In Gotham's shadow: Brooklyn and the consolidation of Greater New York.
Item
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Title
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In Gotham's shadow: Brooklyn and the consolidation of Greater New York.
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Identifier
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AAI3063852
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identifier
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3063852
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Creator
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Levine, Steven A.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Thomas Kessner
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Date
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2002
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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History, United States | Urban and Regional Planning
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Abstract
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This dissertation analyzes the consolidation of Greater New York in 1898 and its effects on the borough/city of Brooklyn. America's fourth largest city, Brooklyn grew rapidly in the 1890s, but lacked the financial resources to build the infrastructure necessary for its expansion, especially a plentiful water supply and extensive transit system. Its political separation from Manhattan also slowed development by increasing competition between the region's two largest cities. Consolidation alleviated these problems by giving Brooklyn access to Manhattan's larger tax base and reducing regional conflicts. These changes made it possible to construct the Catskills water system for all five boroughs and a large mass transit system which physically connected Brooklyn and Manhattan. This, in turn, led to the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants in Brooklyn, increasing social tension within the borough. Consolidation also brought tenement house reform and zoning, ideas that originated in Manhattan, across the East River to Brooklyn. The creation of Greater New York replaced Brooklyn's decentralized educational system with a centralized system that increased funding and modernized the administration and curriculum of the city's schools.;This centralization of power meant that Brooklyn had to acknowledge its secondary status within Greater New York and accept rule from Manhattan. The fate of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences (BIAS), the borough's preeminent cultural institution, is an example of this changed relationship. After consolidation BIAS gained access to Manhattan's tax base, but found itself on the region's periphery, where it received less attention and support from civic and governmental leaders. This dissertation concludes with a comparison of the consolidation of Greater New York with those in other metropolitan areas, showing how consolidation was an important tool for urban development nationally. It suggests that the failure to expand the size of cities in the twentieth century has led to poor regional planning, increased racial and economic polarization, and central cities cut off from the greater wealth and prosperity in neighboring suburbs.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
