2017 Theses Master's

Riot: Community Organizations and Public Communication Following Crown Heights and Tompkins Square

McGrory, Madeleine

This is a qualitative study of the extent to which community organizations reclaimed public space in the face of community conflict and the mechanisms by which they did so, in the case of the Crown Heights and Tompkins Square Park riots. Six community organizers, activists and residents took part in semi-structured interviews regarding safety, ownership, public space and community organizations in their neighborhoods. Media in the form of newspaper articles and op-ed’s were also utilized to gauge the public discourse surrounding the riots and how the communities were able to represent themselves. The research uses a communicative planning theory approach to the issues of conflict and community organizing, and exposes opportunities planners can take advantage of in order to assist communities in representing themselves and minimizing conflict.