Pratt Center for Community Development

Report Archive

Building Blocks: Community-Based Strategies to Counteract Housing Disinvestment and Abandonment in New York City

Community Service Society (CSS) of New York, January 1994.
This report presents the findings of field research on four community-based organizations working to save abandoned and deteriorated apartment buildings in the communities of Bushwick and Oceanhill/Brownsville in Brooklyn, West Tremont in the Bronx, and Central Harlem in Manhattan. A housing market study prepared by the Pratt Center planners provided the basis of the research, and gave insight into the implications of the CSS analysis for each of these communities.

Stability and Change in Four New York City Housing Markets

The Pratt Center, June 1993
This study is a quantitative examination of the dynamics of four local housing markets in New York City (Central Harlem, Morris Heights, Brownsville and Bushwick) during the economically volatile period of the 1980s. Despite substantial differences in demographics, locational characteristics and housing inventories, in many ways these neighborhoods responded in a similar manner to the larger economic forces of the 80s.

Housing in the Balance: Seeking a Comprehensive Policy for City-owned Housing

Published by the Consumer-Farmer Foundation for the Task Force on City Owned Housing, May 1993
Using a detailed survey of over 2700 residents in city-owned and formerly city-owned buildings in the Bronx (and an additional smaller sample in Harlem), this report examines the status of the thousands of residential buildings that were taken by the City of New York from private landlords who failed to pay their real estate taxes.

Neighborhoods as an Entry Point for Change

Ron Shiffman, the Pratt Center, May 1992
This paper was presented at a conference on "Building Strong Communities: Strategies for Urban Change." The paper examines neighborhood-based organizing strategies and community-based development corporations as vehicles for change. It argues that there is a distinction between comprehensive and categorical community-based planning.

East New York and Brownsville Development Workbooks

Rex Curry & Brian T. Sullivan, the Pratt Center May 1991.
A comprehensive inventory and analysis of city owned land and buildings in two areas of Community Boards 5 and 16 in Brooklyn. Development opportunities and constraints are analyzed in the context of an overall neighborhood needs analysis. Sub-area analyses provide targeted project specific development scenarios in order to assist the local neighborhood-based nonprofit housing developers to maximize the impact of their efforts and coordinate them with other public and private neighborhood revitalization projects.

Uprooting Poverty

Editorial Collective: Robin Reisig, Peter Rondinone, Doug Turetsky, Woody Widrow, and Jean Wiley, November 1990
Two newsletters describe the key themes and events of the Pratt Center's 25th anniversary conference on "Uprooting Poverty through Community Development," which took place in November 1990. The central aim of the conference was to discuss and initiate common strategies for dealing with the persistent problems of poverty in the next decade.

Comprehensive and Integrative Planning for Community Development

Ron Shiffman & Susan Motley, June 1989
This discussion paper argues that community-based development corporations have moved away from comprehensive, community-based planning strategies to project-by-project development strategies that focus mainly on the production of housing and jobs. The authors observe that the first CDCs were grass roots, social action organizations that addressed the broader issues of poverty by widening social, economic and political opportunities for disadvantaged people. CDCs are now characterized by a concern for maximizing quantifiable productivity, with an emphasis on housing units and other "goods".

Von King Park Neighborhood Study

Susan M. Reynolds & Brian T. Sullivan, March 1988
Prepared for the Mid-Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation, the report documents the major physical and socioeconomic barriers for the revitalization of this fifty-block area of Bedford Stuyvesant. Recommendations focus on development opportunities, especially those involving publicly owned land and buildings within the area.

An Evaluation of HUD's Neighborhood Development Demonstration Program

Mary Brooks, Frank DeGiovanni, Susan Reynolds, & Brian T. Sullivan, December 1987
Produced under contract to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), this report evaluates the performance of 37 Neighborhood Development Organizations participating in this pilot program. Detailed statistical analyses provide the basis for an insightful evaluation of how "match-grant" funding actually works at the neighborhood level.

The Gowanus Canal Development Study

Rex Curry, November 1987
A neighborhood study on the impact of the severe loss of manufacturing jobs within the Gowanus Canal area of Brooklyn. The study recommends that a state and local planning effort be linked to the expertise and resources of New York State development agencies, as well as public/private service groups.

Brooklyn Museum Neighborhood Study

Susan M. Reynolds &Brian T. Sullivan, December 1986
This report, performed at the request of the Brooklyn Museum as it embarks on a large range plan for the next century, contains an area-wide analysis of the rapidly changing neighborhoods of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights that surround the Museum. In addition to providing in-depth analysis of the physical and socioeconomic parameters of these neighborhoods, the report uses multiple sources of primary and secondary data to document the context for their future development and that of the museum itself.

City Heat from the Bottom Up: An Energy Conservation Manual for Multi-Family Dwellings

William Riley & Pastor Medina
A four volume set of workbooks on operation and maintenance of multi-family heating units.

The Brooklyn Sports Study - Phase I Locational Analysis

Rex Curry, 1984.
This feasibility study was conducted in order to determine the best location for the construction of a major sports complex in the Borough of Brooklyn. Five potential sites are selected and compared on the basis of land availability, cost, employment and related economic impacts and an estimate of possible relocation and demolition costs.

The Brooklyn Sports Study Phase II - Market Analysis (Volume 1), Site Selection Final Report (Volume 2) and Development - Concept, Feasibility and Economic Impact (Volume 3)

Rex Curry, 1986.
This development study outlines the facility programming, final site selection (among several alternative configurations) and an assessment of the market potential and subsequent economic impacts of the above mentioned sports complex project development.

A Community Plan for Fort Greene/Clinton Hill/Walkabout

Frank DeGiovanni & Brian T. Sullivan, August 1985
A comprehensive neighborhood needs analysis performed under the auspices of Community Board #2 in Brooklyn, this report contains a wealth of data, especially in recent trends in the area's demography and real estate patterns.

Housing Needs and Housing Production in New York City

Carol Felstein & Sydelle Knepper, November 1985
Using latest available Federal, State and City data, this report quantifies the severity of New York City's housing problem in terms of availability, affordability and condition of the existing housing stock versus the needs of the population (especially the lower income population) for housing in the foreseeable future.

A Human Rights Impact Statement for New York State

Mary E. Brooks & Dean Zias, January 1984
This report traces the development of a proposed Human Rights Impact Statement (HRIS), an instrument designed to assess the impact of proposed residential development on present and future community residents and surrounding neighborhoods.

Inclusionary Zoning and Housing Trust Fund -- A Proposal for Equitable Development in New York City

Frank F. DeGiovanni, Ron Shiffman & Brian T. Sullivan, December 1983
This report is based on nationwide research into the variety of local initiatives that municipalities and state governments are using to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of Federal support for low-income housing production. Recommendations for developer contributions as part of an overall inclusionary zoning policy are but a part of a large scale, permanently endowed housing trust fund underwritten by a multi-faceted stream of dedicated revenues, some of which are already in place.

Alternative Management Programs: The Last Best Hope for In Rem Housing in New York City

Brian T. Sullivan with Howard Burchman & Robert Schur, July 1982
This report combines an historic overview of the in rem problem in New York City with in-depth evaluations of the major alternative management approaches utilized in managing, rehabilitating, and disposing of the City's "other" public housing stock.

Impact of a Housing Voucher Program on New York City's Population

Mary E. Brooks & Frank F. Degiovanni, January 1982
This report analyzes the potential impact of the various proposals for a housing voucher program on New York City's lower income population.

New York City's 312 Loan Programs: A Preliminary Analysis of Problems and Issues
Robert Schur, October 1980

This report analyzes the major problems with the federal Section 312 direct rehabilitation loan program.

The Neighborhood Housing Movement

Robert Schur & Virginia Sherry, January 1977
A survey of the activities and services provided by nonprofit, community-based organizations to residents of low- and moderate-income communities in New York City.