12ozProphet

I found this book in a thrift store a couple of years ago. The Block is testimony of a really dark area of New York city and specifically the Bronx. Herb Goro is New York photographer and journalist that spent a year in a project in the South East Bronx around 1966. This book shows how terrible it was already to live in the bronx in the 60’s. Throughout the book Goro interviews local families, social worker, kids, and took more than 180 amazing black and white pictures to document this tragedy in the making. No wonder that kids born in this area ( I am thinking here Chino, Mare and all the one I never met) had to push the limit of creativity and positivity to get out of this nasty daily routine…

Here is the introduction of the book by Herb Goro. (note that in 1970 they were still using the word Negro for African american…Pretty sad.

INTRODUCTION
This book is about the people living or working on one block in the East Bronx. The Bronx has undergone a great transformation since the World War II. Since that time there has been an exodus of middle and lower middle income white families, and their place have come thousands of Negro and Puerto Rican families. The Bronx is the only section of New York City situated on the United States mainland. It lies north of Manhattan Island and south of suburban Westchester. It occupies an area of 53.1 square miles. The Bronx is one of the most heavily populated areas in the nation, with about 33,000 inhabitants per square miles. About one-fith of all Bronx families have annual incomes below the poverty level, as measured by the index developed by the Social Security Administration. The Block I have chosen is within fifty-five square blocks designated as one of the city’s worst health areas. It’s population is approximately 50’000 with 48 percent Negro, 48% Puerto Rican and 4% elderly white. This section has a significantly high infant mortality rate (29 deaths per 1’000), a tuberculosis rate three times higher than the city average, and a significantly high venereal disease rate. As high crime area it ranks among the worst in New York City. I would like to thank the people of this neighborhood, who cooperated with an extraordinary degree. Everyone I interviewed has been given a voice in The Block.

HERB GORO