How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics

 a set of concrete social control practices united by a political philosophy of that explained homelessness and disorder as a problem of personal responsibility and established punitive methods for restoring social order and public civility  viewed prostitution, graffiti, young men hanging out on street corners, as well as panhandlers and squeegee men, as a source rather than a symptom of urban decline  used punitive tactics (in policing and social policy) rather than rehabilitative or structural reforms 2

 Political philosophy of many postwar cities that combined:  Entrepreneurial economic development strategies  Personal rehabilitation & social work approaches to social problems  Tolerance of social differences in the form of broad support for civil liberties  It accelerated the urban problems associated with the decline in public order in the 1980s and failed to adequately address them 3

 A coherent set of “urban liberal” policy tendencies can be seen in the practices of many urban mayors from the 1960s through the 1990s  In New York City, this included:  John Lindsay (1966–73)  Abraham Beame (1974–77)  Edward Koch (1978–89)  David Dinkins (1990–93) 4

 Belief that government planning & coordination is key to resolving social problems  RELIANCE ON EXPERTS FOR PLANNING VS. LOCAL/COMMUNITY INPUT  EMPHASIZE (short-term) SOCIAL PROGRAMS VS. STRUCTURAL/ECONOMIC SOLUTIONS  GOAL IS SOCIAL REINTEGRATION VS. SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION 5

 Unequal Development  Empty Empowerment  Hollow Tolerance 6

 Homelessness  Prostitution  Graffiti 7

 Shift from law enforcement style to quality of life style of policing 8

 Zero Tolerance  Stop & Frisk  Civil Enforcement  New laws, rules, and regulations  Flexible deployment 9