WEBVTT

00:00:05.412 --> 00:00:08.245
(dramatic music)

00:00:10.440 --> 00:00:13.649
- A number of heroes emerged
this morning in a tragic fire

00:00:13.650 --> 00:00:17.359
at 575 East 165th Street in the Bronx

00:00:17.360 --> 00:00:18.719
that claimed the life of one man

00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:20.369
and left four other persons injured.

00:00:20.370 --> 00:00:23.749
- The young boy was leaning
from the window, right?

00:00:23.750 --> 00:00:26.359
So he was sayin\', \"Catch me, catch me!\"

00:00:26.360 --> 00:00:28.939
So he jumped from the top
floor and we caught him.

00:00:28.940 --> 00:00:29.979
We broke his fall!

00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:31.239
- [Reporter] But the fire
department didn\'t come

00:00:31.240 --> 00:00:33.119
until after all the people had jumped out?

00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:35.491
- There wasn\'t no fire engines at all.

00:00:35.492 --> 00:00:36.325
- Right.

00:00:36.326 --> 00:00:37.731
- We was the fire engines!

00:00:37.732 --> 00:00:42.732
(siren blaring)
(somber music)

00:00:42.872 --> 00:00:45.539
- [Firefighter] It\'s gonna fall!

00:00:46.830 --> 00:00:50.030
- [Vivian] I grew up in the
South Bronx in the 1970s

00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.453
during the time of the fires.

00:00:56.080 --> 00:00:57.783
To me, it was home.

00:00:59.584 --> 00:01:04.584
(helicopter blades whirring)
(sirens blaring)

00:01:07.220 --> 00:01:08.053
- [Lorine] I\'d wake up

00:01:08.054 --> 00:01:10.899
and the building next door was on fire.

00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:13.373
The building down the block was on fire.

00:01:14.820 --> 00:01:16.570
- [Hetty] Houses were disappearing!

00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:18.739
- [Robert] Six-story buildings

00:01:18.740 --> 00:01:21.083
from corner to corner, empty, vacant.

00:01:22.780 --> 00:01:23.750
- [Vivian] In 10 years,

00:01:23.751 --> 00:01:27.023
we lost nearly 80% of
our housing to fires.

00:01:28.580 --> 00:01:31.603
Around a quarter of a million
people lost their homes.

00:01:41.330 --> 00:01:43.509
- People wound up ruinin\' \'em.

00:01:43.510 --> 00:01:45.673
They didn\'t care about property.

00:01:45.674 --> 00:01:47.073
Matter of fact, they don\'t
even care about life,

00:01:47.074 --> 00:01:49.549
as far as I could see.

00:01:49.550 --> 00:01:52.099
- [Newscaster] Some fires,
accidentally or intentionally,

00:01:52.100 --> 00:01:55.673
are set by vandals, children,
addicts, and derelicts.

00:01:56.690 --> 00:01:59.299
- What we always heard
was that the South Bronx

00:01:59.300 --> 00:02:01.009
burned for 10 years

00:02:01.010 --> 00:02:03.552
because the people in
the community burnt it.

00:02:03.553 --> 00:02:06.426
(fire crackling)

00:02:06.427 --> 00:02:08.549
But when I think of the South Bronx,

00:02:08.550 --> 00:02:11.049
I think about all the people that I loved

00:02:11.050 --> 00:02:13.150
that passed through that firestorm.

00:02:13.151 --> 00:02:15.433
(upbeat music)

00:02:15.434 --> 00:02:16.959
(children chattering)

00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.539
This is where I played ball.

00:02:19.540 --> 00:02:21.676
This is where I hit my first home run.

00:02:21.677 --> 00:02:22.707
(baseball clanking)

00:02:22.708 --> 00:02:24.889
(children cheering)

00:02:24.890 --> 00:02:27.201
This is where I had my first kiss.

00:02:27.202 --> 00:02:30.202
(children giggling)

00:02:34.200 --> 00:02:35.993
We did not burn the South Bronx.

00:02:37.390 --> 00:02:40.173
In fact, we were the ones who saved it.

00:02:55.754 --> 00:02:58.587
(subway rumbling)

00:03:02.410 --> 00:03:03.883
The Bronx is still my home.

00:03:05.720 --> 00:03:07.829
I worked most of my life in the Bronx,

00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:11.313
I raised my children
here, this is my place.

00:03:17.550 --> 00:03:21.379
It\'s still hard to accept
that that could\'ve happen

00:03:21.380 --> 00:03:23.265
and that it did happen.

00:03:23.266 --> 00:03:25.849
(somber music)

00:03:28.246 --> 00:03:31.246
(car horns honking)

00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.913
This was my old building,
this is 986 Leggett.

00:03:40.945 --> 00:03:43.695
(birds chirping)

00:03:49.700 --> 00:03:52.013
All of these buildings here burned.

00:03:53.970 --> 00:03:55.993
All of Fox Street here burned.

00:03:59.570 --> 00:04:01.920
A lot of us still believe
that we were to blame

00:04:03.480 --> 00:04:04.869
\'cause that\'s the only story

00:04:04.870 --> 00:04:07.013
that ever gets told about the fires.

00:04:09.800 --> 00:04:11.303
But I could never let that go.

00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:14.793
What really happened to us here?

00:04:21.520 --> 00:04:23.919
(food sizzling)

00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:27.029
Do you wanna put some garlic
on that or no, too much?

00:04:27.030 --> 00:04:29.379
- [Antonio] Maybe a little bit of garlic.

00:04:29.380 --> 00:04:31.823
- Ooh, we have different color
peppers, Antonio, which one?

00:04:31.824 --> 00:04:33.157
- [Antonio] Ooh.

00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:38.239
- [Vivian] Antonio\'s the
second of my three children,

00:04:38.240 --> 00:04:39.823
just back after college.

00:04:42.610 --> 00:04:43.969
My kids are always hearing me

00:04:43.970 --> 00:04:46.170
talk about the old neighborhood.

00:04:46.171 --> 00:04:48.754
(solemn music)

00:04:53.650 --> 00:04:58.623
Where we set our roots is part
of the legacy of who we are.

00:04:59.490 --> 00:05:01.979
So this is Grandma Carmen

00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:04.713
and her two brothers when
they first came here.

00:05:05.980 --> 00:05:09.289
They were in suits. (laughs)

00:05:09.290 --> 00:05:11.120
And probably really scared

00:05:12.530 --> 00:05:15.919
because, you know, Grandma
Carmen came when she was 10.

00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:18.343
- I figured my father
wanted something more.

00:05:20.110 --> 00:05:23.243
He came to the States about 1948,

00:05:25.067 --> 00:05:29.243
and we followed him in 1951.

00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:33.253
In the \'40s, and then in the \'50s,

00:05:33.254 --> 00:05:36.410
there was a big migration from PR to here.

00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:41.169
- [Vivian] My grandparents
decided to leave Puerto Rico

00:05:41.170 --> 00:05:43.049
while the United States was carrying out

00:05:43.050 --> 00:05:45.189
Operation Bootstrap.

00:05:45.190 --> 00:05:47.899
That policy was pushing
Puerto Rican farmers

00:05:47.900 --> 00:05:50.549
into the cities to work in factories.

00:05:50.550 --> 00:05:52.259
But there weren\'t enough jobs,

00:05:52.260 --> 00:05:55.271
and most people were
struggling to survive.

00:05:55.272 --> 00:05:57.855
(gentle music)

00:05:59.940 --> 00:06:02.383
As U.S. citizens, we could go up north.

00:06:05.150 --> 00:06:07.169
Hundreds of thousands of Puerto Ricans

00:06:07.170 --> 00:06:10.193
left their homes behind in
search of a better life.

00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:17.659
My grandfather decided that he was gonna

00:06:17.660 --> 00:06:20.053
try his luck in New York.

00:06:21.340 --> 00:06:23.599
People wanted to come to the
greatest city in the world.

00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:24.723
Why not them?

00:06:24.724 --> 00:06:28.321
(gentle cheerful music)

00:06:28.322 --> 00:06:29.870
(car horns honking)

00:06:29.871 --> 00:06:34.121
- And we came to live in
160th Street in the Bronx.

00:06:35.267 --> 00:06:37.253
A lot of memories in this block.

00:06:42.117 --> 00:06:44.329
We made a new community,

00:06:44.330 --> 00:06:47.003
and we wanted everything to be better.

00:06:52.710 --> 00:06:55.519
We lived in the building in
the corner from that block.

00:06:55.520 --> 00:06:56.599
After the pawn shop,

00:06:56.600 --> 00:06:59.297
that was where my
father\'s store used to be.

00:06:59.298 --> 00:07:01.209
(lively music)

00:07:01.210 --> 00:07:03.410
- [Vivian] My grandfather
had a candy store.

00:07:04.550 --> 00:07:08.774
My earliest memories are of
us playing out in the front.

00:07:08.775 --> 00:07:11.569
(children chattering)

00:07:11.570 --> 00:07:14.049
- Once you came across
the First Avenue bridge

00:07:14.050 --> 00:07:15.299
to come into the Bronx,

00:07:15.300 --> 00:07:17.089
it was like going to another world.

00:07:17.090 --> 00:07:19.233
I mean, the Bronx was it.

00:07:21.050 --> 00:07:23.059
- [Vivian] Mike Amadeo was one of many

00:07:23.060 --> 00:07:26.799
looking for a way out of
crowded Harlem and East Harlem.

00:07:26.800 --> 00:07:29.693
If you moved to the South
Bronx, it was a step up.

00:07:45.620 --> 00:07:47.579
Who ever thought that I
was gonna be the owner

00:07:47.580 --> 00:07:48.580
of this store?

00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.793
Something, God put me here.

00:07:53.840 --> 00:07:56.969
- [Vivian] In those days,
New York City was segregated,

00:07:56.970 --> 00:07:58.373
but not the South Bronx.

00:07:59.940 --> 00:08:02.069
There was this brief time
when these neighborhoods

00:08:02.070 --> 00:08:04.169
were some of the most integrated places

00:08:04.170 --> 00:08:05.313
in the whole country.

00:08:06.750 --> 00:08:08.939
- We had everything here, we had Irish,

00:08:08.940 --> 00:08:11.603
and a lot of Italian and
Jewish people lived here.

00:08:12.950 --> 00:08:16.323
It was a very tight community.

00:08:18.340 --> 00:08:19.819
- [Vivian] Our African American neighbors

00:08:19.820 --> 00:08:22.079
had come from the Jim Crow South

00:08:22.080 --> 00:08:24.080
looking for a better life, just like us.

00:08:25.526 --> 00:08:28.479
- We moved from Harlem to
the Bronx when I was three.

00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.439
We were the first African Americans

00:08:30.440 --> 00:08:35.009
to move into Lyman Place as homeowners.

00:08:35.010 --> 00:08:37.249
So my window was that front window.

00:08:37.250 --> 00:08:38.839
You can hardly see it.

00:08:38.840 --> 00:08:40.699
- [Vivian] Is this the
house that your dad bought?

00:08:40.700 --> 00:08:41.733
- Yes, in 1940.

00:08:45.130 --> 00:08:47.339
It had a wood picket fence,

00:08:47.340 --> 00:08:49.839
and I said, \"Oh, Daddy,
is that our house?\"

00:08:49.840 --> 00:08:52.081
And, right away, I was
starting to protect it.

00:08:52.082 --> 00:08:55.289
(children chattering)

00:08:55.290 --> 00:08:58.719
- My family came to the Bronx in 1957.

00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:03.069
I was about nine, that\'s
when my adventures started,

00:09:03.070 --> 00:09:05.019
I guess. (chuckles)

00:09:05.020 --> 00:09:06.323
Seeing different people.

00:09:07.720 --> 00:09:10.099
Kelly Street was like a melting pot,

00:09:10.100 --> 00:09:13.119
where there\'s no Puerto
Rican, Black, Jews.

00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:14.635
Everybody was together.

00:09:14.636 --> 00:09:17.209
(children chattering)

00:09:17.210 --> 00:09:19.809
Everybody played football together,

00:09:19.810 --> 00:09:22.984
stickball together, partied together.

00:09:22.985 --> 00:09:26.401
(bright festive music)

00:09:26.402 --> 00:09:27.235
(people yelling)

00:09:27.236 --> 00:09:29.219
- [Mike] All these big jazz musicians,

00:09:29.220 --> 00:09:31.339
they all came to play at 845,

00:09:31.340 --> 00:09:34.289
right across the street from my store.

00:09:34.290 --> 00:09:36.933
And I used to go every single week.

00:09:41.550 --> 00:09:43.359
- As soon as the weather got nice,

00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:44.779
out would come the instruments,

00:09:44.780 --> 00:09:47.010
the bongos, the congos, the timbales.

00:09:47.900 --> 00:09:49.489
And then the Irish would start playing

00:09:49.490 --> 00:09:50.589
their Irish music back,

00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:53.253
so you had these music
wars going out the windows.

00:09:54.320 --> 00:09:56.519
That\'s what made the neighborhood great.

00:09:56.520 --> 00:10:01.509
- When you heard that music,
it was just so electrifying,

00:10:01.510 --> 00:10:03.710
and you couldn\'t wait
to go and dance there.

00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:08.979
- [Vivian] We grew up
here on Leggett Avenue,

00:10:08.980 --> 00:10:11.830
just a few blocks away from
my grandfather\'s candy store.

00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:18.809
I hadn\'t been back
inside that old apartment

00:10:18.810 --> 00:10:20.555
since I was a teenager.

00:10:20.556 --> 00:10:23.223
(fist knocking)

00:10:25.340 --> 00:10:26.173
Hi.

00:10:26.174 --> 00:10:27.239
- [Man] Hello.

00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.103
- [Vivian] Thank you for letting me in.

00:10:30.290 --> 00:10:31.290
Oh my God.

00:10:33.130 --> 00:10:35.593
I remember being part of a community.

00:10:38.510 --> 00:10:42.049
I used to lock myself in this
bathroom to do my homework

00:10:42.050 --> 00:10:44.653
because there was always so much noise.

00:10:47.760 --> 00:10:51.129
At school, we sang the
American, the African American,

00:10:51.130 --> 00:10:52.983
and the Puerto Rican anthems.

00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:57.339
There was this openness to our lives.

00:10:57.340 --> 00:11:01.113
And sort of this sense of
opportunity and excitement.

00:11:03.030 --> 00:11:04.730
It felt like we were all the same.

00:11:19.352 --> 00:11:21.913
(somber music)

00:11:21.914 --> 00:11:24.831
(children yelling)

00:11:28.620 --> 00:11:31.053
Our families were setting roots down here,

00:11:34.060 --> 00:11:35.929
but our neighborhoods were being targeted

00:11:35.930 --> 00:11:40.283
by government policies, based on race.

00:11:41.676 --> 00:11:44.759
(slow intense music)

00:11:47.180 --> 00:11:48.783
It started with redlining.

00:11:52.940 --> 00:11:56.909
- Redlining, when this
first starts in the 1930s,

00:11:56.910 --> 00:12:00.369
any neighborhood that has five, 10% Black

00:12:00.370 --> 00:12:02.599
or Puerto Rican population

00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:04.443
is seen as a declining neighborhood.

00:12:05.800 --> 00:12:09.139
The Federal Housing Agencies,
banks, insurance companies,

00:12:09.140 --> 00:12:12.559
they start taking maps and
literally drawing lines

00:12:12.560 --> 00:12:15.489
around them based on which
neighborhoods are a good risk

00:12:15.490 --> 00:12:16.640
and which ones are bad.

00:12:18.220 --> 00:12:20.249
If a neighborhood had a
red line drawn around it,

00:12:20.250 --> 00:12:21.569
it\'s a bad bet.

00:12:21.570 --> 00:12:22.979
Don\'t give a loan there.

00:12:22.980 --> 00:12:25.653
Don\'t give out homeowners
insurance, fire insurance.

00:12:27.760 --> 00:12:28.869
- [Vivian] Our housing stock

00:12:28.870 --> 00:12:32.119
in these redlined areas was already old.

00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:35.603
These were pre-war buildings,
and they were left to rot.

00:12:39.550 --> 00:12:41.849
Things in the neighborhood
became even worse

00:12:41.850 --> 00:12:44.959
when the government
implemented urban renewal,

00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:48.748
which tore down so-called
slums in Manhattan.

00:12:48.749 --> 00:12:51.749
(building rumbling)

00:12:52.826 --> 00:12:54.549
- [Newscaster] The greatest
slum clearance project

00:12:54.550 --> 00:12:56.289
on record goes forward.

00:12:56.290 --> 00:12:58.349
This poor tenement area is to be used

00:12:58.350 --> 00:13:00.510
for modern apartment buildings and parks.

00:13:00.511 --> 00:13:02.349
(upbeat music)

00:13:02.350 --> 00:13:07.350
- New York City uses urban
renewal to demolish its slums

00:13:07.670 --> 00:13:08.920
and build Lincoln Center.

00:13:09.940 --> 00:13:13.289
To demolish its slums and
build middle-class housing

00:13:13.290 --> 00:13:17.233
for Columbia University,
and new areas near NYU.

00:13:19.240 --> 00:13:21.849
It gets rid of all the unsightly industry

00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.289
that was along the rivers.

00:13:24.290 --> 00:13:27.293
No jobs along the docks,
all of that is gone.

00:13:28.380 --> 00:13:30.549
- It\'s something called urban renewal,

00:13:30.550 --> 00:13:33.319
which means moving the Negros out, get it?

00:13:33.320 --> 00:13:36.212
It means Negro removal,
that is what it means.

00:13:36.213 --> 00:13:40.623
And the federal government is
an accomplice to this fact.

00:13:41.640 --> 00:13:44.049
- [Vivian] Slum clearance
targeted African American

00:13:44.050 --> 00:13:46.899
and Puerto Rican communities in Manhattan.

00:13:46.900 --> 00:13:50.879
Over 100,000 people\'s
homes were demolished.

00:13:50.880 --> 00:13:52.083
- People are displaced,

00:13:52.960 --> 00:13:57.589
and they go on the subway
lines to the Bronx.

00:13:57.590 --> 00:14:00.423
(subway rattling)

00:14:01.320 --> 00:14:02.339
- [Vivian] I thought that the Bronx

00:14:02.340 --> 00:14:04.699
always had a bad reputation.

00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:06.289
But it didn\'t gets its reputation

00:14:06.290 --> 00:14:09.669
until urban renewal
displaced 100,000 people

00:14:09.670 --> 00:14:11.533
into our decaying buildings.

00:14:12.520 --> 00:14:15.603
From here on, it would only
be described as a ghetto.

00:14:18.630 --> 00:14:21.499
And these policies weren\'t
just in New York City.

00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.963
They were enacted upon people
of color across the country.

00:14:32.625 --> 00:14:35.542
(vehicle rattling)

00:14:36.880 --> 00:14:38.109
- [Announcer] 15 years
ago, the neighborhood

00:14:38.110 --> 00:14:40.993
was Jewish and Irish, with
a scattering of others.

00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:44.643
Now, it\'s a neighborhood of the others.

00:14:44.644 --> 00:14:48.029
(somber music)

00:14:48.030 --> 00:14:51.219
- [Vivian] Our neighborhoods
were going into decline,

00:14:51.220 --> 00:14:53.009
but news reports didn\'t wanna talk

00:14:53.010 --> 00:14:54.993
about redlining or policy.

00:14:55.890 --> 00:14:57.713
They just wanted to talk about us.

00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:02.471
- I think they have to
learn to live the way we do,

00:15:02.472 --> 00:15:03.983
and take care of things.

00:15:05.690 --> 00:15:07.940
- [Vivian] And they
played on people\'s fears.

00:15:10.488 --> 00:15:11.949
- [Man] This is a new element,
this is a different element.

00:15:11.950 --> 00:15:14.449
Every kid carries a switchblade knife.

00:15:14.450 --> 00:15:17.559
Every one of these kids
are potential killers.

00:15:17.560 --> 00:15:19.439
- [Reporter] What about
some of those criticisms,

00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:20.559
that the Negro is dirty,

00:15:20.560 --> 00:15:22.809
that the Negro is more violent,

00:15:22.810 --> 00:15:26.039
therefore, the Negro doesn\'t
make as good a neighbor?

00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:27.586
- Well, that\'s because
they have never given

00:15:27.587 --> 00:15:29.897
the Negro the chance.

00:15:29.898 --> 00:15:32.565
(siren wailing)

00:15:35.710 --> 00:15:36.543
- What can I tell you?

00:15:36.544 --> 00:15:38.973
It just changed, everything changed.

00:15:40.030 --> 00:15:42.069
Everybody started to move.

00:15:42.070 --> 00:15:43.939
It was a heavy thing to leave there.

00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:45.289
We had relatives there.

00:15:45.290 --> 00:15:46.913
Upstairs, I had cousins.

00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:50.979
But, of course, they were moving too.

00:15:50.980 --> 00:15:53.014
- Everybody that lives with
the colored has to move.

00:15:53.015 --> 00:15:53.848
- [Reporter] Why?

00:15:53.849 --> 00:15:55.839
- Because you\'re not safe
walking the streets at night.

00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:57.537
You cannot leave the house.

00:16:07.620 --> 00:16:10.269
- [Vivian] We had neighbors
who moved to Florida.

00:16:10.270 --> 00:16:12.323
We had neighbors that moved upstate.

00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:15.863
For white people, it was easy to leave.

00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:18.619
Urban planners, like Robert Moses,

00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:20.893
had carved up the Bronx with highways,

00:16:23.730 --> 00:16:26.683
allowing people to drive
straight to the suburbs.

00:16:28.890 --> 00:16:32.269
The government would even
help subsidize the mortgage.

00:16:32.270 --> 00:16:35.053
All you had to do was qualify.

00:16:37.960 --> 00:16:39.739
- [Evelyn] But the Blacks
and the Puerto Ricans

00:16:39.740 --> 00:16:40.740
can\'t get that.

00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:43.239
If you were Black or Hispanic,

00:16:43.240 --> 00:16:45.579
you weren\'t given a mortgage for a suburb.

00:16:45.580 --> 00:16:47.849
- [Vivian] Right, and you
couldn\'t move into a neighborhood

00:16:47.850 --> 00:16:48.739
that you wanted to move in?

00:16:48.740 --> 00:16:49.740
- No, no, you couldn\'t, you couldn\'t.

00:16:49.741 --> 00:16:52.313
- [Vivian] You couldn\'t
get a mortgage to move out?

00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:57.833
My father wanted to get a loan
to buy a house in Soundview.

00:16:59.840 --> 00:17:02.969
For a quick while, we
sort of had this hope

00:17:02.970 --> 00:17:04.899
that we were gonna be homeowners.

00:17:04.900 --> 00:17:06.266
Like, \"Oh, we\'re gonna move to a house!

00:17:06.267 --> 00:17:08.859
\"We\'re gonna move to a
house,\" it was very exciting.

00:17:08.860 --> 00:17:12.005
And then, all of a sudden,
that topic just ended.

00:17:12.006 --> 00:17:14.589
(somber music)

00:17:18.780 --> 00:17:22.059
He worked for the same
company for so many years,

00:17:22.060 --> 00:17:24.559
yet he wasn\'t eligible for a loan.

00:17:24.560 --> 00:17:27.543
Why, why was he not eligible for a loan?

00:17:31.870 --> 00:17:32.870
It was painful.

00:17:37.189 --> 00:17:40.189
(people chattering)

00:17:45.150 --> 00:17:47.700
We could see the neighborhood
changing around us.

00:17:47.701 --> 00:17:50.949
(somber music)

00:17:50.950 --> 00:17:52.363
Trash in the streets.

00:17:53.320 --> 00:17:55.163
The buildings weren\'t being kept up.

00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.599
Many of our landlords

00:17:57.600 --> 00:18:00.649
had sold their buildings to speculators.

00:18:00.650 --> 00:18:02.359
They chopped up the apartments,

00:18:02.360 --> 00:18:05.789
squeezing more people into smaller spaces.

00:18:05.790 --> 00:18:07.510
- We don\'t have no heat in the building.

00:18:07.511 --> 00:18:09.239
We don\'t have no water.

00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:11.170
We have to go outside to get the water

00:18:12.060 --> 00:18:14.359
because the landlord
doesn\'t wanna do anything

00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:15.449
in the building.

00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:17.746
We know he\'s not gonna
do anything about it.

00:18:17.747 --> 00:18:20.419
He just want to get the money and go.

00:18:20.420 --> 00:18:22.569
- [Vivian] The new landlords
wouldn\'t fill the boiler

00:18:22.570 --> 00:18:25.379
in the winter even when
it was freezing out.

00:18:25.380 --> 00:18:27.299
People had to use their ovens

00:18:27.300 --> 00:18:30.409
and electric heaters just to stay warm.

00:18:30.410 --> 00:18:32.189
And the old wiring in our buildings

00:18:32.190 --> 00:18:34.373
couldn\'t handle the new appliances.

00:18:37.230 --> 00:18:39.519
It wasn\'t any one thing.

00:18:39.520 --> 00:18:43.692
It was all these things that
eventually led to the fires.

00:18:43.693 --> 00:18:46.921
(sirens blaring)

00:18:46.922 --> 00:18:49.672
(dramatic music)

00:18:58.180 --> 00:19:00.013
- 1968, it went crazy.

00:19:01.466 --> 00:19:04.216
(fire crackling)

00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:07.269
I was shipped up to 85 Engine,

00:19:07.270 --> 00:19:10.123
north of Cauldwell Avenue where I lived.

00:19:16.793 --> 00:19:19.460
We were in the eye of the storm.

00:19:20.359 --> 00:19:22.292
- Screaming, everybody screaming outside.

00:19:22.293 --> 00:19:24.689
And, oh, everybody running,

00:19:24.690 --> 00:19:28.865
and all the trucks and
everything that goes with it.

00:19:28.866 --> 00:19:29.780
(scoffs) Believe me.

00:19:29.781 --> 00:19:32.447
(siren blaring)

00:19:33.670 --> 00:19:36.370
- [Vivian] Fires were on the
rise in our neighborhood.

00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:42.510
But the response wasn\'t
what it should\'ve been.

00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:48.919
- In the \'60s and \'70s,
the fire was in the air.

00:19:48.920 --> 00:19:53.819
Fire was a political
weapon, fire was everywhere.

00:19:53.820 --> 00:19:55.387
People were angry.

00:19:55.388 --> 00:19:58.138
(dramatic music)

00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:04.300
- [Vivian] People had
good reason to be angry.

00:20:05.270 --> 00:20:07.319
The news called them riots.

00:20:07.320 --> 00:20:09.849
But when we watched them unfold on TV,

00:20:09.850 --> 00:20:13.423
we saw them as rebellions
against abuse and neglect.

00:20:16.190 --> 00:20:18.890
- We can\'t call this housing,
we just call them dumps.

00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:20.919
Roaches live with you.

00:20:20.920 --> 00:20:23.279
They don\'t pay no rent, but you do.

00:20:23.280 --> 00:20:24.487
The roof fall on you.

00:20:25.426 --> 00:20:28.003
Your children eat lead-poisoned paint.

00:20:29.140 --> 00:20:30.549
- [Vivian] Groups like the Young Lords

00:20:30.550 --> 00:20:33.259
and the Black Panthers
were exposing the truth

00:20:33.260 --> 00:20:35.939
about the conditions in our neighborhoods.

00:20:35.940 --> 00:20:37.999
- We have to move to a position

00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.809
where we can control the
housing in our neighborhoods,

00:20:41.810 --> 00:20:43.197
so that we\'re not exploited.

00:20:43.198 --> 00:20:45.230
- [Marchers] Let\'s go,
let\'s go, get started.

00:20:45.231 --> 00:20:46.899
- And so that the owner
of those apartments

00:20:46.900 --> 00:20:49.553
don\'t live in the suburbs
grabbing the profits from us.

00:20:49.554 --> 00:20:50.909
(crowd yelling)

00:20:50.910 --> 00:20:54.459
- [Vivian] But to most of
America watching TV at home,

00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:57.514
we were just angry and out of control.

00:20:57.515 --> 00:20:59.229
(people yelling)

00:20:59.230 --> 00:21:01.653
- [Newscaster] What
happened, what went wrong?

00:21:02.487 --> 00:21:04.936
(siren blaring)

00:21:04.937 --> 00:21:08.477
\"Burn, baby, burn,\" drowned
out, \"We shall overcome.\"

00:21:13.270 --> 00:21:14.789
- [Vivian] But the Bronx wasn\'t burning

00:21:14.790 --> 00:21:16.570
in a protest or a riot

00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:20.163
or because we didn\'t know any better.

00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:22.399
- [Reporter] Commissioner O\'Hagan,

00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:24.399
why the rise from \'64 on?

00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:25.629
Why is the city burning?

00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:29.863
- If you bring a poor family
out of the Deep South,

00:21:30.770 --> 00:21:32.419
with a promise of opportunity,

00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:35.439
and put him in an urban
center for the first time,

00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.729
and crowd, without exaggeration,

00:21:38.730 --> 00:21:41.739
15 to 20 people in an
apartment that was occupied

00:21:41.740 --> 00:21:44.923
maybe by four to six people in the past,

00:21:46.080 --> 00:21:47.429
people who have never lived

00:21:47.430 --> 00:21:49.659
in this type of an environment before,

00:21:49.660 --> 00:21:53.919
crowded into living quarters
that they\'re not familiar with,

00:21:53.920 --> 00:21:55.069
it\'s not surprising

00:21:55.070 --> 00:21:58.444
that you would have an increase in fires.

00:21:58.445 --> 00:21:59.524
(somber music)

00:21:59.525 --> 00:22:01.699
(people chattering)

00:22:01.700 --> 00:22:02.601
- [Man] If I live in the building,

00:22:02.602 --> 00:22:03.759
I\'m not gonna burn the building

00:22:03.760 --> 00:22:06.342
\'cause I got the little shit
I hustle for to be in there.

00:22:06.343 --> 00:22:08.279
I don\'t want it burned.

00:22:08.280 --> 00:22:10.479
My mother and father lived
here since they were kids.

00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:11.980
I lived here when I was a kid.

00:22:12.840 --> 00:22:15.509
And now you\'re gonna tell
me, \"Go move someplace else.\"

00:22:15.510 --> 00:22:16.669
What for?

00:22:16.670 --> 00:22:17.670
I live here!

00:22:24.130 --> 00:22:27.703
- This was my first memory of a fire.

00:22:28.780 --> 00:22:31.789
I\'m looking out the window
and right in front of me,

00:22:31.790 --> 00:22:33.497
there were just flames.

00:22:33.498 --> 00:22:36.673
(fire roaring)

00:22:36.674 --> 00:22:39.869
(siren blaring)

00:22:39.870 --> 00:22:41.763
I had a very good friend.

00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:45.079
We would sit together in class.

00:22:45.080 --> 00:22:47.314
We were really close.

00:22:47.315 --> 00:22:50.259
- Hey, hey!
(people chattering)

00:22:50.260 --> 00:22:52.360
- [Vivian] Her building burned that night.

00:22:53.810 --> 00:22:55.193
The next day, she was gone.

00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:57.403
She never came back.

00:22:59.390 --> 00:23:02.079
- [Reporter] A family of three
had lived in this apartment,

00:23:02.080 --> 00:23:03.893
a divorced mother and two children.

00:23:04.780 --> 00:23:07.879
Like 12 other families who
lost their homes in the fire,

00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:09.399
they left the building with little more

00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:11.050
than the clothing on their backs.

00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.049
- I was too young to know why.

00:23:21.050 --> 00:23:23.143
I just knew I never saw her again.

00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:33.293
By then, the fires were spreading quickly.

00:23:34.570 --> 00:23:35.939
This would\'ve been the time

00:23:35.940 --> 00:23:37.903
for the fire department to stop them.

00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:47.749
I\'d like to see as much as I can

00:23:47.750 --> 00:23:51.359
about what was going on in the
fire department at that time.

00:23:51.360 --> 00:23:55.189
The runs, the closings, how
many people worked there,

00:23:55.190 --> 00:23:56.329
how many firefighters...

00:23:56.330 --> 00:23:58.556
- There\'s tons and tons of stuff up here.

00:23:58.557 --> 00:24:02.649
- How would I find how many fire companies

00:24:02.650 --> 00:24:06.039
and how many firemen worked over time?

00:24:06.040 --> 00:24:07.219
Like, what the change is?

00:24:07.220 --> 00:24:09.739
How would I find what the changes were

00:24:09.740 --> 00:24:10.573
in the fire companies?
- I don\'t think

00:24:10.574 --> 00:24:13.579
they keep records like
that, you know what it was?

00:24:13.580 --> 00:24:17.749
It was so fast, and it
was so overwhelming,

00:24:17.750 --> 00:24:21.263
we think that they didn\'t
even record half the fires.

00:24:24.868 --> 00:24:25.701
(siren blaring)

00:24:25.702 --> 00:24:28.373
- They didn\'t even record half the fires?

00:24:35.950 --> 00:24:39.565
Fires in the city increased more than 50%.

00:24:39.566 --> 00:24:41.429
(siren blaring)

00:24:41.430 --> 00:24:43.099
- [Announcer] The New York
Fire Department responds

00:24:43.100 --> 00:24:45.849
to nearly a quarter of
million calls a year,

00:24:45.850 --> 00:24:48.270
and the busiest district
is the South Bronx.

00:24:48.271 --> 00:24:49.826
(siren blaring)
(fire crackling)

00:24:49.827 --> 00:24:53.349
- You know, what I keep
hearing and reading is that,

00:24:53.350 --> 00:24:56.429
at the time, when there were so many fires

00:24:56.430 --> 00:25:01.223
in the South Bronx, firehouses closed.

00:25:02.220 --> 00:25:05.499
On the one hand, there
could be legitimate reasons

00:25:05.500 --> 00:25:07.963
for why fire companies were closed.

00:25:09.220 --> 00:25:13.543
Makes me wonder why.

00:25:16.430 --> 00:25:17.919
- I\'m very pleased to announce

00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.209
that the Rand Corporation
and New York City

00:25:21.210 --> 00:25:25.019
are engaged in a series of
discussions which will lead

00:25:25.020 --> 00:25:28.219
to a major involvement
by the Rand Corporation

00:25:28.220 --> 00:25:31.059
in urban problems here in New York City.

00:25:31.060 --> 00:25:32.969
- [Vivian] In the late 1960s,

00:25:32.970 --> 00:25:35.336
the city was sliding towards bankruptcy.

00:25:35.337 --> 00:25:38.087
(dramatic music)

00:25:40.090 --> 00:25:43.029
- City services get more
expensive all of the time.

00:25:43.030 --> 00:25:45.069
How do you get a bigger bang for the buck?

00:25:45.070 --> 00:25:47.209
- [Vivian] Mayor Lindsay
hired the Rand Corporation

00:25:47.210 --> 00:25:48.723
to help trim the budget.

00:25:51.490 --> 00:25:53.999
Rand Corporation analysts claimed

00:25:54.000 --> 00:25:56.049
that their computer models would help

00:25:56.050 --> 00:25:58.379
win the war in Vietnam.

00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:00.713
And now they promised to fix the city.

00:26:02.090 --> 00:26:06.039
- Rand Corporation was
assigned to the fire department

00:26:06.040 --> 00:26:10.009
to try to reduce the cost of
fire protection in the city,

00:26:10.010 --> 00:26:14.533
using Rand computer models
to predict future trends.

00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.209
John O\'Hagan, head of the fire department,

00:26:18.210 --> 00:26:22.299
started eliminating fire companies.

00:26:22.300 --> 00:26:23.339
- All right, gentlemen.

00:26:23.340 --> 00:26:25.279
We\'ve provided you with a memorandum,

00:26:25.280 --> 00:26:29.389
which is self-explanatory
and explains the reasons for

00:26:29.390 --> 00:26:31.939
and the details of the economies

00:26:31.940 --> 00:26:34.489
that will be made in the fire department.

00:26:34.490 --> 00:26:35.959
- They are closing fire companies,

00:26:35.960 --> 00:26:36.940
mostly in poor neighborhoods

00:26:36.941 --> 00:26:38.579
with the very high fire numbers,

00:26:38.580 --> 00:26:40.419
while neighborhoods that
have lower fire numbers

00:26:40.420 --> 00:26:43.573
are untouched and in many
cases are gaining companies.

00:26:45.080 --> 00:26:47.956
- I would talk to these Rand consultants,

00:26:47.957 --> 00:26:49.176
\"Why was that decision made?

00:26:49.177 --> 00:26:50.529
\"It makes no sense.\"

00:26:50.530 --> 00:26:52.006
And this consultant said to me,

00:26:52.007 --> 00:26:56.039
\"Management decisions are
logical and they make sense.\"

00:26:56.040 --> 00:26:57.909
But that was a political decision.

00:26:57.910 --> 00:27:01.253
Political decisions do not make any sense.

00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.799
- Well, there are eight companies
that are to be eliminated.

00:27:06.800 --> 00:27:09.209
We\'re suspending the seven-man manning

00:27:09.210 --> 00:27:11.269
and adaptive response in the Bronx,

00:27:11.270 --> 00:27:12.170
which will save half a million dollars.

00:27:12.171 --> 00:27:14.449
- [Reporter] How much money do you save?

00:27:14.450 --> 00:27:17.169
- Those...
- For those people

00:27:17.170 --> 00:27:20.459
who have the power and the authority,

00:27:20.460 --> 00:27:21.460
we didn\'t matter.

00:27:23.630 --> 00:27:25.509
In the South Bronx,

00:27:25.510 --> 00:27:29.463
where we needed fire protection
the most, it wasn\'t there.

00:27:36.080 --> 00:27:39.469
It\'s like the rug comes out from under you

00:27:39.470 --> 00:27:41.470
and you don\'t really know what happened.

00:27:43.008 --> 00:27:45.059
(people chattering)
(bell clanging)

00:27:45.060 --> 00:27:49.109
Our parents came here to start a new life.

00:27:49.110 --> 00:27:51.903
Next thing you know, the Bronx is burning.

00:27:53.010 --> 00:27:55.019
They didn\'t see that coming.

00:27:55.020 --> 00:27:57.083
The community did not see it coming.

00:27:58.140 --> 00:28:01.969
They\'re in it, they can\'t
see out from under it.

00:28:01.970 --> 00:28:05.503
They can\'t see that there
are all these forces at play.

00:28:06.611 --> 00:28:09.361
(dramatic music)

00:28:10.852 --> 00:28:12.519
- [Announcer] We see
Americans hating each other,

00:28:12.520 --> 00:28:15.359
fighting each other,
killing each other at home.

00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:18.449
We see cities enveloped
in smoke and flame,

00:28:18.450 --> 00:28:19.850
we hear sirens in the night.

00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:23.359
Let us listen now to another voice.

00:28:23.360 --> 00:28:25.779
It is the voice of the
great majority of Americans,

00:28:25.780 --> 00:28:27.599
the forgotten Americans,

00:28:27.600 --> 00:28:30.108
the nonshouters, the nondemonstrators.

00:28:30.109 --> 00:28:32.692
(gentle music)

00:28:34.090 --> 00:28:34.923
- [Newscaster] A memorandum sent

00:28:34.924 --> 00:28:37.069
by presidential adviser Daniel Moynihan

00:28:37.070 --> 00:28:39.329
has angered civil rights leaders.

00:28:39.330 --> 00:28:41.649
In it, he argued that the
traditional economic gap

00:28:41.650 --> 00:28:44.729
between black and white in
the North is virtually closed,

00:28:44.730 --> 00:28:46.409
and that the race issue would now benefit

00:28:46.410 --> 00:28:49.510
from a period of what he
chose to call benign neglect.

00:28:49.511 --> 00:28:50.969
(tense somber music)

00:28:50.970 --> 00:28:53.569
- [Vivian] Here\'s this
man who was considered

00:28:53.570 --> 00:28:57.179
a progressive democrat putting out there

00:28:57.180 --> 00:29:00.893
that the problems of the
cities should be ignored.

00:29:02.670 --> 00:29:06.749
The infrastructure, the
schools, the hospitals,

00:29:06.750 --> 00:29:11.349
sanitation, parks, they\'re all declining.

00:29:11.350 --> 00:29:13.799
And what the government has to say

00:29:13.800 --> 00:29:15.973
is just leave it that way?

00:29:18.040 --> 00:29:21.323
Let them burn because they\'re
creating too much of a ruckus.

00:29:23.890 --> 00:29:26.469
Moynihan rejected this reading of his memo

00:29:26.470 --> 00:29:28.799
when it was leaked to the press.

00:29:28.800 --> 00:29:31.929
- I didn\'t make any suggestion
of the kind whatever.

00:29:31.930 --> 00:29:36.859
I\'m saying we have to get,
calm down the rhetoric

00:29:36.860 --> 00:29:41.860
of racial accusation and
paranoid sensitivities

00:29:42.600 --> 00:29:45.079
among whites and blacks.

00:29:45.080 --> 00:29:49.932
And go on, carrying on the
substantive improvement

00:29:49.933 --> 00:29:52.453
in conditions that has been taking place.

00:29:58.520 --> 00:30:01.129
- [Vivian] Moynihan had an influence

00:30:01.130 --> 00:30:05.669
which allowed federal
policy to continue to ignore

00:30:05.670 --> 00:30:07.570
what was happening in the South Bronx.

00:30:08.890 --> 00:30:11.479
And Moynihan went one step further.

00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:14.609
He also wrote that when
people like us in the ghetto

00:30:14.610 --> 00:30:17.253
had fires, they were set on purpose,

00:30:18.110 --> 00:30:21.169
saying that fires were a leading indicator

00:30:21.170 --> 00:30:22.683
of social pathology.

00:30:23.740 --> 00:30:26.199
He\'s saying we set the fires

00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:28.253
\'cause there\'s something wrong with us.

00:30:32.190 --> 00:30:34.069
- [Reporter] This is
the Bronx in New York.

00:30:34.070 --> 00:30:36.489
One and a half million
people live in this borough,

00:30:36.490 --> 00:30:38.179
equal to the population of Houston

00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:40.549
or Washington or San Diego.

00:30:40.550 --> 00:30:43.669
Once home of industry, progress, jobs.

00:30:43.670 --> 00:30:45.929
Now someone is burning down a building:

00:30:45.930 --> 00:30:47.419
a landlord for profit,

00:30:47.420 --> 00:30:51.019
a tenant for revenge, junkies, vandals.

00:30:51.020 --> 00:30:52.813
It happens 30 times a day.

00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:11.443
- [Vivian] By the time I was 10, 11, 12,

00:31:12.310 --> 00:31:14.453
there was not just fires.

00:31:16.090 --> 00:31:19.293
There was neglect and
abandonment everywhere.

00:31:25.980 --> 00:31:28.929
- We have all our mechanical
brooms dump their loads here.

00:31:28.930 --> 00:31:31.169
By the end of the day,
we pick up all the piles

00:31:31.170 --> 00:31:32.899
and make one trip to the dump.

00:31:32.900 --> 00:31:36.169
This saves the city a lot of
money, gas, and everything.

00:31:36.170 --> 00:31:37.269
- Nobody\'s aware of the fact

00:31:37.270 --> 00:31:39.879
that we\'ve got a city dump
right here in the backyard.

00:31:39.880 --> 00:31:41.739
That\'s a nice thing to do in the morning.

00:31:41.740 --> 00:31:43.419
Get up and open your window

00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:48.012
and see sanitation trucks dumping
garbage in your back door.

00:31:48.013 --> 00:31:50.399
(somber music)

00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:55.169
- [Vivian] The visual reminder
that we received every day

00:31:55.170 --> 00:31:57.819
was that you\'re nothing.

00:31:57.820 --> 00:31:59.963
You\'re nothing, this is where you live.

00:32:07.040 --> 00:32:09.719
This was my middle school graduation.

00:32:09.720 --> 00:32:12.629
It was the last time that we
were all together as friends

00:32:12.630 --> 00:32:15.949
because we all went to
different high schools.

00:32:15.950 --> 00:32:18.999
And there were kids not coming to school.

00:32:19.000 --> 00:32:21.199
- [Antonio] When did that start appearing?

00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:22.563
- The losing of people?

00:32:25.590 --> 00:32:29.363
By the end of middle school,
life became hard core.

00:32:34.500 --> 00:32:37.949
- It started back when
I was in high school.

00:32:37.950 --> 00:32:41.063
This building was abandoned,
that building was abandoned.

00:32:42.510 --> 00:32:44.829
It didn\'t faze on me
that this was happening,

00:32:44.830 --> 00:32:47.169
I just noticed, there\'s nobody living

00:32:47.170 --> 00:32:48.420
in this building anymore.

00:32:50.010 --> 00:32:53.019
- Then vandals would run in
and pull out the plumbing.

00:32:53.020 --> 00:32:56.739
The night before I saved
this house from vandalism

00:32:56.740 --> 00:33:00.253
they were about to roll out
all of the radiator systems.

00:33:01.360 --> 00:33:03.409
I used to sleep with my boots on.

00:33:03.410 --> 00:33:06.029
I had to be ready to jump up and run,

00:33:06.030 --> 00:33:09.579
jump up and fight, jump up and
do whatever had to be done,

00:33:09.580 --> 00:33:10.963
at a moment\'s notice.

00:33:13.510 --> 00:33:15.299
- I stood here, for three years,

00:33:15.300 --> 00:33:17.429
with no landlord or nothing.

00:33:17.430 --> 00:33:20.379
There was a phantom
landlord collecting money,

00:33:20.380 --> 00:33:23.683
I don\'t know who the person
was, I still have the...

00:33:23.684 --> 00:33:24.517
- The receipts?

00:33:24.518 --> 00:33:25.767
- The receipts.

00:33:27.300 --> 00:33:29.979
- [Vivian] Everything
around us was crumbling,

00:33:29.980 --> 00:33:34.483
and we were all trying the
best we could to survive.

00:33:36.830 --> 00:33:39.630
- [Robert] You were
afraid to walk the streets

00:33:40.520 --> 00:33:43.170
because you didn\'t know
what\'s gonna jump out at you.

00:33:44.550 --> 00:33:47.059
- [Carmen] I never wanted
you to come this way.

00:33:47.060 --> 00:33:50.443
For anything, don\'t walk
anybody, don\'t go that way.

00:33:52.870 --> 00:33:54.020
We didn\'t take chances.

00:33:58.530 --> 00:34:01.209
- Many of my friends
who did the right thing,

00:34:01.210 --> 00:34:06.210
went to school, ended up on drugs,

00:34:07.890 --> 00:34:10.333
dead, going to jail.

00:34:15.890 --> 00:34:18.083
I could\'ve easily been
one of those people.

00:34:19.150 --> 00:34:20.779
How could children like that thrive,

00:34:20.780 --> 00:34:22.739
like, in that community
how could we have thrived?

00:34:22.740 --> 00:34:24.069
- It was very hard.

00:34:24.070 --> 00:34:26.209
- Right, it was very hard.

00:34:26.210 --> 00:34:27.829
- Whatever I had to do, I did.

00:34:27.830 --> 00:34:29.297
- Yeah, you did.

00:34:29.298 --> 00:34:31.199
- [Carmen] Mm-hmm.

00:34:31.200 --> 00:34:34.639
- You got us through, you\'re brave.

00:34:34.640 --> 00:34:37.793
- Yeah, I learned, I learned a lot.

00:34:42.490 --> 00:34:44.466
We used to tell our
landlord, don\'t abandon us,

00:34:44.467 --> 00:34:46.543
\'cause we can\'t live anywhere else.

00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:50.819
My children were all born here,

00:34:50.820 --> 00:34:53.009
and we\'re trying to get our lives together

00:34:53.010 --> 00:34:54.893
and make something better for them.

00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:06.830
- The sense that I get, and
there\'s this internalized sense

00:35:09.870 --> 00:35:12.999
of guilt, and of shame for not being able,

00:35:13.000 --> 00:35:14.459
and not working hard enough,

00:35:14.460 --> 00:35:18.299
or not having what it
takes to elevate oneself

00:35:18.300 --> 00:35:19.629
out of that circumstance.

00:35:19.630 --> 00:35:20.719
- We did blame ourselves

00:35:20.720 --> 00:35:23.799
because that\'s what we internalized.

00:35:23.800 --> 00:35:25.109
\'Cause we\'re living in it,

00:35:25.110 --> 00:35:26.903
why are we doing this to ourselves.

00:35:28.320 --> 00:35:31.109
It was complicated, and it\'s awful

00:35:31.110 --> 00:35:34.753
because I think that in many
ways we still blame ourselves.

00:35:41.930 --> 00:35:42.990
- [Lorine] This is where the club was.

00:35:42.991 --> 00:35:43.824
- [Vivian] This is where the club was.

00:35:43.824 --> 00:35:44.657
- This is exactly where it was.

00:35:44.657 --> 00:35:45.500
- This is where the club was.

00:35:45.501 --> 00:35:47.059
Hello, can we come in?

00:35:47.060 --> 00:35:49.059
Psychedelic black walls. (laughs)

00:35:49.060 --> 00:35:50.689
(upbeat music)

00:35:50.690 --> 00:35:52.269
I wasn\'t allowed in
there, are you kidding?

00:35:52.270 --> 00:35:53.469
My dad would\'ve...
- Not just your parents,

00:35:53.470 --> 00:35:54.872
Some of the guys was not
gonna allow you in there.

00:35:54.873 --> 00:35:57.549
- Right, but you know how
it is with little kids,

00:35:57.550 --> 00:36:00.339
during the day we used to run
in to look and then run out!

00:36:00.340 --> 00:36:01.740
- That was, it was exciting.

00:36:03.720 --> 00:36:05.866
- [Vivian] My sister and I,
we towed a straight line,

00:36:05.867 --> 00:36:06.963
for the most part.

00:36:07.820 --> 00:36:09.603
We were goody two shoes.

00:36:11.130 --> 00:36:13.573
But the gangs were part of my community.

00:36:15.910 --> 00:36:18.419
- Everybody that I was hanging with,

00:36:18.420 --> 00:36:22.173
we were coming from those
areas of burnt out buildings.

00:36:23.730 --> 00:36:28.173
We all were in the same mindset.

00:36:30.350 --> 00:36:31.938
What\'s the point?

00:36:31.939 --> 00:36:34.960
This is what we have, this
is what we have to live with.

00:36:34.961 --> 00:36:37.959
(upbeat music)

00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:41.093
When I moved to the Bronx,
gangs started to flourish.

00:36:42.180 --> 00:36:44.730
And everywhere I turned
there was a different gang.

00:36:47.170 --> 00:36:49.549
The friends that I made
that I would kick it with

00:36:49.550 --> 00:36:52.300
in the stoop, they called
themselves the Savage Skulls.

00:36:53.260 --> 00:36:54.959
These were my brothers and my sisters.

00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:57.099
You could not tell me, you
know, I didn\'t belong to them,

00:36:57.100 --> 00:36:59.150
and they didn\'t belong with me, you know.

00:37:00.490 --> 00:37:04.833
- [Vivian] On my block, we
had a gang, the Dirty Dozens.

00:37:06.083 --> 00:37:08.149
You know, they did things that were wrong,

00:37:08.150 --> 00:37:12.599
but they also cleaned the
buildings, they played with us.

00:37:12.600 --> 00:37:14.883
They helped us start a softball league.

00:37:15.890 --> 00:37:18.539
We didn\'t have a relationship
with the police department.

00:37:18.540 --> 00:37:21.313
The guys who protected us
were the guys from the gangs.

00:37:22.440 --> 00:37:24.779
- The Dirty Dozens, they
lived there in one side

00:37:24.780 --> 00:37:26.680
and the others live on the other side.

00:37:28.080 --> 00:37:30.226
The gang that was in
the building, they say,

00:37:30.227 --> 00:37:31.696
\"We live there, the
building\'s gonna be safe,

00:37:31.697 --> 00:37:33.507
\"so you don\'t worry about it.\"

00:37:34.750 --> 00:37:37.299
- [Vivian] Remember when
you used to sell Avon

00:37:37.300 --> 00:37:41.209
to all the wives of the gang
members, do you remember that?

00:37:41.210 --> 00:37:43.013
- I had my market there.

00:37:44.439 --> 00:37:47.106
(siren blaring)

00:37:48.834 --> 00:37:50.249
(fire crackling)

00:37:50.250 --> 00:37:52.929
- [Vivian] By the mid-1970s
nearly all of our buildings

00:37:52.930 --> 00:37:54.552
had seen some kind of fire.

00:37:54.553 --> 00:37:57.109
(fire alarm ringing)

00:37:57.110 --> 00:38:00.174
And now arson was becoming commonplace.

00:38:00.175 --> 00:38:01.080
- The youth in the neighborhood

00:38:01.081 --> 00:38:02.783
seem to get some enjoyment

00:38:02.784 --> 00:38:06.171
out of using some form of
accelerant, usually gasoline.

00:38:06.172 --> 00:38:07.679
(somber music)

00:38:07.680 --> 00:38:08.763
- Arson, arson.

00:38:11.610 --> 00:38:15.573
Three boys, nine to 11,
seized in a Bronx blaze.

00:38:17.415 --> 00:38:18.639
(fire roaring)

00:38:18.640 --> 00:38:21.523
- There was a building on Tiffany Street,

00:38:24.310 --> 00:38:28.119
and the owner approached my brothers

00:38:28.120 --> 00:38:31.683
to burn two buildings in that block.

00:38:32.820 --> 00:38:36.033
They agreed, and then they approached me.

00:38:42.190 --> 00:38:43.633
We\'re living in the street.

00:38:44.530 --> 00:38:49.199
If you give us $250
that\'s a lot, you know?

00:38:49.200 --> 00:38:51.853
It\'s more than our moms
could ever afford to give us.

00:38:53.420 --> 00:38:56.399
I wasn\'t one of the girls,
I was one of the boys.

00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:58.500
You know, when I was growing up with them.

00:38:59.780 --> 00:39:01.230
I would do anything for them.

00:39:04.420 --> 00:39:08.979
I had this strange thoughts
that used to come to my head,

00:39:08.980 --> 00:39:12.239
like, you know, if I go with
them, you know, help them,

00:39:12.240 --> 00:39:15.619
and watch the cops, I
had this crazy notion

00:39:15.620 --> 00:39:18.143
that at least I\'m keeping
them out of prison.

00:39:19.643 --> 00:39:20.793
This is how I thought.

00:39:24.690 --> 00:39:27.399
- [Vivian] Was there a
time when you were involved

00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:30.093
in torching a building that you regretted?

00:39:31.960 --> 00:39:33.057
- Every single one.

00:39:39.806 --> 00:39:42.556
(youths yelling)

00:39:52.072 --> 00:39:55.169
- There are more newspaper articles

00:39:55.170 --> 00:39:58.423
about the fires post \'74.

00:40:00.565 --> 00:40:02.723
But the kind of attention is interesting.

00:40:04.220 --> 00:40:06.539
There\'s a sensationalism.

00:40:06.540 --> 00:40:07.809
These fires are arsons!

00:40:07.810 --> 00:40:10.239
We\'ve gotta get the guys, we
gotta get these young people

00:40:10.240 --> 00:40:13.043
who wanna torch buildings for fun.

00:40:17.210 --> 00:40:20.919
If you look at arson arrests you can see

00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:22.879
that a lot of young people talk about

00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:26.193
how they were paid by someone
to torch the buildings.

00:40:28.308 --> 00:40:30.859
And you don\'t hear about the folks

00:40:30.860 --> 00:40:32.359
who hired these young people,

00:40:32.360 --> 00:40:36.163
the landlords or anybody else.

00:40:39.040 --> 00:40:41.590
- [Reporter] Is it a
difficult thing to set a fire?

00:40:43.420 --> 00:40:46.989
- [Interviewee] I would
say no, not more difficult

00:40:46.990 --> 00:40:48.969
than walking down a street.

00:40:48.970 --> 00:40:51.710
- What\'s the main motive
that people operate on?

00:40:51.711 --> 00:40:54.690
- [Interviewee] The money,
there\'s a lot of money

00:40:55.770 --> 00:40:57.540
to be made from arson.

00:40:57.541 --> 00:41:00.389
(somber music)

00:41:00.390 --> 00:41:02.099
- The housing was no longer viable

00:41:02.100 --> 00:41:04.523
for the landlord as a place to make money.

00:41:05.510 --> 00:41:08.619
You take the rent, you don\'t fix anything.

00:41:08.620 --> 00:41:10.179
You don\'t pay the taxes.

00:41:10.180 --> 00:41:12.049
And the last step is burning it.

00:41:12.050 --> 00:41:14.007
Hire a gang to burn it.

00:41:14.008 --> 00:41:15.369
(fire crackling)

00:41:15.370 --> 00:41:18.569
- The landlord and their arson teams,

00:41:18.570 --> 00:41:21.899
they learned that the
best place to start a fire

00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:24.429
would be on the top floor,
and the fire would go up

00:41:24.430 --> 00:41:27.249
and then just take off and spread across,

00:41:27.250 --> 00:41:30.409
and then it hits a corner and
then it starts to drop down.

00:41:30.410 --> 00:41:32.429
So now you got two apartments going,

00:41:32.430 --> 00:41:35.759
then a third, and a fourth,
and then the water floods down

00:41:35.760 --> 00:41:38.713
through the building and
does tremendous destruction.

00:41:43.850 --> 00:41:45.189
- [Vivian] In the community,

00:41:45.190 --> 00:41:48.319
we knew that landlords were
burning their buildings.

00:41:48.320 --> 00:41:50.820
We just didn\'t know how
much money they made

00:41:51.710 --> 00:41:53.769
or how they got away with it.

00:41:53.770 --> 00:41:55.820
- The state sets up an insurance pool

00:41:56.730 --> 00:41:57.939
so they can dole out policies

00:41:57.940 --> 00:41:59.329
in places where it\'s impossible

00:41:59.330 --> 00:42:01.479
to get a fire insurance policy.

00:42:01.480 --> 00:42:03.789
Landlords would kick back money
to these insurance brokers

00:42:03.790 --> 00:42:06.919
who\'d come in and look at an abandoned,

00:42:06.920 --> 00:42:09.659
half burned out building in
some neighborhood in the Bronx

00:42:09.660 --> 00:42:12.217
and say, \"Oh yeah, it\'s
worth $100,000 easily.\"

00:42:13.290 --> 00:42:15.790
And everybody got paid,
everybody got kicked back.

00:42:22.570 --> 00:42:24.099
- [Vivian] The state insurance pool

00:42:24.100 --> 00:42:28.339
paid out $10 million
dollars in 1974 alone.

00:42:28.340 --> 00:42:29.829
By the end of the decade,

00:42:29.830 --> 00:42:32.499
the insurance company Lloyd\'s of London

00:42:32.500 --> 00:42:36.209
paid out over $45 million
dollars in claims.

00:42:36.210 --> 00:42:40.063
That would be around $250
million dollars today.

00:42:41.090 --> 00:42:44.009
And those are just the payments
I could find records for

00:42:44.010 --> 00:42:46.193
because of a federal investigation.

00:42:48.710 --> 00:42:52.173
Who knows how much was paid
by other insurance companies?

00:42:53.790 --> 00:42:57.499
What I did learn was that once
they collected the insurance,

00:42:57.500 --> 00:43:01.069
landlords weren\'t required
to fix the buildings,

00:43:01.070 --> 00:43:03.973
they could just pocket
the money and walk away.

00:43:05.560 --> 00:43:07.739
And they just got away with it.

00:43:07.740 --> 00:43:12.143
Arson Unit prosecution
activity: 61 felony convictions.

00:43:13.120 --> 00:43:16.479
That\'s all, out of over
4,000 suspicious fires

00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:17.853
that year in the Bronx.

00:43:19.190 --> 00:43:21.089
- [Newscaster] The city
does have fire marshals,

00:43:21.090 --> 00:43:23.569
somewhere between 60 and 70,

00:43:23.570 --> 00:43:25.829
for the entire city of New York.

00:43:25.830 --> 00:43:27.619
Because there are so few marshals

00:43:27.620 --> 00:43:29.919
for such an appalling number of fires,

00:43:29.920 --> 00:43:32.669
most battalion chiefs simply
label a suspicious fire

00:43:32.670 --> 00:43:35.939
in a vacant building as cause unknown,

00:43:35.940 --> 00:43:38.493
thereby avoiding the need
for an investigation.

00:43:39.900 --> 00:43:44.079
- So I find

00:43:44.080 --> 00:43:46.016
this memo, it\'s called

00:43:46.017 --> 00:43:48.536
\"The Evaluation of the
Fire Department\'s Program

00:43:48.537 --> 00:43:52.136
\"for Combating Arson in
the City of New York.\"

00:43:52.137 --> 00:43:53.666
\"The city should not implement

00:43:53.667 --> 00:43:56.556
\"the proposed fire marshal
surveillance program.

00:43:56.557 --> 00:43:58.786
\"We do not feel that any increases

00:43:58.787 --> 00:44:00.446
\"to the present force of marshals

00:44:00.447 --> 00:44:03.766
\"should be made until this
evidence is presented.

00:44:03.767 --> 00:44:05.623
\"The Office of Management and Budget\"

00:44:08.060 --> 00:44:11.239
The only way a fire gets investigated

00:44:11.240 --> 00:44:13.459
is when you call a fire marshal.

00:44:13.460 --> 00:44:14.879
They\'re saying that there\'s no proof

00:44:14.880 --> 00:44:17.369
that bringing on more fire marshals

00:44:17.370 --> 00:44:19.803
would solve the problem of arson.

00:44:24.010 --> 00:44:26.149
(siren blaring)

00:44:26.150 --> 00:44:27.769
- And there was no questions asked,

00:44:27.770 --> 00:44:31.093
they collected and they walked
away from the buildings.

00:44:33.310 --> 00:44:35.069
And in my time I can honestly say

00:44:35.070 --> 00:44:38.279
of the thousands of
fires that I witnessed,

00:44:38.280 --> 00:44:39.530
nobody ever went to jail.

00:44:40.753 --> 00:44:43.336
(somber music)

00:44:48.420 --> 00:44:50.649
- Mayor Abraham Beame
says falling revenues

00:44:50.650 --> 00:44:53.899
and rising costs have now
ballooned the budget deficit

00:44:53.900 --> 00:44:58.469
to $1 billion, 300 million
more than projected last fall.

00:44:58.470 --> 00:45:01.189
- [Abraham] There can
no longer be any doubt

00:45:01.190 --> 00:45:03.969
that without appropriate
federal assistance,

00:45:03.970 --> 00:45:06.889
there will be a municipal
default in New York

00:45:06.890 --> 00:45:08.729
by the end of the year.

00:45:08.730 --> 00:45:10.869
- [Joe] When the city
is essentially bankrupt

00:45:10.870 --> 00:45:12.809
it asks the federal government for a loan.

00:45:12.810 --> 00:45:15.250
- I am prepared to veto any bill

00:45:16.260 --> 00:45:20.899
that has as its purpose a federal bailout

00:45:20.900 --> 00:45:24.169
of New York City to prevent a default.

00:45:24.170 --> 00:45:25.269
- They\'re able to convince the president

00:45:25.270 --> 00:45:27.419
to give the loan to New York.

00:45:27.420 --> 00:45:30.463
But it\'s only in return
for massive budget cuts.

00:45:31.730 --> 00:45:32.859
- [Vivian] New York City\'s budget

00:45:32.860 --> 00:45:37.419
was now under the control
of a non-elected state body.

00:45:37.420 --> 00:45:39.559
Nicknamed Big MAC, this panel

00:45:39.560 --> 00:45:42.699
ordered deep cuts in all city services.

00:45:42.700 --> 00:45:44.769
- [Newscaster] The
sharply-reduced level of spending

00:45:44.770 --> 00:45:47.829
has meant the loss of
more than 40,000 city jobs

00:45:47.830 --> 00:45:51.339
in the past year and reduction
in service in all areas,

00:45:51.340 --> 00:45:53.419
altering life across the city.

00:45:53.420 --> 00:45:55.989
- [Vivian] Since 1970, the fire department

00:45:55.990 --> 00:45:57.949
had been cutting its ranks.

00:45:57.950 --> 00:46:00.629
Their force of over 12,000 firefighters

00:46:00.630 --> 00:46:03.423
would eventually be
reduced to less than 8,000.

00:46:04.270 --> 00:46:05.819
- Now, the fire department

00:46:05.820 --> 00:46:08.629
was cutting before the city collapsed.

00:46:08.630 --> 00:46:11.549
We were cut to the bone,

00:46:11.550 --> 00:46:13.479
and we were cut deeper than the bone

00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:17.208
when the real cuts came in in 1975.

00:46:17.209 --> 00:46:19.248
(fire crackling)
(people yelling)

00:46:19.249 --> 00:46:22.159
(sirens blaring)

00:46:22.160 --> 00:46:25.893
- They continued to close fire
companies in the South Bronx.

00:46:28.420 --> 00:46:31.170
(dramatic music)

00:46:33.507 --> 00:46:36.257
(fire crackling)

00:46:41.210 --> 00:46:43.379
- To date, with these 14 companies

00:46:43.380 --> 00:46:46.059
that have been eliminated
over the last two years,

00:46:46.060 --> 00:46:47.799
we\'ve lost 82 lives.

00:46:47.800 --> 00:46:51.113
This is complete madness,
again, and people are gonna die.

00:46:52.380 --> 00:46:54.149
- There were nights you could have

00:46:54.150 --> 00:46:56.399
several major alarm
fires going in the Bronx,

00:46:56.400 --> 00:46:59.577
where you had companies
coming in from Staten Island,

00:47:00.950 --> 00:47:04.733
Brooklyn, Queens, at the same time.

00:47:05.567 --> 00:47:08.193
And the companies that
did respond were late.

00:47:12.054 --> 00:47:13.129
- [Hetty] And all of sudden neighborhoods

00:47:13.130 --> 00:47:15.213
just went phwoosh, gone.

00:47:17.570 --> 00:47:19.793
It looked like a tsunami!

00:47:21.750 --> 00:47:22.700
- [John] The burning of the Bronx

00:47:22.701 --> 00:47:26.153
eventually spread right
across the Grand Concourse,

00:47:27.190 --> 00:47:28.569
right to the Harlem River,

00:47:28.570 --> 00:47:31.667
and eventually it worked its
way up to near Fordham Road.

00:47:34.795 --> 00:47:35.628
(fire crackling)

00:47:35.629 --> 00:47:38.711
(tense somber music)

00:47:53.740 --> 00:47:56.830
- This here doesn\'t explain

00:47:58.100 --> 00:48:03.029
a true response to the abandonment,

00:48:03.030 --> 00:48:05.243
the devastation, the neglect.

00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:09.809
There hasn\'t been a response

00:48:09.810 --> 00:48:14.533
that comes close, not even close.

00:48:38.330 --> 00:48:40.426
And then the lights went out.

00:48:40.427 --> 00:48:41.767
(fire roaring)

00:48:41.768 --> 00:48:43.399
(people yelling)

00:48:43.400 --> 00:48:46.293
(sirens blaring)

00:48:46.294 --> 00:48:49.377
The \'77 blackout, it was devastating.

00:48:51.030 --> 00:48:53.933
Over a 1,000 fires burned that night.

00:48:59.330 --> 00:49:01.823
People have been imploding for so long.

00:49:04.310 --> 00:49:07.529
The next day we heard that
there was a lot of looting

00:49:07.530 --> 00:49:11.103
on Third Avenue, Southern Boulevard.

00:49:13.200 --> 00:49:14.933
Prospect Avenue was destroyed.

00:49:16.340 --> 00:49:19.453
And that\'s where my father
worked in a furniture store.

00:49:22.550 --> 00:49:25.413
My father lost the job
he\'d had for 17 years.

00:49:31.440 --> 00:49:32.876
- The neighborhood is a place to live

00:49:32.877 --> 00:49:34.293
and a place to make money.

00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:39.452
If the neighborhood is
deteriorating around you,

00:49:39.453 --> 00:49:40.923
are you gonna stay?

00:49:44.869 --> 00:49:45.903
Are you gonna stay?

00:49:53.060 --> 00:49:54.903
- I was 15 years old.

00:49:55.750 --> 00:49:58.313
But I know that I needed
to leave the South Bronx,

00:50:03.310 --> 00:50:08.310
but I didn\'t have the vision
to think about where, how.

00:50:08.820 --> 00:50:11.320
We\'re all in this together,
and we\'re all falling.

00:50:18.090 --> 00:50:20.499
I was focused on making sure

00:50:20.500 --> 00:50:23.599
that I would at least
graduate high school.

00:50:23.600 --> 00:50:25.373
I wanted to go away to college.

00:50:26.890 --> 00:50:29.003
My parents decided to split up,

00:50:30.530 --> 00:50:32.743
and my mother moved back to Puerto Rico.

00:50:35.210 --> 00:50:37.483
There was nothing left to keep me here.

00:50:39.910 --> 00:50:41.849
After all that we went through,

00:50:41.850 --> 00:50:43.847
was this really how it was gonna end?

00:50:47.995 --> 00:50:50.140
(people clamoring)

00:50:50.141 --> 00:50:52.768
- [Sports Announcer] High
pop to the left side.

00:50:52.769 --> 00:50:54.069
Cey goes to the railing,

00:50:54.070 --> 00:50:57.653
he\'s got some room,
and he makes the catch.

00:51:01.533 --> 00:51:03.892
That is a live picture,

00:51:03.893 --> 00:51:07.257
and obviously a major
fire in a large building

00:51:07.258 --> 00:51:10.637
in the South Bronx
region of New York City.

00:51:10.638 --> 00:51:12.639
My goodness that\'s a huge blaze!

00:51:12.640 --> 00:51:16.249
- [Vivian] It was the World
Series, millions of people

00:51:16.250 --> 00:51:19.649
were watching the
Yankees play the Dodgers.

00:51:19.650 --> 00:51:21.719
A few blocks away a school building

00:51:21.720 --> 00:51:24.009
was burning to the ground.

00:51:24.010 --> 00:51:26.849
The Bronx had been burning for 10 years,

00:51:26.850 --> 00:51:29.216
and we were finally getting
the world\'s attention.

00:51:29.217 --> 00:51:30.103
- [Sports Announcer] That\'s the very area

00:51:30.104 --> 00:51:33.916
where President Carter
trod just a few days ago.

00:51:33.917 --> 00:51:36.500
(upbeat music)

00:51:41.250 --> 00:51:43.359
- [Ramon] I came downstairs
and the president

00:51:43.360 --> 00:51:45.679
was right in front of the
building, around nine o\'clock.

00:51:45.680 --> 00:51:46.759
- [Reporter] Did you blink twice?

00:51:46.760 --> 00:51:47.786
- No, I didn\'t, but I said,

00:51:47.787 --> 00:51:50.379
\"Wow, what are you doing here?\" (chuckles)

00:51:50.380 --> 00:51:52.429
But we need more money,
Carter, \'cause I think...

00:51:52.430 --> 00:51:53.992
(everyone laughs)

00:51:53.993 --> 00:51:55.499
- I feel good about this.

00:51:55.500 --> 00:51:58.183
See that he cares about the South Bronx.

00:51:59.290 --> 00:52:00.309
- I hope he don\'t forget us

00:52:00.310 --> 00:52:02.129
when he go back to Washington.

00:52:02.130 --> 00:52:06.489
- Once we decide to
renovate, block by block,

00:52:06.490 --> 00:52:08.490
we just need to concentrate forces here.

00:52:13.640 --> 00:52:14.500
- [Vivian] All the attention

00:52:14.501 --> 00:52:17.083
and promises raised
hopes in the community.

00:52:18.170 --> 00:52:19.853
But the money never arrived.

00:52:20.744 --> 00:52:22.499
(man yelling)

00:52:22.500 --> 00:52:25.722
Then Carter was replaced by Ronald Reagan.

00:52:25.723 --> 00:52:28.692
(people yelling)

00:52:28.693 --> 00:52:32.639
- Reagan, I\'ll sell you my vote for a job!

00:52:32.640 --> 00:52:35.249
- Because almost three years ago...

00:52:35.250 --> 00:52:37.287
- [Woman] We know that, what
are you gonna do for us?

00:52:37.288 --> 00:52:38.121
- [Man] Let the man talk!

00:52:38.121 --> 00:52:38.954
- [Reagan] I\'ll get there!

00:52:38.955 --> 00:52:40.245
- Help us!

00:52:40.246 --> 00:52:44.649
Not by yourself, but you
can put a word in for us!

00:52:44.650 --> 00:52:49.329
- [Reagan] I am trying to
tell you, that I know now,

00:52:49.330 --> 00:52:52.642
there is no program or promise
that a president can make,

00:52:52.643 --> 00:52:55.199
that the federal government cannot come in

00:52:55.200 --> 00:52:58.286
and wave a wand and do this!
- So you can\'t do nothing!

00:52:58.287 --> 00:53:00.036
- [Woman] Go back to Hollywood!

00:53:00.037 --> 00:53:01.889
We don\'t want you!

00:53:01.890 --> 00:53:04.179
- [Reporter] President Reagan
and his televised speech

00:53:04.180 --> 00:53:08.139
on the economy proposed
83 major program cuts.

00:53:08.140 --> 00:53:10.771
It was another blow to the South Bronx.

00:53:10.772 --> 00:53:13.355
(somber music)

00:53:15.670 --> 00:53:18.649
- It didn\'t seem to
matter who was in power,

00:53:18.650 --> 00:53:21.023
no help was coming for the South Bronx.

00:53:25.200 --> 00:53:29.499
When I went to SUNY Albany,
it was a big transition.

00:53:29.500 --> 00:53:32.219
It was like moving to
another country in many ways.

00:53:32.220 --> 00:53:33.863
- Yeah.
- It was so different.

00:53:35.630 --> 00:53:37.733
When I got to college I wasn\'t prepared.

00:53:38.850 --> 00:53:43.350
A professor said, \"Hey,
where\'d you come from?\"

00:53:45.810 --> 00:53:49.189
My freshman roommate told me flat out

00:53:49.190 --> 00:53:50.669
that I wasn\'t going to make it

00:53:50.670 --> 00:53:52.470
because I came from the South Bronx.

00:53:54.020 --> 00:53:56.869
But I had friends from the city.

00:53:56.870 --> 00:53:59.369
We all kind of like stuck together.

00:53:59.370 --> 00:54:01.239
Whatever we needed to do to survive

00:54:01.240 --> 00:54:04.269
and to stay because that was the issue.

00:54:04.270 --> 00:54:06.170
We\'re gonna stay, we\'re gonna make it.

00:54:10.370 --> 00:54:14.089
- You go to college,
and then you come back.

00:54:14.090 --> 00:54:16.339
So you reach this moment
where you feel the need,

00:54:16.340 --> 00:54:17.499
I need to get out.

00:54:17.500 --> 00:54:18.723
What brought you back?

00:54:20.330 --> 00:54:23.099
- Visually seeing, wait a second,

00:54:23.100 --> 00:54:26.859
not all communities are
like where I came from.

00:54:26.860 --> 00:54:30.492
So that sense of injustice,
the sense of anger.

00:54:30.493 --> 00:54:33.076
(upbeat music)

00:54:38.970 --> 00:54:42.599
Even before I graduated,
I started coming back.

00:54:42.600 --> 00:54:45.689
After my freshman year I spent
the summer recruiting kids

00:54:45.690 --> 00:54:47.929
from my neighborhood to go to college.

00:54:47.930 --> 00:54:50.689
I worked with the
assemblyman of the district.

00:54:50.690 --> 00:54:53.069
He would open the office
on Saturday mornings

00:54:53.070 --> 00:54:56.439
so we can invite high
schools to come to his office

00:54:56.440 --> 00:54:58.093
to recruit kids of color.

00:54:59.220 --> 00:55:01.749
In my second year, I came back to work

00:55:01.750 --> 00:55:04.204
on tenant organizing
and voter registration.

00:55:04.205 --> 00:55:07.399
(sirens wailing)
(people shouting)

00:55:07.400 --> 00:55:10.189
Around this time \"Fort Apache\" showed up,

00:55:10.190 --> 00:55:12.390
a Hollywood movie that
started filming here.

00:55:14.627 --> 00:55:16.489
- [Announcer] \"Fort Apache, The Bronx.\"

00:55:16.490 --> 00:55:18.090
The fuse has been lit!

00:55:18.091 --> 00:55:20.429
(people shouting)

00:55:20.430 --> 00:55:22.119
- [Vivian] We were sick
of seeing our community

00:55:22.120 --> 00:55:27.120
being used as a backdrop, of
hearing that we set the fires,

00:55:28.600 --> 00:55:32.723
of seeing these racist
stereotypes used as entertainment.

00:55:34.090 --> 00:55:35.405
We\'d had enough.

00:55:35.406 --> 00:55:38.609
(upbeat music)

00:55:38.610 --> 00:55:40.986
- If no one else wants
to fight, we\'ll fight.

00:55:40.987 --> 00:55:42.659
And I\'m sure that I can
get all the other women

00:55:42.660 --> 00:55:44.169
in the Bronx to go out there and fight.

00:55:44.170 --> 00:55:46.659
- Already the Gemini
Theater has canceled it,

00:55:46.660 --> 00:55:47.560
that was our first victory of the day,

00:55:47.561 --> 00:55:51.409
and the movie has been pulled
out of Philadelphia entirely.

00:55:51.410 --> 00:55:53.109
- [Vivian] The fight against \"Fort Apache\"

00:55:53.110 --> 00:55:54.833
was apart of something bigger.

00:55:55.770 --> 00:55:59.059
My generation knew we\'d been left behind,

00:55:59.060 --> 00:56:01.913
so we would have to recreate
the world ourselves.

00:56:02.800 --> 00:56:06.239
Some of us were inventing hip
hop in South Bronx basements,

00:56:06.240 --> 00:56:10.493
while some of us were figuring
out how to save our blocks.

00:56:11.990 --> 00:56:16.923
- I stayed because majority
of my basic family is here.

00:56:18.980 --> 00:56:21.739
I want a good neighborhood,
I want it to be safe.

00:56:21.740 --> 00:56:23.229
I want not to worry about my kids

00:56:23.230 --> 00:56:25.055
when I go to work at night

00:56:25.056 --> 00:56:27.163
or about my wife when she\'s home sleeping.

00:56:28.100 --> 00:56:30.703
And this is where I have my faith in.

00:56:32.860 --> 00:56:35.699
- This was my first business,

00:56:35.700 --> 00:56:39.147
it was doing great, I just
didn\'t wanna let it go.

00:56:41.530 --> 00:56:44.202
- [Vivian] That spirit became contagious.

00:56:44.203 --> 00:56:45.889
- It\'s the Bronx in the house!

00:56:45.890 --> 00:56:48.233
- [Vivian] Stay, fight, and build.

00:56:50.760 --> 00:56:54.719
- I knew that success was
to keep the houses here,

00:56:54.720 --> 00:56:57.789
and the people here and
interested in staying here.

00:56:57.790 --> 00:56:59.840
No matter how crazy it might have looked.

00:57:01.100 --> 00:57:02.929
- [Newscaster] Hetty moved
into abandoned buildings

00:57:02.930 --> 00:57:06.179
on her block to keep
vandals from gutting them,

00:57:06.180 --> 00:57:09.089
then started after school
programs for children.

00:57:09.090 --> 00:57:12.399
- Let\'s try to say the Zulu all by itself.

00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:15.269
I thought, \"I don\'t think I
want my block to disappear.\"

00:57:15.270 --> 00:57:17.929
I think I had a good time
growing up on that block.

00:57:17.930 --> 00:57:19.809
- [Newscaster] On Lyman Place,

00:57:19.810 --> 00:57:22.619
there is now a sense of hopefulness.

00:57:22.620 --> 00:57:24.449
- The federal government and state

00:57:24.450 --> 00:57:27.939
lacked the compassion and
interest in our people

00:57:27.940 --> 00:57:30.999
and what we\'re saying is that
this is our piece of land,

00:57:31.000 --> 00:57:32.499
this is our stake in our future,

00:57:32.500 --> 00:57:34.523
and this represents our last hope.

00:57:38.270 --> 00:57:41.859
I saw that in our neighborhood,
there was natural resources.

00:57:41.860 --> 00:57:44.749
We had the people, then
we had the buildings,

00:57:44.750 --> 00:57:45.773
and they were idle!

00:57:46.730 --> 00:57:50.459
To me was a very natural
type of progression.

00:57:50.460 --> 00:57:52.799
That if we had the resources,
all we really had to do

00:57:52.800 --> 00:57:54.830
was just bring those resources together

00:57:55.903 --> 00:57:57.760
and make them effective.

00:57:57.761 --> 00:58:00.073
1186, two years ago

00:58:00.074 --> 00:58:03.269
was an abandoned city-owned building.

00:58:03.270 --> 00:58:04.452
I made a commitment then,

00:58:04.453 --> 00:58:06.979
I was gonna put this
building back together.

00:58:06.980 --> 00:58:10.139
We started out with just
a half a dozen of us

00:58:10.140 --> 00:58:13.399
coming to the neighborhood
on the weekends,

00:58:13.400 --> 00:58:14.519
cleaning the apartments

00:58:14.520 --> 00:58:16.820
\'cause they were full
of garbage and all that.

00:58:18.060 --> 00:58:19.449
- [Vivian] Ramon Rueda and his friends

00:58:19.450 --> 00:58:22.083
founded the People\'s
Development Corporation.

00:58:23.010 --> 00:58:24.529
They were one of the first groups

00:58:24.530 --> 00:58:26.761
to start rebuilding in the South Bronx.

00:58:26.762 --> 00:58:27.989
(gentle music)

00:58:27.990 --> 00:58:29.319
- [Ramon] That was one of our buildings

00:58:29.320 --> 00:58:30.703
under the 312 program.

00:58:30.704 --> 00:58:31.660
- [Vivian] This tall one here?

00:58:31.661 --> 00:58:33.959
- Yeah, we renovated that building,

00:58:33.960 --> 00:58:36.679
and this was vacant.

00:58:36.680 --> 00:58:40.609
We had a carpentry shop,
so we actually trained

00:58:40.610 --> 00:58:44.619
the young folks the skills of cabinetry

00:58:44.620 --> 00:58:47.819
while we were training people
to rebuild their homes.

00:58:47.820 --> 00:58:50.639
I tell you, the success
of People\'s Development

00:58:50.640 --> 00:58:51.783
was really the people.

00:58:51.784 --> 00:58:53.386
- [Vivian] Mm-hmm.

00:58:53.387 --> 00:58:57.609
- Basically a bank uses
equity as a down payment

00:58:57.610 --> 00:58:58.789
you would use towards something,

00:58:58.790 --> 00:59:01.449
and the down payment that
we put here is sweat,

00:59:01.450 --> 00:59:03.600
our own sweat, our own
labor, our own time.

00:59:06.420 --> 00:59:07.376
- [Reporter] Is this your apartment here?

00:59:07.377 --> 00:59:10.532
- Yeah, yeah, me and my boyfriend

00:59:10.533 --> 00:59:11.490
are gonna live in here.

00:59:11.490 --> 00:59:12.323
- [Reporter] Is that why

00:59:12.324 --> 00:59:13.789
you\'re taking special care with the floor?

00:59:13.790 --> 00:59:15.813
- Yes! (laughs)

00:59:17.397 --> 00:59:19.429
- [Reporter] How do you like
working on your own place?

00:59:19.430 --> 00:59:22.790
- Yeah, it feels great, I want it perfect.

00:59:26.920 --> 00:59:28.346
- Around that time, a friend of mine said,

00:59:28.347 --> 00:59:31.239
\"Come over and see this
group on Washington Avenue.\"

00:59:31.240 --> 00:59:33.949
Here were people who\'d
taken abandoned buildings

00:59:33.950 --> 00:59:35.889
and not only renovating them

00:59:35.890 --> 00:59:38.579
for future homes for
people who were there,

00:59:38.580 --> 00:59:40.839
but people were also learning
the construction trades,

00:59:40.840 --> 00:59:42.226
they were earning money, and I said,

00:59:42.227 --> 00:59:44.127
\"Wow, this is like a dream come true.\"

00:59:45.720 --> 00:59:48.829
- [Vivian] Inspired by the
People\'s Development Corporation,

00:59:48.830 --> 00:59:52.219
organizer Harry DiRienzo
teamed up with his neighbors

00:59:52.220 --> 00:59:54.849
on Kelly Street who were determined

00:59:54.850 --> 00:59:58.019
to save and renovate their own block.

00:59:58.020 --> 00:59:59.569
- This is Banana Kelly,

00:59:59.570 --> 01:00:01.539
you can see by the curve of the block.

01:00:01.540 --> 01:00:02.863
It\'s curved like a banana.

01:00:03.850 --> 01:00:06.629
We had abandoned buildings on the block.

01:00:06.630 --> 01:00:08.899
We had these three, were abandoned,

01:00:08.900 --> 01:00:10.750
plus across the street was abandoned.

01:00:12.470 --> 01:00:14.339
- [Harry] On Banana Kelly,
we\'d sit around talking

01:00:14.340 --> 01:00:15.237
about things like the neighborhood,

01:00:15.238 --> 01:00:16.999
and where things are going.

01:00:17.000 --> 01:00:18.479
So that\'s where I met Robert Foster,

01:00:18.480 --> 01:00:20.899
that\'s where I met Leon Potts.

01:00:20.900 --> 01:00:24.889
- Banana Kelly\'s idea
or purpose in organizing

01:00:24.890 --> 01:00:27.623
has been to try and
save our neighborhoods.

01:00:29.640 --> 01:00:32.659
Save it in a way in which
the people that live here

01:00:32.660 --> 01:00:36.659
will somehow be able to
control their housing stock,

01:00:36.660 --> 01:00:38.459
some of the jobs that they do,

01:00:38.460 --> 01:00:41.509
be able to control the
neighborhood they live in.

01:00:41.510 --> 01:00:43.259
The reason we\'re trying
to do all these things

01:00:43.260 --> 01:00:45.106
is to show an example to
the rest of the people

01:00:45.107 --> 01:00:48.199
in the neighborhood that if you just try.

01:00:48.200 --> 01:00:50.939
- People from the area slowly got involved

01:00:50.940 --> 01:00:52.859
because they went to Washington Avenue

01:00:52.860 --> 01:00:54.296
and said, \"Oh my god, look at this!

01:00:54.297 --> 01:00:55.693
\"These people are like us.

01:01:00.397 --> 01:01:01.936
\"They\'re doing work,
they\'re learning stuff,

01:01:01.937 --> 01:01:03.878
\"and they\'re rebuilding these buildings

01:01:03.879 --> 01:01:05.539
\"and they\'re gonna live here.\"

01:01:05.540 --> 01:01:07.859
- These buildings, they had solar panels

01:01:07.860 --> 01:01:11.259
on the roof, they had wood-grain floors,

01:01:11.260 --> 01:01:13.269
beautiful modern apartments,

01:01:13.270 --> 01:01:16.129
and it was like, \"Oh, we can have this?\"

01:01:16.130 --> 01:01:19.339
(upbeat music)

01:01:19.340 --> 01:01:20.636
- [Harry] People were saying,
\"What kind of fools are you?

01:01:20.637 --> 01:01:21.986
\"You don\'t own those buildings.

01:01:21.987 --> 01:01:22.820
\"What are you doing in there?

01:01:22.820 --> 01:01:23.653
\"You working for free?

01:01:23.654 --> 01:01:25.299
\"What are you, crazy?\"

01:01:25.300 --> 01:01:27.422
But it was something about the people

01:01:27.423 --> 01:01:30.173
that I was working with,
they didn\'t wanna give up.

01:01:31.840 --> 01:01:33.486
So we took over three buildings

01:01:33.487 --> 01:01:35.363
and just started to clean them out.

01:01:39.930 --> 01:01:42.209
- Tearing down the walls, the ceilings,

01:01:42.210 --> 01:01:44.603
with no lights, all types of weather.

01:01:46.570 --> 01:01:48.823
It was really scary work.

01:01:50.520 --> 01:01:51.959
I thought it would be impossible,

01:01:51.960 --> 01:01:54.139
but every day we would
see more and more people

01:01:54.140 --> 01:01:56.089
coming together to do this.

01:01:56.090 --> 01:01:58.900
And if they were here, I\'m gonna be here.

01:01:59.774 --> 01:02:02.339
It made me stronger, made me better,

01:02:02.340 --> 01:02:04.083
and I wanted to achieve something.

01:02:05.030 --> 01:02:06.170
I\'m proud of that.

01:02:18.208 --> 01:02:19.416
- [Vivian] Hi, Al, how are you doing?

01:02:19.417 --> 01:02:21.584
- [Al] Couldn\'t be better.

01:02:24.510 --> 01:02:26.519
- Throughout the 1980s and \'90s,

01:02:26.520 --> 01:02:28.409
dozens of grassroots organizations

01:02:28.410 --> 01:02:32.309
like 52 People for Progress
were using music, culture,

01:02:32.310 --> 01:02:35.173
and community to bring the
neighborhood back to life.

01:02:36.360 --> 01:02:37.769
- I just decided that I wanted

01:02:37.770 --> 01:02:39.009
to do something for my playground.

01:02:39.010 --> 01:02:42.349
It was dilapidated and
the parks department,

01:02:42.350 --> 01:02:43.486
didn\'t look like they
were gonna do much to it,

01:02:43.487 --> 01:02:47.146
and I lived in the area and I
wanted to give something back.

01:02:47.147 --> 01:02:50.659
And we said, \"C\'mon let\'s
bring this band to the park!\"

01:02:50.660 --> 01:02:52.289
People were longing for culture,

01:02:52.290 --> 01:02:54.849
for the arts, for something,
and we just filled the void.

01:02:54.850 --> 01:02:55.683
It just so happens we came

01:02:55.684 --> 01:02:57.309
at the right time and we filled it.

01:02:57.310 --> 01:02:59.649
If it wasn\'t for us being here,

01:02:59.650 --> 01:03:00.802
the park wouldn\'t be like it is right now.

01:03:00.803 --> 01:03:02.921
It\'d probably be falling
to everything else

01:03:02.922 --> 01:03:04.180
that we know that\'s going on.

01:03:04.181 --> 01:03:09.181
(drum thumping)
(man vocalizing)

01:03:11.689 --> 01:03:12.986
(kids chattering)
(gentle music)

01:03:12.987 --> 01:03:16.263
- The sounds of children,
what they do, is healing.

01:03:17.470 --> 01:03:19.059
The rhythm started coming back,

01:03:19.060 --> 01:03:21.853
and I was tuning the block
like you tune an instrument.

01:03:23.490 --> 01:03:25.819
Are there kids out there playing?

01:03:25.820 --> 01:03:28.873
And do they have that pitch of happiness?

01:03:31.560 --> 01:03:33.699
- [Vivian] Hetty also
had to take on the city

01:03:33.700 --> 01:03:35.009
to save her block.

01:03:35.010 --> 01:03:38.649
- This house was empty, the
one over there was empty.

01:03:38.650 --> 01:03:41.023
The city was gonna close down this block!

01:03:42.330 --> 01:03:43.589
- [Vivian] Rather than rebuilding,

01:03:43.590 --> 01:03:46.719
the city wanted to shrink
the Bronx population,

01:03:46.720 --> 01:03:49.503
moving people out and
demolishing our buildings.

01:03:52.640 --> 01:03:54.729
Hetty helped her neighbors to organize,

01:03:54.730 --> 01:03:57.429
to keep them from being unfairly evicted.

01:03:57.430 --> 01:04:01.019
- [Hetty] We had to meet once
a week to try to counteract

01:04:01.020 --> 01:04:03.523
the city\'s effort to throw everybody out.

01:04:04.710 --> 01:04:06.099
- [Vivian] Tenants all over the Bronx,

01:04:06.100 --> 01:04:08.629
including my neighbors at 986 Leggett

01:04:08.630 --> 01:04:12.469
pooled their resources, paid
for their own gas and oil,

01:04:12.470 --> 01:04:14.453
and managed their own properties.

01:04:17.130 --> 01:04:18.080
That was the beginning

01:04:18.081 --> 01:04:21.829
of the largest tenant-run
co-op program in the country.

01:04:21.830 --> 01:04:24.413
(somber music)

01:04:26.890 --> 01:04:30.243
Community organizing is what
finally stopped the fires.

01:04:31.830 --> 01:04:34.859
A coalition of Bronx
residents and clergy members

01:04:34.860 --> 01:04:37.143
demanded that the city take action.

01:04:38.010 --> 01:04:41.009
Because of this pressure,
the fire department

01:04:41.010 --> 01:04:44.009
finally assigned an
arson investigation team

01:04:44.010 --> 01:04:48.843
to the borough in 1982, and
the fires began to slow down.

01:04:53.210 --> 01:04:55.829
After the fires, the people in the Bronx

01:04:55.830 --> 01:04:58.883
hung on to their blocks
with almost no support.

01:05:00.280 --> 01:05:01.483
- Giving up is too easy.

01:05:02.460 --> 01:05:04.959
The hard thing is to stick in there,

01:05:04.960 --> 01:05:07.663
and stay with your beliefs.

01:05:09.100 --> 01:05:11.919
If you\'ll show that you made it,

01:05:11.920 --> 01:05:13.720
maybe other people will do the same.

01:05:15.570 --> 01:05:17.803
I refused to just walk away.

01:05:21.750 --> 01:05:24.409
- [Vivian] In 1986 their
hard work paid off.

01:05:24.410 --> 01:05:26.120
- We want it to be

01:05:27.280 --> 01:05:30.899
permanent, affordable housing

01:05:30.900 --> 01:05:35.429
for those who are at the very
bottom of the economic ladder.

01:05:35.430 --> 01:05:36.300
- [Reporter] The Mayor proposed

01:05:36.301 --> 01:05:39.629
a five-year $4.4 billion program

01:05:39.630 --> 01:05:43.103
to build or rehabilitate
100,000 units of housing.

01:05:44.620 --> 01:05:46.609
- [Vivian] Banana Kelly
and other organizations

01:05:46.610 --> 01:05:48.409
were finally able to begin

01:05:48.410 --> 01:05:50.433
massive rebuilding of the Bronx.

01:05:51.706 --> 01:05:53.009
- We\'re not asking for nothing personal.

01:05:53.010 --> 01:05:55.859
We\'re asking for it as a group.

01:05:55.860 --> 01:05:58.089
Not as savages, not as ghettos,

01:05:58.090 --> 01:06:01.317
as people just being people.

01:06:01.318 --> 01:06:03.901
(kids yelling)

01:06:11.279 --> 01:06:13.328
- [Teenager] There!

01:06:13.329 --> 01:06:14.469
- [Man] Yeah, you ain\'t doing nothin\'.

01:06:14.470 --> 01:06:16.239
- Those of us who grew
up in the South Bronx,

01:06:16.240 --> 01:06:20.263
we carry this pride, of having survived.

01:06:22.830 --> 01:06:24.703
Life is not easy for people today.

01:06:26.440 --> 01:06:28.573
That is part of the legacy of the fires.

01:06:30.493 --> 01:06:32.449
In the \'70s it was the fires.

01:06:32.450 --> 01:06:35.869
In the \'80s it was crack, right?

01:06:35.870 --> 01:06:38.331
And in the \'90s it was incarceration.

01:06:38.332 --> 01:06:39.589
- [Antonio] Right, the war on drugs.

01:06:39.590 --> 01:06:41.959
- There are these real systemic issues

01:06:41.960 --> 01:06:46.960
that are still plaguing
communities like the South Bronx.

01:06:47.668 --> 01:06:50.251
(somber music)

01:07:01.480 --> 01:07:03.293
- I had my first son in 1975.

01:07:04.520 --> 01:07:07.176
I thought, \"I\'m gonna
raise a new generation,

01:07:07.177 --> 01:07:08.967
\"a conscious generation.\"

01:07:09.930 --> 01:07:12.886
I became an activist, and
then I went to college,

01:07:12.887 --> 01:07:14.519
and I got my degrees,

01:07:14.520 --> 01:07:17.383
and I decided, you know what?

01:07:19.090 --> 01:07:20.076
This is my community.

01:07:20.076 --> 01:07:20.909
- Right.

01:07:20.910 --> 01:07:23.973
- If I don\'t do something, who is?

01:07:25.780 --> 01:07:26.613
- [Vivian] The people who fought

01:07:26.614 --> 01:07:28.563
to save the Bronx are still here.

01:07:29.630 --> 01:07:31.779
- Right now they could
offer me any other place,

01:07:31.780 --> 01:07:35.673
and I won\'t move, this will be it.

01:07:42.070 --> 01:07:43.183
- I\'m still here too.

01:07:44.363 --> 01:07:45.599
Good morning, guys.

01:07:45.600 --> 01:07:47.419
I work with public schools in the Bronx

01:07:47.420 --> 01:07:49.479
to help young people finish high school

01:07:49.480 --> 01:07:51.169
and get into college.

01:07:51.170 --> 01:07:52.170
Okay, buh-bye.

01:07:53.020 --> 01:07:55.889
I wanna pass this history on to my kids

01:07:55.890 --> 01:07:58.583
and all kids in places
like the South Bronx.

01:07:59.470 --> 01:08:01.370
They should know where they come from.

01:08:05.240 --> 01:08:07.949
I wanna start talking about where we live,

01:08:07.950 --> 01:08:10.299
like our place, the place we call home

01:08:10.300 --> 01:08:11.929
and what that means to us.

01:08:11.930 --> 01:08:13.459
Have you ever had that experience

01:08:13.460 --> 01:08:15.639
when somebody said, \"Oh,
you\'re from the Bronx?\"

01:08:15.640 --> 01:08:17.389
And then they made a comment,

01:08:17.390 --> 01:08:20.467
like what\'s the comment, so with a face?

01:08:20.468 --> 01:08:21.767
(students laughing)

01:08:21.768 --> 01:08:23.819
- [Student] What up, Joe, what a feelin\'.

01:08:23.820 --> 01:08:26.059
- We fight every day to
get up in the morning

01:08:26.060 --> 01:08:26.893
and go to school.

01:08:26.894 --> 01:08:29.779
I feel like we\'re already
fighting against a stereotype.

01:08:29.780 --> 01:08:31.609
- That\'s right.
- And we\'re, like,

01:08:31.610 --> 01:08:33.692
proving other people wrong
that aren\'t from the Bronx,

01:08:33.693 --> 01:08:35.930
that we are better and we deserve better.

01:08:35.931 --> 01:08:38.516
(gentle music)

01:08:38.517 --> 01:08:41.904
(people chattering)

01:08:41.905 --> 01:08:44.799
- Wanted a continuous line of connection

01:08:44.800 --> 01:08:48.229
between, you know, old Bronx
that we see disappearing

01:08:48.230 --> 01:08:51.180
and new Bronx, whatever is
coming, but we\'re the connector.

01:08:57.160 --> 01:09:00.259
- We\'re planning here four or five towers,

01:09:00.260 --> 01:09:04.209
about 1,600 to 1,700 fair market units.

01:09:04.210 --> 01:09:05.569
- [Reporter] Developers are moving in,

01:09:05.570 --> 01:09:09.559
looking to tear down and rebuild,
creating upscale housing.

01:09:09.560 --> 01:09:11.539
Long-time residents and business owners

01:09:11.540 --> 01:09:13.459
wonder if it\'s just a matter of time

01:09:13.460 --> 01:09:15.923
before their Bronx is no longer theirs.

01:09:17.790 --> 01:09:19.269
- [Vivian] Developers wanna carve up

01:09:19.270 --> 01:09:21.819
the Bronx all over again.

01:09:21.820 --> 01:09:23.639
This is happening everywhere,

01:09:23.640 --> 01:09:25.940
and it\'s probably happening
where you are too.

01:09:27.860 --> 01:09:29.559
The same people that were redlined

01:09:29.560 --> 01:09:32.813
and neglected for years
are now being displaced.

01:09:34.190 --> 01:09:37.182
But in cities across the
country, we are fighting back.

01:09:37.183 --> 01:09:38.449
- [Marchers] Fight, fight, fight!

01:09:38.450 --> 01:09:40.529
- [Reporter] Bronx Coalition
for a Community Vision

01:09:40.530 --> 01:09:43.779
protested the city\'s rezoning
plans for Jerome Avenue.

01:09:43.780 --> 01:09:45.439
- We are here now.

01:09:45.440 --> 01:09:47.439
Any development, any upzoning,

01:09:47.440 --> 01:09:49.843
any changes should be
made with us in mind.

01:09:51.400 --> 01:09:52.999
- What the city is going to allow

01:09:53.000 --> 01:09:56.459
is for new developers to come, tear down,

01:09:56.460 --> 01:09:59.696
and rebuild new housing in this area.

01:09:59.697 --> 01:10:01.746
- That actually happens in our building.

01:10:01.747 --> 01:10:04.639
The people move out and they
literally replace everything

01:10:04.640 --> 01:10:09.289
with marble tables, brand new
sinks, everything is like,

01:10:09.290 --> 01:10:10.649
looks like a little loft.

01:10:10.650 --> 01:10:11.530
- See, like, a lot of us

01:10:11.531 --> 01:10:14.209
are a few paychecks from being homeless.

01:10:14.210 --> 01:10:16.169
So if you raise the housing,

01:10:16.170 --> 01:10:20.179
raise the prices, then that\'s scary.

01:10:20.180 --> 01:10:22.319
- Where\'s the young people\'s voice

01:10:22.320 --> 01:10:24.449
in what\'s happening to their environment

01:10:24.450 --> 01:10:25.740
in which they\'re living?

01:10:25.741 --> 01:10:28.369
(crowd applauding)

01:10:28.370 --> 01:10:29.779
- The people in the Bronx,

01:10:29.780 --> 01:10:31.331
the people that are here, we wanna say

01:10:31.332 --> 01:10:34.160
that this is our Bronx, our
lives, and our solution.

01:10:34.161 --> 01:10:38.449
(crowd cheering)
(crowd applauding)

01:10:38.450 --> 01:10:41.279
- We don\'t see any safeguards.

01:10:41.280 --> 01:10:42.979
People that have been
living in this community

01:10:42.980 --> 01:10:46.719
for over 50 years, who
stood while the Bronx

01:10:46.720 --> 01:10:48.889
was burning, didn\'t move out.

01:10:48.890 --> 01:10:53.769
- I\'m clear that I stand on the struggle

01:10:53.770 --> 01:10:57.713
and the blood sweat and
tears of people who fought.

01:10:58.670 --> 01:11:00.490
Is the Bronx worth fighting for?

01:11:00.491 --> 01:11:01.509
- [Students] Yes.

01:11:01.510 --> 01:11:02.909
- Definitely.

01:11:02.910 --> 01:11:05.959
- I\'m here to urge you to vote no

01:11:05.960 --> 01:11:08.899
on the proposed rezoning on Jerome Avenue.

01:11:08.900 --> 01:11:11.599
I was born and raised in the Bronx,

01:11:11.600 --> 01:11:16.209
I grew up in the South
Bronx during the time that

01:11:16.210 --> 01:11:21.210
at least, on record, 150,000
people were displaced.

01:11:21.700 --> 01:11:24.457
We can never let that happen again!

01:11:24.458 --> 01:11:29.458
(crowd cheering)
(crowd applauding)

01:11:30.313 --> 01:11:31.146
- [Man With Loudspeaker] What?

01:11:31.146 --> 01:11:32.056
- [Marchers] Housing is a right!

01:11:32.056 --> 01:11:32.889
- [Man With Loudspeaker] Louder!

01:11:32.890 --> 01:11:33.949
- [Marchers] Fight, fight, fight!

01:11:33.950 --> 01:11:34.783
- [Man With Loudspeaker] What?

01:11:34.784 --> 01:11:36.413
- [Marchers] Housing is a right!

01:11:36.414 --> 01:11:38.276
- [All] Fight, fight, fight!

01:11:38.277 --> 01:11:39.757
Housing is a right!

01:11:39.758 --> 01:11:40.591
- [Man With Loudspeaker] Louder!

01:11:40.592 --> 01:11:42.767
- [Marchers] Fight, fight, fight!

01:11:42.768 --> 01:11:45.518
(dramatic music)

01:11:49.998 --> 01:11:52.581
(upbeat music)

01:11:58.981 --> 01:12:03.011
♪ Man built the railroad, man got a move ♪

01:12:03.012 --> 01:12:07.169
♪ Man made a record, put
a needle to the groove ♪

01:12:07.170 --> 01:12:10.910
♪ Man been up, oh man been down ♪

01:12:10.911 --> 01:12:15.161
♪ Now man don\'t want no one around ♪

01:12:23.162 --> 01:12:25.424
♪ First they stole our language ♪

01:12:25.425 --> 01:12:27.430
♪ Then they stole our names ♪

01:12:27.431 --> 01:12:31.547
♪ Then they stole the things
that brought us fame ♪

01:12:31.548 --> 01:12:33.656
♪ Then they stole our neighbors ♪

01:12:33.657 --> 01:12:35.685
♪ And they stole our streets ♪

01:12:35.686 --> 01:12:40.436
♪ And they left us to die on Rican Beach ♪

01:12:47.877 --> 01:12:51.047
♪ Well you can take my life ♪

01:12:51.048 --> 01:12:55.885
♪ But don\'t take my home ♪

01:12:55.886 --> 01:12:59.185
♪ Baby, it\'s a solid price ♪

01:12:59.186 --> 01:13:02.603
♪ It comes with my bones ♪

01:13:12.736 --> 01:13:15.074
♪ Now all the politicians ♪

01:13:15.075 --> 01:13:16.915
♪ They just squawk their mouths ♪

01:13:16.916 --> 01:13:21.264
♪ They said we\'ll build
a wall to keep them out ♪

01:13:21.265 --> 01:13:23.311
♪ And all the poets were dying ♪

01:13:23.312 --> 01:13:25.342
♪ Of a silence disease ♪

01:13:25.343 --> 01:13:30.343
♪ So it happened quickly
and with much ease ♪

01:13:37.631 --> 01:13:40.629
♪ Well you can take my life ♪

01:13:40.630 --> 01:13:45.524
♪ But don\'t take my home ♪

01:13:45.525 --> 01:13:48.827
♪ Baby, it\'s a solid price ♪

01:13:48.828 --> 01:13:52.245
♪ It comes with my bones ♪

01:14:03.210 --> 01:14:08.210
♪ I may never see you again ♪

01:14:11.448 --> 01:14:16.448
♪ I may never see you again ♪

01:14:19.992 --> 01:14:24.992
♪ I\'ll keep fighting till the end ♪

01:14:28.124 --> 01:14:33.124
♪ I\'ll keep fighting till the end ♪

01:14:36.283 --> 01:14:41.283
♪ I\'ll keep fighting till the end ♪

01:14:44.594 --> 01:14:49.594
♪ I\'ll keep fighting till the end ♪

01:14:51.764 --> 01:14:55.924
♪ Till the end ♪

01:14:55.925 --> 01:15:00.030
♪ Till the end ♪

01:15:00.031 --> 01:15:04.144
♪ Till the end ♪

01:15:04.145 --> 01:15:08.355
♪ Till the end ♪

01:15:08.356 --> 01:15:10.939
♪ Till the end ♪