Description:
Deborah Wang reports that a delegation of forty residents from Yonkers, New York, visited Boston to learn about the city's approach to public housing. The delegation toured Boston's model housing projects, which contain a mix of low-, middle- and upper-income units. Wang reports that the city of Yonkers is divided over the issue of mixed-income public housing and affordable housing. She reviews the public housing situation in Yonkers. Wang's report includes footage of the city of Yonkers and footage of the Yonkers delegation discussing housing at a meeting with Amy Anthony (Secretary of Communities and Development for the City of Boston). Charles Cola (Yonkers City Council), Anthony DiPopallo and JoAnne Gardner (Yonkers resident) talk about public housing in Yonkers and in Boston. Boston Mayor Ray Flynn addressed the delegation about Boston's efforts to provide affordable housing for city residents. Members of the delegation, including Peter Chema and Mel Ellen, talk about their impressions of the visit.
1:00:08: Visual: Footage of Yonkers residents exiting a bus in a Boston neighborhood. Deborah Wang reports that a delegation of forty residents from Yonkers, NY, arrived in Boston to see how Boston has solved its public housing dilemma. V: Footage of Yonkers from "We the People." Shots of a school bus traveling on a street in Yonkers; of a residential street in Yonkers; of housing projects in Yonkers. Wang reports that the city of Yonkers has agreed to build 800 units of affordable housing in the city's predominantly white East End; that the city's affordable housing had all been built in the less affluent West End. Wang reports that the city of Yonkers is divided over the issue of affordable housing. V: Footage of Charles Cola (Yonkers City Council) saying that he wanted to see how public housing works in Boston; that he hopes to accomplish the same thing in Yonkers. Footage of Anthony DiPopallo (Yonkers resident) talking about the integration of public housing in Yonkers. Footage of JoAnne Gardner (Yonkers resident) saying that the city of Yonkers needs to need to build affordable housing according to the wishes of neighborhood residents. Gardner says that she does not want to be bused across town to live. Amy Anthony (Secretary of Communities and Development) responds to Gardner. Anthony says that the Yonkers residents need to look at what was done in Boston and then apply it to their own neighborhoods. Wang reports that delegation from Yonkers toured the city of Boston's model housing projects; that the housing projects contain a mix of low-income, middle-income and upper-income units. Wang reports that the city of Boston has been ordered to build 800 units of mixed-income housing; that the city of Boston has been building mixed-income housing for years. V: Shots of construction site; of the exterior of a housing development in Mission Hill. Wang reports that the city helped to build 165 units of mixed-income housing in Mission Hill; that half of the units will go to low- and moderate-income residents. V: Footage of Ray Flynn (Mayor of Boston) addressing the delegation from Yonkers. Flynn talks about one of the housing developments. Flynn talks about the efforts of the city and the community to turn a vacant lot into a housing development. Shots of the delegation from Yonkers as they tour a housing development. Wang reports that the politicians in the Yonkers delegation were impressed. V: Shot of Flynn speaking to members of the delegation. Footage of Peter Chema (Yonkers City Council) saying that it is helpful to see successful mixed-income housing developments. Chema says that the visit to Boston has allayed some of the fears of opponents of mixed-income units in Yonkers. Footage of Mel Ellen (Yonkers resident), DiPopallo and other members of the delegation standing near their bus. Ellen says that a Boston housing development would be a "slum" in East Yonkers. Footage of Ellen talking to a reporter. Ellen says that the government is using Yonkers to experiment with new forms of public housing; that the residents of Yonkers have no recourse if the "experiment" does not work. Footage of Anthony saying that the Boston tour has given the Yonkers delegation an idea of what is possible. Shot of a drawing of a drawing of an urban cityscape.
Date Created:
09/23/1988
