Bronx Rebirth

Re “Key Ingredient in Bronx Rebirth: The Picket Fence,” Dec. 11: The area of “rebirth” in the Bronx represents probably 1% of the Bronx. That area was abandoned by the city, state and federal governments and businesses starting in the 1950s and was left to burn off, like unwanted growth in a forest for several decades. All President Clinton and his spinmeisters had to do was check out the rest of the Bronx, and parts of Brooklyn, Queens and upper Manhattan to witness the same burn-off tactics taking place today.

To imply that urban blight is on the decline is a farce. The wealthy areas of America’s city are flourishing, while the vast majority of those same cities are falling deeper and deeper into poverty, urban blight and hopelessness.

If our economy is the best it has been in over a generation, why is it that America’s inner cities are worse off than ever? It’s jobs, stupid. This economy is great for stockholders, not for workers.

STEVEN SCHINDLER

Los Angeles