Undividing Albany
In 1965, the Times Union published a groundbreaking investigative series by William Kennedy that examined conditions in what were commonly referred to back then as slums. Its depiction of deplorable housing stock and vermin-infested apartments was, as Kennedy would write two decades later in “O Albany,” “a heavily documented muckrake ... not a pretty picture.”
The series, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, was paired with editorials calling out the property owners who kept their tenants in such conditions and the politicians who enabled such predatory behavior. The public backlash was so strong that our predecessors on this newspaper's editorial board saw fit to write a note to the critics that pushed the outer limit of what’s known as whataboutism.
“The series is not intended to reflect sympathy for anyone — beginning with the tenants who occupy such housing — as some of our letter writers, in particular, seem to believe,” the board wrote. “... Some families, they say, would create slums no matter where they lived. With this, the Times Union is in full agreement.”
In calling out slumlords, the board wrote, “we do not mean to reflect sympathy for those who choose to live in conditions of filth.”
These were cringeworthy and callous statements. No one of sound mind chooses to “live in conditions of filth.” Even adjusting for changing attitudes toward those struggling with poverty, this editorial warrants an apology. Fiftysix years is a long time to wait, but the current board apologizes nonetheless for its predecessors’ blaming of the victims.
The 1965 editorial was one of the records examined by the Times Union’s Massarah Mikati and Eduardo Medina as they researched “A City Divided,” a recent series that examined the ways in which New York’s capital city was shaped by racism and economic inequity. Starting in the Depression with the federal practice known as “redlining,” the stories presented a damning portrait of disinvestment and neglect in West Hill, Arbor Hill and the South End, the parts of the city with the highest concentration of Black residents.
Successive administrations of city leaders have failed to properly address these disparities, and have even exacerbated them, despite the steady pressure applied by passionate and tireless advocates within these communities. The city and the region that surrounds it cannot hope to succeed as long as this de facto segregation and opportunity gap continues.
These circumstances, sadly, are not unique to Albany — or Schenectady, Troy, Rochester, Buffalo and New York City; the knock-on effects of decades of systemic racism afflict far too many American cities.
The first task is to acknowledge that this happened and that it persists; the next and far more crucial step is to do something about it.
In the coming months, Albany has a unique chance to take action by ensuring that some $85 million in post-pandemic aid through the federal American Rescue Plan is allocated to address a crisis that has been roiling the city since long before COVID-19 struck. While there are worthy projects across the city, this onetime surge in public dollars could make a generational difference if wisely applied to, for example, programs that work to boost homeownership among low-income residents frozen out of conventional lending.
These dollars are not unencumbered: A large chunk will be used to cover near-term budget gaps created by the economic plunge of 2020. We are keenly aware that Albany’s taxpayers, especially property owners (the ones who aren’t New York state, that is) already carry a significant burden. This isn’t a situation of their making.
There are sure to be those who will argue that money alone can’t solve all the challenges wracking these communities — and we agree. But a budget (federal, state, municipal) reveals the morals and priorities of the community that assembles it, and creatively and effectively applied funding in these neglected neighborhoods can leverage real change. Expecting these communities to bootstrap themselves into prosperity is as unfair as blaming tenement dwellers for the rats behind the baseboards.
We are encouraged by Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s outreach to a broad spectrum of community and business leaders, and the city’s decision to field an online survey asking for residents’ priorities as to where the dollars should go — a survey that we encourage all readers to fill out before the June 25 deadline. Responding to the demands of community leaders and elected officials from West Hill, Arbor Hill and the South End, city government has in recent years done a better job placing equity in the foreground of public investments large and small, such as the recently unveiled blueprint for a bike/pedestrian plan that
emphasized its benefits for households without vehicles.
But considering the level of neglect and open disdain displayed by the machine Democrats who ran Albany when Kennedy was writing about these neighborhoods, saying the city is doing a better job is grading on a precipitous curve.
The American Rescue Plan money won’t be Albany’s last chance to do right by communities left behind; the work will continue long after this funding is spent. But failing to achieve big things now would miss a historic opportunity to correct decades of sins of both commission and omission. And it is never too late to make amends.