TAKING OVER CO-OP CITY
Why did Co-op City work when other low income housing developments failed so poorly? Perhaps it was the resilience characteristic of every New Yorker - gotta be tough to win the turf war against the rats. However, I don't believe there was much difference between the residents of Co-op City and those of Pruitt-Igoe, both faced similar circumstances and turmoils. Therefore, the culprit has to be the management and development itself. The ability to own property, to work toward a common goal, to open the doors to multiple types of people all chasing their common ground united the residents to care for and take pride in the place they lived. "I want this place to be nice because one day, it will be all mine" as opposed to "I'm only a renter, it's not my responsibility to maintain this place." The development, like much of New York, was experimental but open-minded and did not restrict the residents or attempt to control them. Even more amazing was...