Manhattantown
But the Senate hearings garnered little publicity. It was not until 1956 that a series of investigative articles in the World Sun-Telegram by Gene Gleason and Fred Cook revealed the extent of the mismanagement. It was the first instance in which Robert Moses' practice of "honest graft"—the method by which Slum Clearance chairman Moses distributed premiums, contracts and retainers to favored and incompetent friends—was revealed in the press. Under Title I, the plot of tenements worth $15 million (equivalent to $192 million in 2023) had been sold, for $1 million (equivalent to $13 million in 2023), to developer Samuel Caspert, charged with building public housing. Instead of relocating occupants, bulldozing the slum, and constructing public housing, Caspert and Co. merely sat on the newly acquired property collecting millions in rents. In the end, the city was forced to facilitate the transfer of Manhattantown to another developer, William Zeckendorf.
References
- ^ Caro, Robert. The Power Broker. Vintage Books: 1974.
External links
- "The Tragedy of Urban Renewal," Reason.tv, 2011.
40°47′39″N 73°57′49″W / 40.794224°N 73.963672°W