Urban Studies and Planning Commons^™

Not So Fun City, William A. Casari

Publications and Research

This article posits that the destruction of the South Bronx during the 1960s and 1970s was municipally approved across several mayoral administrations, most notably the term of John Lindsay who coined the catch phrase “Fun City,” referring to New York City on the first day of a transit strike. The author outlines several books and articles that detail the destruction caused by fires and city planning decisions that adversely affected White ethnic and neighborhoods of color in the South Bronx. Media portrayals during this period were used to stereotype certain areas of the Bronx which in turn allowed city planners …