BLACKOUT LOOTING! NEW YORK CITY (NY), JULY 13, 1977

• NCJ Number: 57948
• Author(s): R CURVIN; B PORTER
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 255 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Ford Foundation
• Corporate Author: Gardner Press, Inc
• Sale Source: Halsted Press
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

NOT ONLY THE RESULTS BUT ALSO THE ROOT CAUSES OF THE LARGE SCALE LOOTING DURING THE 1977 NEW YORK CITY BLACKOUT ARE EXAMINED AND COMPARED WITH EVENTS DURING THE 1965 NEW YORK BLACKOUT.

Abstract

THE STUDY INVOLVED INTERVIEWS WITH MORE THAN 200 PEOPLE IN THE LOOTING LOCATIONS INCLUDING CITY OFFICIALS, POLICE OFFICERS, MERCHANTS, LOOTERS, COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND LOCAL RESIDENTS; READING AND ANALYZING REPORTS FROM THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, THE NEW YORK CITY CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCY, THE NEW YORK STATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE DIVISION, AND THE CITY'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AGENCY; AND SITE VISITS TO ALMOST EVERY COMMUNITY AFFECTED BY LOOTING DURING THE BLACKOUT. THE COLLECTED DATA AFFORD A PICTURE OF THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED AND WERE ARRESTED, HOW THE POLICE RESPONDED, CONDITIONS OF THE URBAN POOR, AND CHANGES IN THE POOR URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS SINCE THE RIOTS IN THE 1960'S. ALTHOUGH CRIMINALS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT INITIATING ROLE AT THE ONSET OF THE DISTURBANCES, DATA INDICATE THAT IT IS SIMPLISTIC TO LABEL ALL THE LOOTERS AS DEVIANTS. LOOTERS WERE MAINLY BLACKS AND HISPANICS, UNEMPLOYED, MALE, BETWEEN THE AGES OF 16 AND 25, AND NOT PARTICULARLY POOR. FURNITURE AND HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES ACCOUNTED FOR THE LARGEST PART OF LOOTED GOODS. THE LOOTING, WHICH MANIFESTED DRASTIC SHIFTS IN THE LOCATIONS OF POVERTY AND ITS GROWING COMPLEXITY, APPEARS TO BE THE RESULT OF A VARIETY OF FORCES AND ATTITUDES, INCLUDING DECLINING LEGITIMACY, CRIMINALITY, AND MATERIAL ASPIRATIONS, AS WELL AS POVERTY AND GROWING HARDSHIP IN BOTH OLD GHETTOS AND IN NEIGHBORHOODS MORE RECENTLY INHABITED BY THE CITY'S POOR. IT SIGNALS A CHANGE IN THE INNER CITY: A CORPS OF HARDENED, STREET-TYPE URBAN DWELLERS HAS DEVELOPED WHICH OPERATES IN A SHADOW ECONOMY OF HUSTLE AND CRIME AND IS MADE UP OF CASTOFFS OF THE TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC SYSTEM, MOSTLY PERSONS ASSOCIALIZED IN YOUTH HOMES AND PRISONS. THE APPENDIX CONTAINS SELECTED INTERVIEWS. NOTES, A BIBLIOGRAPHY, AND STUDY DATA ARE PROVIDED.(DAG)