Homeless: Poverty and Place in Urban America

3: Skid Row in an Era of Plenty

C H A P T E R 3 SKID ROW IN AN ERA OF PLENTY DURING the early 1950s, author and activist Michael Harrington lived near the Bowery as a member of the Catholic Worker, the group founded by Dorothy Day to help the area’s poor. Harrington characterized skid row and its residents as “the bitterest, most physical and obvious poverty that can be seen in an American city.” He described Bowery residents as suffering from disease, exposure, and neglect. They spent day after listless day walking, resting, procuring food, and making conversation, expressing few goals and little hope. He marveled at the lack of compassion felt by other city residents at the plight of those he termed the “alcoholic poor”: “Though all this takes place in the middle of New York City, it is hardly noticed. It is a form of poverty, of social disintegration, that does not attract sympathy. People get moral when they talk about alcoholics, and the very language is loaded against such unfortunates. (I have not used the word “bum” since I went to the Catholic Worker; it is part of the vocabulary of not caring.),” Harrington concluded, “But of course, nothing is being done, really.”1 In part, the callousness Harrington observed stemmed from the relative economic prosperity of the era. Whereas approximately 40 percent of Americans had lived in poverty at the turn of the century, and between 30 and 40 percent during the Depression, the rate had dropped to 25 percent by the mid-1950s. Economic vitality would come to define postwar America; by the 1970s, the poverty rate would fall to between 6 and 15 percent. If the clear majority of Americans were enjoying economic success, those who remained in poverty, many reasoned, must be broken. Postwar politicians, social service providers, and the media frequently traced poverty’s roots to individual pa- Skid Row in an Era of Plenty 89 thology. Poor people in general, and homeless people in particular, would come to be viewed as individuals whose flawed characters required rehabilitation .2 This framing of poverty as an individual problem was reinforced by the era’s politics. Many wanted to believe theirs was a “classless” society, and that the plethora of opportunities it offered was intrinsically American. In the context of the widespread anti-Communism of the late 1940s, urban liberals refrained from challenging the fundamental structure of the American economy, calling instead on an expanding welfare state to accommodate the needs of society’s most vulnerable members. The Cold War climate left politicians honing their credentials as reformers carefully guarding the public coffers , wary of providing overly generous assistance to the poor.3 The shifting meaning of alcohol and its consumption further shaped the development of skid rows. Historically, those who drank excessive amounts of alcohol had been judged morally or spiritually bankrupt and were encouraged to find more personal discipline. But during the postwar era, alcoholism was understood as a disease, albeit a complex and hotly debated one. Could homeless alcoholics be rehabilitated and returned to mainstream society? Skid-row drinkers tested the limits of the legal system, the generosity of the missions, the patience of the public, and the political will of urban liberals committed to economic and social justice. The Cold War Politics of Relief As the postwar era dawned, American political debate increasingly centered on Communism. Committing itself to a policy of containment, the United States vowed to prevent the spread of Communism wherever it might appear, abroad or at home. As the nation enjoyed a wave of patriotism celebrating American ideals of capitalism and democracy, the poor stood in marked contrast to the increasing prosperity enjoyed by many. Even liberal politicians resisted fully committing to poor relief programs, fearful of appearing to support Communist, socialist, or other radical ideas. Rather than viewing the poor as structural victims of an economic system, they sought to alleviate their suffering in a hostile political climate. The postwar years saw fewer homeless men living on skid row. Contrary to much public opinion, the homeless were not a uniquely aberrant group of individuals. Instead, as the poorest of a city’s poor population, their numbers shifted according to the area’s broader economic trends. During the depths 90 Chapter 3 of the Depression, New York City’s public assistance rolls had peaked at over 1.5 million, while 17,000 homeless men had sought temporary lodgings...