WELCOME
to On The QT #5. Another nonpartisan peek into the abyss.
On the national and neighborhood level. Statistics say we're
becoming a "low trust society". The search for meaningful
REFORM
is becoming a movement unto itself. Neither left nor
right provide sufficient answers. Why the
SCANDAL MAG TITLE?
On The QT salutes those tawdry but sometimes truth telling rags
from the 1950's. While telling tales of celebrity scandal they
helped crack the floor waxed veneer of the period's publicity
machines. We don't focus on bestiality among the stars: just
among politicians. QT also covers the larger picture, not only
the peccadilloes of individual corruptoids. So put on your
WINGED SANDALS
we're off to Milwaukee where a 10 year old drug hotline in the
Metcalfe Park area bit the dust because folks stopped calling.
Has the drug problem been licked in this neighborhood? Nope.
It's just that many residents have come to accept drug activity
as the norm. Ten years ago Metcalf Park residents were enthused
about an innovative drug abatement program meant to combine the
efforts of neighborhood residents, police and the city's building
inspectors. The program also included community liaison workers
who helped people file complaints against negligent property
owners. Why did these efforts came to naught? Why do some
neighborhoods have worse drug/crime problems than others?
Sometimes good neighborhood intentions fail due to a
SLIP
twixt the cup and the lip. All the laws, programs, ordinances,
etc. won't translate into revitalization without strong
consistent public official commitment. And a strong consistent
citizenry to hold officials' feet to the flame. As urban
neighborhoods deteriorate the number of civic minded residents
shrink and remaining voices carry less weight. With fewer angry
voters to worry about, public officials have more time for the
things they really enjoy. Like getting and spending other
people's money. Think
HUD BUX!
Like those spent on endless revitalization blueprints. At a
couple of hundred thou a pop. Unveiling grand plans (Charts!
Maps! Brochures!) is more fun than walking through neighborhoods
and visiting police stations and fire houses and the department
of public works to make sure services are being provided. Unions
representing public servants can really raise a political ruckus.
And a few HUD bux applied carefully can silence some of the last
nagging neighborhood types. Put a street lamp in front of their
house and you're home free. Bigger HUD bux go to
SECTION 8 SLUMLORDS.
Once upon a time old style slumlords prayed for tenants who'd
pay guaranteed, above market rate rents for the privilege of
living in run down neighborhoods. Tenants with little
power to
demand services. Those prayers were heard by the
NIXON administration. The Housing and Community Development
Act of 1974 contained "Section 8" which authorized federal
rent subsidies for privately owned apartments. Thus was born the
Section 8 slumlord. Plus a class of tenant serfs. Cities with
stable but slow rental markets became the dumping ground for the
poor from more go-go areas. And for tenants with criminal
backgrounds or substance abuse problems. In cities which no
longer had well paying blue collar jobs to provide social
mobility. The drug business picked up some of the employment
slack-- at times with Section 8 slumlord complicity. Section 8
slumlords are experts at working the HUD system. And at
BLOCK BUSTING.
Under the noble guise of providing affordable housing,
Section 8 slumlords drive down equity and resale value by
putting a problem building or poorly supervised facility smack
dab next to some elderly couple's hitherto well kept modest
two family
home. Any protest is denounced as selfish
NIMBYism by Section 8 slumlords. From their homes in posh
suburbs or brownstone enclaves. Though dummy corporations and
unlisted phone numbers make them difficult to reach, you can
often spot humanitarian Section 8 slumlords at charity balls.
Standing next to
SMILING MAYORS
from cities where neighborhoods are deteriorating. Standing
on their other side are developers of projects to be built
with assistance from various HUD redevelopment packages
benefiting properties owned by a circle of supportive
(campaign contributions, anyone?) friends. And speaking of
LA RONDE
let's move on to a neighborhood in Albany. New York's capital
city. One near a strip Mayor Jerry Jennings likes to envision as
an incipient "College Town". To be made so by generous
application of redevelopment dollars. Seems when one sorority
sister blew town in June she left behind a still born baby
in a garbage bag on the porch. She didn't even give it what
people give their pets:
a back yard burial. Instead she took
advantage of a
seasonal Albanian Ritual: the Spring Garbage
DUMP OUT.
When the neighborhood's college students leave for
the Summer they hoe out their hovels-- excuse me student
housing-- and pile great mounds of trash somewhere in the
general area of the curb. Garbage gleaners come asifting.
One of them discovered the baby. A few blocks away from
where another baby died a year ago at the hands of her
GUITAR STRUMMING DAD.
Dad got mad when the 5 month old girl cried and jarred his muse.
He in turn lived around the corner from an infamous street
likened in 1994 by Albany's then public works commissioner to
THE SOUTH BRONX. Seven years hasn't changed it. Said street was
the recent abode of a Bloods thug who, when searched in jail,
was found to be concealing a razor blade in his rectum. Just a
block away from blade boy's residence a heroin outpost had been
working the student ghetto using cell phones to coordinate sales.
And who can forget the enterprising college boy dealer who was
getting steroids shipped to him from Eastern Europe and picking
them up at the local post office? Time for a
COLLEGE CHEER!
Rah Rah Ree! Kick em in the knee! Rah Rah Rass! Hide a razor
up your--
PSST
Burgermeister Jennings might want to check out the billboard
sized graffiti on a burnt out building in the above neighborhood.
Nearby an avenue feeding into downtown from the suburbs.
It's been there for months (years?) and claims Albany performs
an act usually considered best left to consenting adults. But
enough of negative perceptions. Happy news regarding
ETERNAL TWILIGHT
for Twilo, a drug-a-rama booze barn in Manhattan's Chelsea
neighborhood. Their license finally got pulled (totally) after
years of effort by neighborhood groups, local representatives and
even Iron Rudy. To quote Elmer Fudd: Good widdance to bad
wubbish! From jolting Jersey City across the Hudson comes news of
runoff victory for Glen Cunningham. Cunningham will be Jersey
City's first African American mayor. He won by stressing
neighborhood crime concerns and Mayor Bret Schundler's deals with
waterfront developers. This election, along with Anthony Russo's
defeat in Hoboken, is significant. Both elections were reform
driven; powered by neighborhood concerns and dislike of specific
development policies. Both took place in small to medium size
cities, where development dollars traditionally rule. And
predicted white backlash against Cunningham never materialized.
PROVIDENCE,
Rhode Island police are in hot water. The more things change...
Further coverage in QT's next issue. But one result has been
Governor Almond appointing a committee to focus on improving
policing in Providence. A state governor concerned with
conditions in a capital city-- that's an eye popper. Don't cry
CORRUPTOIDS!
In the next issue QT will return to your side splitting antics.
Like New Jersey Senator Robert "Chinese Suit" Torricelli's desk
pounding Senate performance. And don't miss: The "Love" Life of
Iron Rudy/ Hee Haw HUD: Bucolic Slumlords & Historic Hovels/ A
Dissertation on Albanian folk festivals by anthropologist Marcel
Geraldo Zanus/"Nickel Rides" The Philadelphia Police Department's
Coney Island in a Van/Plus many more
SHINING WEBSITES:
Newsreel Films
At this site you gain access to some really Kick-A propaganda
films, made in the 60's and early 70's. Even if their politics
are not your cup of Kool Aid, the spirit and way in which
Newsreel films were made is inspiring. An eclectic group of film
makers saw social situations they believed wrong and translated
that belief to creative action. With cobbled together equipment,
including workhorse combat cameras from WWII, Newsreel hit the
streets and shot a series of impassioned agitprop pieces that
also work as art. Gritty yet evocative, the subjects range from
the then just starting Black Panthers in Oakland to a makeout
session in the back seat of a car. The latter film features an
inner monologue in the girl's voice, giving a subjective, proto
feminist take on the action. Newsreel's use of pop music as sole
soundtrack prefigured music videos and the use of accessible
communications technology bears relation to the Internet.
NYCHA Spotlight
A justifiably paranoid X-files like take on the monolithic New
York City Housing Authority. Public housing issues-- particularly
corrupt misuse of public money slotted for the poor-- is the
theme of this site. This impressive dedicated site will wow you
with its creator's corruption busting investigative skills.
Visiting it is like speaking with a dissident in the former
Soviet Union. In fact, its creator is a dissident ex-NYCHA
employee. The Samizdat tone of Spotlight speaks volumes about
what's rotten in the state of public housing.
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
A crisp well organized reform take on transportation issues
affecting the Northeast. Wide and thorough coverage of a subject
dear to the heart of New Urbanists. Lots of useful information
clearly presented. Their email newsletter is equally strong. If
you believe James Kunstler is God (or at least Moses) this one's
for you. Next stop-- the Ghost Mall.
RENT WARS
The creators of Rent Wars Ronin. A animated cartoon series soon
to be seen on New York City Public Television. A beautiful site
visually and a fascinating blend of imagination and politics. Its
tough minded take on New York City's for real rent wars (complete
with casualties) successfully walks the difficult line between
entertainment and serious subject matter. Every aspect is
creatively done: even the music is an original composition.
TIKI NEWS
When you want to forget saving the world, your city, or your
home, stop by TIKI NEWS, for a Zombie, or a Mai Tai, or a Blue
Hawaii. As long as it has an umbrella. Relax beneath the great
big Moon of Manakoora. And most importantly-- worship the many
powerful Tikis. Perhaps they will hear you and hurl your
particular bete noire into a flaming volcano. Aloha!
"Here we are now, going to the West Side, weapons in hand as we
go for a ride."
Moby, South Side
"Having the first African-American mayor is a historical
footnote, but what makes a difference to people is having a
mayor who cares about their neighborhoods."
Jersey City Mayor Glen Cunningham
Send comments or confidential tips to:
mailto:editor@mondoqt.com
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