New York City 1980 Analysis

There is shattered glass everywhere and burnt out buildings guarded by heaps of garbage. There are great skyscrapers and beautiful offices dressed in designs possible only through immense wealth. New York City, between 1970 and 1980 saw place development push towards one of these two realities. The reason for this bifurcation in upkeep, morale, and relevance of places within New York City during this time is a result of changes within the economy. This transition can be attributed to a drift away from an industrial manufacturing based economy towards a postindustrial service economy. The results of this transition came with ups and downs. Rich corporations adapted to this change and found new ways to generate profit off it. Low income laborers,

New York City at this time did not have enough space for these bankers and lawyers. The Wall Street boom in the 1980’s generated a population of people making seven and eight figured salaries. These people wanted nice places to live. Since most up the upper east side was filled newcomers kicked out the poor. The response was gentrification in low income areas. Apartment rents in low income areas forced people out. It brought in those who could afford the luxury condo construction happening in these places. The reason these people weren’t kicked out before the transition into post Fordism New York City is because the city needed the poor for labor. Since Fordist New York City needed the poor the spaces where they lived were profitable to those who built them through government tax breaks. Once the poor laborers weren’t needed these tax break vanished and so did the lower classes home security. This had two results. First people with money basked in the growing post Fordist networking market. Second people excluded from this were either kicked out of New York City all together or confined to slum neighborhoods in the lower east side such as El Barrio. At the same time suburbanization meant that most able middle to upper class families moved out of the city. This left

All this networking was costly and investors soon looked for new ways of getting financial backing. In the beginnings of the 21st century they were still looking. By this time the bifurcation of wealth and experience was at its peak where only the richest of the rich on wall street were benefitting. Even in recession brokers and bankers found ways to fund their agendas. In 2011, the diluting of safe loans on mortgage investments. When these failed middle to upper class people saw their money vanish and in some instances their homes foreclosed. This exploitation by Wall Street drastically altered the landscape of New York City and this time it wasn’t just affecting the poor. Just as the streets of El Barrio and its residents faced changes as result of this exploitation. Those affected by Wall Street’s exploitation of investments in 2011 saw the place change again. The Occupy Movement made the world conscious of the extreme disparity of wealth and opportunity. The communication technology that once served Wall Street bankers and executives allowed the protesters to have their message heard. This protest furthered the consciousness of economic inequality that the Young Lords established 40 years prior. This consciousness not only showed made the economic disparity a relevant issue but showed how Wall Street altered New