Poverty is an Industry | Polly Spain

Polly Spain is president of her tenant association in a public housing development in New York’s Upper West Side.  Developments like Polly’s house over 400,000 low-income New Yorkers from all walks of life. Join Mel and Stef as they step into Polly’s world and learn about the mechanisms that keep urban communities poor. In Polly’s words, ‘it’s an industry’. (20m 56s)

Relevant Facts and Links:

• Over 400,000 people live in New York City’s 326 public housing developments across the five boroughs
• About one in every nine NYC public school students lived in public housing in 2008

Further reading on New York City public housing infrastructure:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/02/nyregion/nycha-public-housing-fix.html

Further reading on the School-to-Prison Pipeline:

• https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/race-discipline-and-safety-us-public-schools
• https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/school-prison-pipeline-infographic
• In April, 2018, HUD proposed to raise rent for low-income families on housing assistance from 30% of income to 35%

Further reading on behavior medication prescribed to low-income students:

• https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/health/attention-disorder-or-not-children-prescribed-pills-to-help-in-school.html?mtrref=www.google.com&gwh=C0C24C2C0F8D5496DF2241EAD4FC9A42&gwt=pa
• https://www.businessinsider.com/doctor-prescribing-stimulants-to-poor-kids-indiscriminately-2012-10