The Neighborhood Conservation Program in New York City: An Administrative View

Abstract

New York City has become the pioneer in large-scale efforts to prevent deterioration of urban communities through neighborhood conservation. The city’s program is the most comprehensive effort to reverse patterns of neighborhood decline in any large urban center. Comparable programs have been initiated in the past by settlement houses and a few cities, but not on a scale comparable to the New York effort.

This article summarizes a study of the program. The research methodology includes a brief stUdy of efforts in smaller cities, and an intensive analysis of the history and development of New York’s program since 1959. The study was focused on the administration of the program. No effort has been made, to date, to interview residents of the conservation areas. Such a study would require careful and extensive sampling techniques, and goes considerably beyond the scope of the present study.

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Notes on contributors

Paul A. Kurzman

The author is Assistant Commissioner, Youth Services Agency, Human Resources Administration, New York City. He has published several articles on community development, social welfare, and public administration.