Towering above Harlem : geographies of race and the power of elite institutions / Steven Gregory ; edited by Elizabeth Chin ; foreword by Arlene Dávila.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gregory, Steven, 1954- author.

Contributor:

Chin, Elizabeth, 1963- editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Associations, institutions, etc--New York (State)--New York.

Associations, institutions, etc.

Morningside Heights (New York, N.Y.)--Social conditions.

Morningside Heights (New York, N.Y.).

Morningside Heights (New York, N.Y.)--History.

Morningside Heights (New York, N.Y.)--Ethnic relations.

New York (State)--New York--Morningside Heights.

New York (State).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2025]

Summary:

"In his final book-length work, Steven Gregory explores the long history of economic and racial discrimination in Morningside Heights, beginning in the late 19th century and extending into the present day. This exclusion of the surrounding racial minorities and working-class population has been enacted physically, through the acquisition of property by Columbia and others, but it has also been enacted through a variety of discourses and practices aimed at setting apart the so-called “civilization-building” mission of the elites overlooking Harlem from the racialized others in the vicinity. The book shows that the major institutions of Morningside Heights have since the beginning tried to physically secede from the Black and Puerto Rican communities geographically below the Morningside plateau, while also symbolically rising above them as beacons of progress.The volume charts the coordinated effort among elites to use space to naturalize relations of power and prestige, illuminating the past, present, and uncertain future of racial discrimination and exclusivity in Morningside Heights and in New York City at large."-- From De Gruyter Brill.

Contents:

Making the “American acropolis”

Manhattanville valley, constituting the outside

Power/knowledge and the crafting of citizens

Spatial politics and the policing of the color line

Philanthropy, race liberalism, and racial containment

Waging the war against blight

Racial dispossession and rebellion

Epilogue: plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Online resource; title from PDF title page (De Gruyter Brill, viewed April 14, 2026).

Other Format:

Print version : Gregory, Steven. Towering above Harlem.

ISBN:

9781479831401

9781479831418

1479831409

1479831417

OCLC:

1573655574

Publisher Number:

CIPO000338239

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license