THE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL IN ITS COMMUNITY SETTING: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY.
Item
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Title
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THE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL IN ITS COMMUNITY SETTING: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY.
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Identifier
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AAI8222939
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identifier
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8222939
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Creator
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DELANO, DONALD FRANCIS.
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Contributor
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William Kornblum
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Date
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1982
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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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Sociology, Social Structure and Development
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Abstract
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This is a community study of a major metropolitan transportation facility as it affects, and is affected by, its location in a sociologically rich area of midtown Manhattan in New York City. Since they constitute an example of a potentially best, yet occasionally a reputedly worst neighborhood in the city, the old theatrical district of Forty-second Street, including the Port Authority Bus Terminal, have become sites for an increasing amount of both public and private scrutiny. Crime rates are significant, pornography abounds and deviant behavior prevails amid a truly intricate network of bustling commuters passing through a huge bus terminal located within a true street corner community.;To the casual observer, the community comprising Times Square-Clinton and the Bus Terminal may easily be stigmatized as "bad," yet through the trained eyes of the sociologist, it is demonstrably a world within itself, with an internal character differentiating it from other locations in the city. Situated in a classic example of the "natural area," the Bus Terminal's role differs according to the type of user whose activity affects it.;For example, the "Shopping Bag Lady," though a true user of the facility, will avail herself of its shelter from the elements, warmth and safety, while conversely, the middle class commuter, who is also a true user, requires it as a place to board a bus on his or her way home from work. Inherent in such a disparate and temporal population, and directly impacting the daily activity of the Bus Terminal, are such key issues as the maintenance of order, deviant behavior, territory, markers, mobility, social control, time, human ecology, and many more.;Consequently, by utilizing a qualitative case study method, this dissertation demonstrates that the Port Authority Bus Terminal is more than just a transportation facility. The use of participant observation and extensive research of published data have provided insight as to the role of a large public place located in the midst of a residential-commercial and street corner community. Pervasive throughout the work is the symbolic interactionist perspective, a most definite application to the study of territorial behavior in and around the Terminal and the order and disorder within it.;To those seeking a detailed analysis of a "community within a community," particularly in the area of urban interactive transience, this dissertation will be of interest. In addition, there is significant analysis of the destruction of one true community in order to construct the Bus Terminal, as well as its resurgence in order to cope with modern society.
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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.
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Program
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Sociology
