Fear City pamphlets

Last updated
Cover of the Fear City pamphlet Fear City cover.jpg
Cover of the Fear City pamphlet

The Fear City pamphlets were distributed in New York City during June, 1975 in a propaganda campaign by the city's police and corrections officers. The pamphlets were subtitled "A Survival Guide for Visitors to the City of New York" and had a picture of a hooded skull on the cover. They warned of high rates of violent crime in the city and contained nine guidelines for "survival". [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

The pamphlets were distributed during the 1970s New York City financial crisis in response to municipal budget cuts announced in May 1975 that threatened over 50,000 city jobs and reduced salaries and pensions as the city drew near to bankruptcy. Police unions responded to the budget cuts by printing at least one million Fear City pamphlets and distributing them at airports, hotels, and bus terminals.

Close copies of the fliers were also distributed by police at Yale University in August 2023 at a time when they were renegotiating their contracts.

Events

New York City mayor Abe Beame announced layoffs of public employees including police and firefighters as part of a new budget that responded to the city's financial crisis. The first round of nearly 11,000 officers were slated for dismissal at the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1, 1975. [3]

Beginning on the morning of June 13, police officers began distributing Fear City pamphlets at airports, hotels, and bus stations in New York City. That day, during a rally at City Hall, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association said that "The public is aware of the danger that massive layoffs of firemen and policemen will create. We have to alert everyone coming into New York to put pressure on them to cancel these insane layoffs." [3]

Mayor Beame and the city initially brought restraining orders against police distributing the pamphlets, [3] but these orders were quickly overturned when Justice Frederick E. Hammer ruled that the pamphlets were a protected form of free speech. The mayor said that distributing the pamphlets violated public trust and was a "new low in irresponsibility." [1]

2023 Yale University reprise

In August 2023, the Yale Police Benevolent Association, which represents campus police at Yale University distributed fliers that were a close copy of the 1975 Fear City pamphlets to new students arriving on campus. The 2023 Fear City pamphlets warned students that crime in the local city of New Haven, Connecticut was "shockingly high" and that students should avoid the city, especially at night. They also said that "murders have doubled, burglaries are up 33 percent and motor vehicle thefts are up 56 percent," for 2023. [5]

The mayor of New Haven said the statistics in the leaflet were accurate, but that violent crime had decreased 29% over the past three years, and the information didn't present a complete picture. [5] School and city officials criticized the union for distributing the leaflets and said it was a scare tactic to get better terms during an ongoing contract negotiation. The police union said the pamphlets were intended to keep students safe and weren't related to the contract negotiations. [6] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale University</span> Private university in New Haven, Connecticut, US

Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosevelt Island</span> Island and neighborhood in New York City

Roosevelt Island is an island in New York City's East River, within the borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattan Island to the west, and the borough of Queens, on Long Island, to the east. It is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long, with an area of 147 acres (0.59 km2), and had a population of 11,722 as of the 2020 United States Census. It consists of two largely residential communities: Northtown and Southtown. Roosevelt Island is owned by the city but was leased to the New York State Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for 99 years in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queensboro Bridge</span> Bridge in New York City

The Queensboro Bridge, officially the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens with the East Midtown and Upper East Side neighborhoods in Manhattan, passing over Roosevelt Island. Because the western end of the bridge connects to 59th Street in Manhattan, it is also called the 59th Street Bridge. The bridge consists of five steel spans measuring 3,725 ft (1,135 m) long; including approaches, its total length is 7,449 ft (2,270 m).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</span> Public transportation organization in New York

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in North America, serving 12 counties in Downstate New York, along with two counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Bridge</span> Bridge in New York City

The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. Designed by Leon Moisseiff and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company, the bridge has a total length of 6,855 ft (2,089 m). It is one of four toll-free vehicular bridges connecting Manhattan Island to Long Island; the nearby Brooklyn Bridge is just slightly farther west, while the Queensboro and Williamsburg bridges are to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roosevelt Island Tramway</span> Aerial tram line in New York City

The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in the U.S., having opened on May 17, 1976, to serve residential developments on the island. The tram is operated by Leitner-Poma on behalf of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briarwood, Queens</span> Neighborhood of Queens in New York City

Briarwood is a middle-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is roughly bounded by the Van Wyck Expressway to the west, Parsons Boulevard to the east, Union Turnpike to the north, and Hillside Avenue to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gracie Mansion</span> New York City mayoral residence

Gracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of New York City. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and 88th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan. The federal-style mansion overlooks Hell Gate channel in the East River and consists of two sections: the original two-story house and an annex built in 1966. The original house is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Immediately after World War II, New York City became known as one of the world's greatest cities. However, after peaking in population in 1950, the city began to feel the effects of suburbanization brought about by new housing communities such as Levittown, a downturn in industry and commerce as businesses left for places where it was cheaper and easier to operate, an increase in crime, and an upturn in its welfare burden, all of which reached a nadir in the city's fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when it barely avoided defaulting on its obligations and declaring bankruptcy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">63rd Street Tunnel</span> Tunnel under the East River in New York City

The 63rd Street Tunnel is a double-deck subway and railroad tunnel under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Queens in New York City. Opened in 1989, it is the newest of the East River tunnels, as well as the newest rail river crossing in the New York metropolitan area. The upper level of the 63rd Street Tunnel carries the IND 63rd Street Line of the New York City Subway. The lower level carries Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to Grand Central as part of the East Side Access project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tweed Courthouse</span> Government building in Manhattan, New York

The Tweed Courthouse is a historic courthouse building at 52 Chambers Street in the Civic Center of Manhattan in New York City. It was built in the Italianate style with Romanesque Revival interiors. William M. "Boss" Tweed – the corrupt leader of Tammany Hall, a political machine that controlled the New York state and city governments when the courthouse was built – oversaw the building's erection. The Tweed Courthouse served as a judicial building for New York County, a county of New York state coextensive with the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is the second-oldest city government building in the borough, after City Hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Adams</span> Mayor of New York City since 2022

Eric Leroy Adams is an American politician and former police officer, currently serving as the 110th mayor of New York City since 2022. An ideologically moderate member of the Democratic Party, Adams was an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department (NYPD) for more than 20 years, retiring at the rank of captain. He served in the New York State Senate from 2006 to 2013, representing the 20th Senate district in Brooklyn. In November 2013, Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough President, the first African-American to hold the position, and reelected in November 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York City Police Department Strategic Response Group</span> Police unit in New York City

The New York Police Department's Strategic Response Group (SRG) is a unit of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) formed in 2015 for counter-terrorism and the policing of political protests. They maintain a bike squadron and are outfitted with anti-riot gear, rifles, and body armor. The unit has been criticized for its use of excessive force and mass arrests against political demonstrators protected under the First Amendment, disproportionately high numbers of complaints to the Civilian Complaint Review Board, and the killing of unarmed men, among other things. Activists, the New York City Council, the New York City Department of Investigation, and organizations such as Human Rights Watch and the New York Civil Liberties Union, among others, have called for its regulation or disbandment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Floyd protests in New York City</span> 2020 civil unrest in New York City after the murder of George Floyd

George Floyd protests in New York City took place at several sites in each of the five New York City boroughs, starting on May 28, 2020, in reaction to the murder of George Floyd. Most of the protests were peaceful, while some sites experienced protester and/or police violence, including several high-profile incidents of excessive force. Looting became a parallel issue, especially in Manhattan. As a result, and amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the city was placed under curfew from June 1–7, the first curfew in the city since 1943. The protests catalyzed efforts at police reform, leading to the criminalization of chokeholds during arrests, the repeal of 50-a, and other legislation. Several murals and memorials were created around the city in George Floyd's honor, and demonstrations against racial violence and police brutality continued as part of the larger Black Lives Matter movement in New York City.

The Iranian Students Association in the United States(ISAUS) was an American national student group for the Iranian diaspora, active from 1952 until the early 1980s. By the early 1960s, the group transformed into a significant portion of the membership of the Confederation of Iranian Students National Union (CISNU). The ISAUS was still active during the Iranian Revolution between 1977 and 1978, holding national protests and publishing information against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

George Sumner Bradford Dana Gould was an American financier and banker. Gould was a member of the board of Municipal Assistance Corporation that was constituted during the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis and briefly served as its chairman in 1979. He was the Undersecretary of the Treasury in the late 1980s during the Reagan administration. During this period he oversaw the savings and loan crisis, the aftermath of the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash, and the raising of the country's debt ceiling.

Kevin Jiang was a Chinese-American graduate student at Yale University who was fatally shot by Qinxuan Pan in New Haven, Connecticut on February 6, 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward A. Hanna</span> American businessman and politician (1922–2009)

Edward Arnold Hanna was an American businessman and politician. He was mayor of Utica, New York, from 1974 to 1978 and from 1996 to 2000, running as an independent. Often described as a populist, Hanna was widely regarded as eccentric and abrasive and constantly clashed with the Utica business and political establishment, the rest of city government, and other local groups. A "non-stop talker" who The New York Times called "flamboyant, combative, and controversial", he once described Utica as "a stinking, rotten town" and "a lousy place to live" and told Uticans to move away for better opportunities. He built and renovated a number of parks and public artworks during his terms. However, Hanna failed to stem Utica's long-term economic and population decline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Langsam</span> American cultural activist

Janet Langsam is an American cultural activist, artist and journalist with more than 50 years’ experience as an arts administrator.

Alfred A. Giardino was a prominent New York lawyer. He was the former President of the New York City Board of Education and chairman of the New York City Board of Higher Education.

References

  1. 1 2 Baker, Kevin (2015-05-18). "'Welcome to Fear City' – the inside story of New York's civil war, 40 years on". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  2. Kihss, Peter (1975-06-16). "POLICE LEADERS DECRY LEAFLETS". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fowler, Glenn (1975-06-13). "Union 'Guide' to 'Fear City' Is Banned by a Court Order". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  4. Carlson, Jen (2013-09-16). "The 1970s Pamphlet Aimed At Keeping Tourists Out Of NYC". Gothamist. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  5. 1 2 3 Nierenberg, Amelia (2023-08-25). "Yale Students Got a Terrifying Message. From the Campus Police". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  6. "Borrowing "Fear City" tactic from 1975, police union tells Yale students to avoid New Haven". ABC News. Retrieved 2023-10-25.