City of Tenants

The Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group presented a program on March 20, 2014, that included Roberta Gold speaking about her recently-published book When Tenants Claimed the City: the Struggle for Citizenship in New  York City Housing.

Ms. Gold reminded us of New York City’s pioneering of public housing in the 1930s and rent controls initiated in the 1940s that have remained in place. Her book uncovers the principle of tenant citizenship, a claim by renters that they count as full citizens who hold the right to live in interracial, affordable, locally-controlled communities. Tenants struggled to exercise these rights in many neighborhoods, including the Upper West Side’s Urban Renewal Area, 87th to 97th Streets, Central Park West to Amsterdam.

Cover of Roberta Gold's book