Housing Displacement in Corlears Hook: From Naghtongh to One Manhattan Square

Author

Don MacLeod, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Liberal Studies

Advisor

Pritihi Kanakamedala

Subject Categories

Geography | History

Keywords

Housing, displacement, Corlears Hook, urban renewal, slum clearance, Title 1

Abstract

The displacement of residents from their homes in New York City began with the European settlement of New Amsterdam and continues to this day. This paper focuses on displacement in Corlears Hook, part of Manhattan’s Lower East Side from the violent extirpation of a Lenape settlement in 1643 New Amsterdam to the gentrification of a traditional working-class neighborhood along the East River propelled by the influx of luxury housing development. Throughout Corlears Hook’s long history, displacement has been caused by violence, well-meaning efforts to improve slum conditions, ham-fisted “urban renewal” projects that favored the wealthy and civic improvements that used eminent domain to take homes for public works. In almost all instances of displacement, residents were left to fend for themselves and usually found housing in conditions as dilapidated or worse than those they left.

Recommended Citation

MacLeod, Don, "Housing Displacement in Corlears Hook: From Naghtongh to One Manhattan Square" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5734