NEW
YORK CITY AND THE NEW DEAL
NOVEMBER 22, 2002
This
well-attended day-long conference addressed the
original New Deal, its rollbacks and revivals in
the second half of the twentieth century, and its
potential as a model for the future. The gathering
built upon Mike Wallace's new book, A
New Deal for New York, which urges us to
think boldly about rebuilding the entire city, not
just Lower Manhattan, and to do so in tandem with
other recession-wounded cities and states around
the country.
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HERE IS WHAT WE DISCUSSED:
9:15
Introduction by Mike Wallace
9:30
to 11:00 The Old New
Deal (1930s)
The first session reminded
people of what the New Deal was, explained that
it was largely created in NYC, suggested the massive
transformations wrought in the cityscape by programs
such as the WPA, and assessed downsides of the New
Deal as well as its positive legacy.
PANELISTS:
Nelson Lichtenstein
(author, State of the Union),
Thomas Kessner (author,
Fiorello H. Laguardia and the Making of Modern New
York), and Francis
Fox Piven (author,
Why Americans Still Don't Vote).
11:15
to 12:45 Efforts to
Revive the New Deal
(1940s - 90s)
A second group talked about the suppression of the
New Deal as a national phenomenon in the 1930s and
40s, efforts to revive it in the 60s, and the assault
by the Republican right in the 70s and 80s on what
remained of it.
PANELISTS:
Alan Brinkley
(author, The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism
in Recession and War), Arthur Schlesinger
Jr (author, A Life in the
Twentieth Century: Innocent Beginnings, 1917-1950),
and Joshua Freeman
(author, Working Class New York: Life and Labor
Since World War II).
1:00
to 1:45 U.S. Representative
Dennis Kucinich, (D, OH)
Representative
Kucinich is Chairman of the Congressional Progressive
Caucus—the largest congressional caucus. He
spoke about the national viability of a new New
Deal program. Kucinich first came to national attention
during his feisty tenure as Mayor of Cleveland,
when he fought to preserve the city's public energy
system.
2:00
to 3:30 What Might
a New New Deal Look Like?
The third panel considered the New Deal as a possible
model for future action, here and nationally, not
in the sense of some slavish revival but as an inspiration
for the kind of government involvement in developing
social capital (schools, housing, infrastructure,
jobs) that it once stood for. Mike
Wallace (Director, Gotham
Center for New York City History)
started the conversation by detailing what he finds
useful in the New Deal legacy: social and physical
infrastructure development, financial regulation,
and social security. Then, drawing upon twenty-first
century ideas and technologies, he explored what
a modern day version of the New Deal might look
like.
Others
then responded with their own perspectives on the
current and future scene, locally and nationally.
PANELISTS:
Kathryn Wylde (President
and CEO, New York City Partnership), and Bruce
Raynor (President, UNITE), Gerald
Nadler (U.S. House of Representatives).
3:45
to 5:45 How to Make
a New New Deal Happen
The final panel turned to the issue of how to make
something like a new New Deal happen – the
politics of what's possible.
Ruy
Teixeira (author, An Emerging Democratic
Majority) discussed the kids of electoral coalitions
that might support this project nationally; and
John Mollenkopf (author,
Rethinking the Urban Agenda: Reinvigorating the
Liberal Tradition in New York City and Urban America)
will do the same locally. The conversation will
also include spokespeople from key constituencies
that might be part of such a coalition: Bob
Master (Communications Workers of America
and the Working Families Party),
Roberto Ramirez (former NY
State Assemblyman from the Bronx),
and Margie McHugh (Executive
Director, New York Immigration Coalition) Bill
Perkins (Deputy Majority Leader New York
City Council).
ALL
DAY Three Media Presentations
>
1930s segments from Ric Burns's acclaimed
New York:
A Documentary Film
> "New
Deal for New York: A Photographic Document,"
presented by Tom Thurston of the New
Deal Network
CLICK
HERE to see this presentation.
