Civil Liberties

Small (4 square miles) but has had a significant, diverse and talented population through the years. My mother went to school with Dick Clark (he never really changed much from his yearbook picture!). Art Carney, Ray and Gus Williams, Kenny Singleton, Heavy D, Denzel Washington, Susie Essman, Al Branca, Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, Tina and Lonnie Sattin, and a ton of other theater and entertainment and sports folks. (Latest in one to make the news, unfortunately, was Diddy - another hometown guy).

I could walk less than 10 minutes from home and be at the end of the line of the subway in the Bronx.

The city has always been racially divided - the South Side was heavily black (we were the last white family on the block when we moved when I was between 6th and 7th grade). Growing up I had way more Black friends than white friends, and am still in touch with a few close friends from over 50 years ago. Large Italian and Jewish population, mostly on the North side. One high school. When I went there we had a graduating class of 900+, about 80% minority. Everyone mostly got along fine back then, but the police department has long had a reputation for going the long way around the law when they thought that they could get away with it.

Sad to see this happening.