo. As the pragmatist Koch defeated the visionary Cuomo and as Reggie Jackson finally rescued a team racked with dissension,1977 became a year of survival but also of hope. -- Publishers description.
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 9780312424305
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
By early 1977, the metropolis was in the grip of hysteria caused by a murderer dubbed "Son of Sam." And on a sweltering night in July, a citywide power outage touched off an orgy of looting and arson that led to the largest mass arrest in New York's history. As the turbulent year wore on, the city became absorbed in two epic battles: the fight between Yankee slugger Reggie Jackson and team manager Billy Martin, and the battle between Ed Koch and Mario Cuomo for the city's mayoralty. Buried beneath these parallel conflicts, one for the soul of baseball, the other for the soul of the city, was the subtext of race. The brash and confident Jackson took every black myth and threw it back in white America's face. Meanwhile, Koch and Cuomo ran bitterly negative campaigns that played upon urbanites' fears of soaring crime and falling municipal budgets. These braided stories tell the history of a year that saw the opening of Studio 54, the evolution of punk rock, and the dawning of modern SoHo. As the pragmatist Koch defeated the visionary Cuomo and as Reggie Jackson finally rescued a team racked with dissension,1977 became a year of survival but also of hope. -- Publishers description.
Nonstop Metropolis
Author: Rebecca Solnit
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520285948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Nonstop Metropolis,Êthe culminating volume in a trilogy of atlases, conveys innumerable unbound experiences of New York City through twenty-six imaginative maps and informative essays. Bringing together the insights of dozens of expertsÑfrom linguists to music historians, ethnographers, urbanists, and environmental journalistsÑamplified by cartographers, artists, and photographers, it explores all five boroughs of New York City and parts of nearby New Jersey. We are invited to travel through ManhattanÕs playgrounds, from polyglot Queens to many-faceted Brooklyn, and from the resilient Bronx to the mystical kung fu hip-hop mecca of Staten Island. The contributors to this exquisitely designed and gorgeously illustrated volume celebrate New York CityÕs unique vitality, its incubation of the avant-garde, and its literary history, but they also critique its racial and economic inequality, environmental impact, and erasure of its past.ÊNonstop MetropolisÊallows us to excavate New YorkÕs buried layers, to scrutinize its political heft, and to discover the unexpected in one of the most iconic cities in the world. It is both a challenge and homage to how New Yorkers think of their city, and how the world sees this capital of capitalism, culture, immigration, and more. Contributors:ÊSheerly Avni,ÊGaiutra Bahadur,ÊMarshall Berman,ÊJoe Boyd,ÊWill Butler,ÊGarnette Cadogan,ÊThomas J. Campanella,ÊDaniel Aldana Cohen,ÊTeju Cole,ÊJoel Dinerstein,ÊPaul La Farge,ÊFrancisco Goldman,ÊMargo Jefferson,ÊLucy R. Lippard,ÊBarry Lopez,ÊValeria Luiselli,ÊSuketu Mehta,ÊEmily Raboteau, Molly Roy, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts,ÊLuc Sante,ÊHeather Smith,ÊJonathan Tarleton,ÊAstra Taylor,ÊAlexandra T. Vazquez,ÊChristina Zanfagna Interviews with:ÊValerie Capers, Peter Coyote, Grandmaster Caz,ÊGrand Wizzard Theodore,ÊMelle Mel, RZA
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520285948
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232
Book Description
Nonstop Metropolis,Êthe culminating volume in a trilogy of atlases, conveys innumerable unbound experiences of New York City through twenty-six imaginative maps and informative essays. Bringing together the insights of dozens of expertsÑfrom linguists to music historians, ethnographers, urbanists, and environmental journalistsÑamplified by cartographers, artists, and photographers, it explores all five boroughs of New York City and parts of nearby New Jersey. We are invited to travel through ManhattanÕs playgrounds, from polyglot Queens to many-faceted Brooklyn, and from the resilient Bronx to the mystical kung fu hip-hop mecca of Staten Island. The contributors to this exquisitely designed and gorgeously illustrated volume celebrate New York CityÕs unique vitality, its incubation of the avant-garde, and its literary history, but they also critique its racial and economic inequality, environmental impact, and erasure of its past.ÊNonstop MetropolisÊallows us to excavate New YorkÕs buried layers, to scrutinize its political heft, and to discover the unexpected in one of the most iconic cities in the world. It is both a challenge and homage to how New Yorkers think of their city, and how the world sees this capital of capitalism, culture, immigration, and more. Contributors:ÊSheerly Avni,ÊGaiutra Bahadur,ÊMarshall Berman,ÊJoe Boyd,ÊWill Butler,ÊGarnette Cadogan,ÊThomas J. Campanella,ÊDaniel Aldana Cohen,ÊTeju Cole,ÊJoel Dinerstein,ÊPaul La Farge,ÊFrancisco Goldman,ÊMargo Jefferson,ÊLucy R. Lippard,ÊBarry Lopez,ÊValeria Luiselli,ÊSuketu Mehta,ÊEmily Raboteau, Molly Roy, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts,ÊLuc Sante,ÊHeather Smith,ÊJonathan Tarleton,ÊAstra Taylor,ÊAlexandra T. Vazquez,ÊChristina Zanfagna Interviews with:ÊValerie Capers, Peter Coyote, Grandmaster Caz,ÊGrand Wizzard Theodore,ÊMelle Mel, RZA
The Fires
Author: Joe Flood
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101187204
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
New York City, 1968. The RAND Corporation had presented an alluring proposal to a city on the brink of economic collapse: Using RAND's computer models, which had been successfully implemented in high-level military operations, the city could save millions of dollars by establishing more efficient public services. The RAND boys were the best and brightest, and bore all the sheen of modern American success. New York City, on the other hand, seemed old-fashioned, insular, and corrupt-and the new mayor was eager for outside help, especially something as innovative and infallible as "computer modeling." A deal was struck: RAND would begin its first major civilian effort with the FDNY. Over the next decade-a time New York City firefighters would refer to as "The War Years"-a series of fires swept through the South Bronx, the Lower East Side, Harlem, and Brooklyn, gutting whole neighborhoods, killing more than two thousand people and displacing hundreds of thousands. Conventional wisdom would blame arson, but these fires were the result of something altogether different: the intentional withdrawal of fire protection from the city's poorest neighborhoods-all based on RAND's computer modeling systems. Despite the disastrous consequences, New York City in the 1970s set the template for how a modern city functions-both literally, as RAND sold its computer models to cities across the country, and systematically, as a new wave of technocratic decision-making took hold, which persists to this day. In The Fires, Joe Flood provides an X-ray of these inner workings, using the dramatic story of a pair of mayors, an ambitious fire commissioner, and an even more ambitious think tank to illuminate the patterns and formulas that are now inextricably woven into the very fabric of contemporary urban life. The Fires is a must read for anyone curious about how a modern city works.
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101187204
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 319
Book Description
New York City, 1968. The RAND Corporation had presented an alluring proposal to a city on the brink of economic collapse: Using RAND's computer models, which had been successfully implemented in high-level military operations, the city could save millions of dollars by establishing more efficient public services. The RAND boys were the best and brightest, and bore all the sheen of modern American success. New York City, on the other hand, seemed old-fashioned, insular, and corrupt-and the new mayor was eager for outside help, especially something as innovative and infallible as "computer modeling." A deal was struck: RAND would begin its first major civilian effort with the FDNY. Over the next decade-a time New York City firefighters would refer to as "The War Years"-a series of fires swept through the South Bronx, the Lower East Side, Harlem, and Brooklyn, gutting whole neighborhoods, killing more than two thousand people and displacing hundreds of thousands. Conventional wisdom would blame arson, but these fires were the result of something altogether different: the intentional withdrawal of fire protection from the city's poorest neighborhoods-all based on RAND's computer modeling systems. Despite the disastrous consequences, New York City in the 1970s set the template for how a modern city functions-both literally, as RAND sold its computer models to cities across the country, and systematically, as a new wave of technocratic decision-making took hold, which persists to this day. In The Fires, Joe Flood provides an X-ray of these inner workings, using the dramatic story of a pair of mayors, an ambitious fire commissioner, and an even more ambitious think tank to illuminate the patterns and formulas that are now inextricably woven into the very fabric of contemporary urban life. The Fires is a must read for anyone curious about how a modern city works.
The Bronx
Author: Evelyn Gonzalez
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231121156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
The Bronx is a fascinating history of a singular borough, mapping its evolution from a loose cluster of commuter villages to a densely populated home for New York's African American and Hispanic populations. In recounting the varied and extreme transformations this community has undergone, Evelyn Gonzalez argues that racial discrimination, rampant crime, postwar liberalism, and big government were not the only reasons for the urban crisis that assailed the Bronx during the late 1960s. Rather, a combination of population shifts, public housing initiatives, economic recession, and urban overdevelopment caused its decline. Yet she also proves that ongoing urbanization and neighborhood fluctuations are the very factors that have allowed the Bronx to undergo one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history. The process of building and rebuilding carries on, and the revitalization of neighborhoods and a resurgence of economic growth continue to offer hope for the future.
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231121156
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 298
Book Description
The Bronx is a fascinating history of a singular borough, mapping its evolution from a loose cluster of commuter villages to a densely populated home for New York's African American and Hispanic populations. In recounting the varied and extreme transformations this community has undergone, Evelyn Gonzalez argues that racial discrimination, rampant crime, postwar liberalism, and big government were not the only reasons for the urban crisis that assailed the Bronx during the late 1960s. Rather, a combination of population shifts, public housing initiatives, economic recession, and urban overdevelopment caused its decline. Yet she also proves that ongoing urbanization and neighborhood fluctuations are the very factors that have allowed the Bronx to undergo one of the most successful and inspiring community revivals in American history. The process of building and rebuilding carries on, and the revitalization of neighborhoods and a resurgence of economic growth continue to offer hope for the future.