 Major sponsors for Abledon On Air are Green Mountain Support Services, Washington County Mental Health, Alaa Israel. Additional sponsors include Geffen Foods Israel, Osam Foods Israel. Major media sponsors for Abledon On Air include Parkchester Times, Muslim Community Report, Associated Press Media Editors, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International. Hello and welcome to this edition of Abledon On Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns, and achievements of the different label. I've always been your host, Lauren Seiler. Arlene is off today. On this informative historical edition of Abledon On Air, we will focus on the history of President John F. Kennedy and his work, as well as the Depression era of Robert Moses' work and Fiorello LaGuardia and the big snafus that happened during the Depression era and the building of New York City. Before we get to our guest who is on the phone, we would like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health and Green Mountain Support Services, as well as many other sponsors. And we have some important information for you at the end of this program about Orca Media's move to the College of Fine Arts in Montpelier, but that's a little bit later in the program. Right now, I would like to welcome Andrew Burson, former employee of the New York City Housing Authority and advocate for history, for people with special needs on the show, who lives in Manhattan. Thank you, Andy, for joining me on this edition of Abledon On Air. Thank you, Andy. Okay, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Seiler. Thank you. Okay. Friends of Orca Media. Okay. And can you, since, let's go into the work of Robert Moses and John L. Kennedy. This is an election year. There was a lot of things that happened politically during the Great Depression and going forth also into the 60s later on. So why don't we start with Robert Moses and his work. He tried to run for governor of New York State. That didn't work, but he was a builder, a builder and shaker of the 20th century. So why don't we talk about his work? Go ahead, New York City Housing Authority. The Lincoln Center and Fordham University, which is right next door to each other. Now there is a Fordham University of the Bronx and there's also Fordham University of Manhattan. Okay, so, but what exactly was the political problem, you know, because being a modern builder in the 20th century, you know, I mean, let alone the Industrial Revolution, but also the 20th century, Moses, Robert Moses, not Moses, but Robert Moses, no, not Moses, Moses, but Robert Moses had some problems that he was trying to figure out with the millions and millions of cars that were trying to go across New York City. And there was issues with that. Can you explain the building of bridges and so on? Okay, go ahead. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Mm-hmm. Thus Robert Moses came into the picture. Thus Robert Moses came into the picture. That's right. Okay. Go ahead. You said 50 million or 15. Gotcha. All right. Go ahead. Where were they located? I'm sorry. All over the city. Okay. So, go ahead. NYCHA, as it is today, that's right, being the New York City Housing Authority under Robert Moses, I mean, it was clean back then, right? Yeah. Yeah. So far. However, during the tenement situation of garbage and filth and everything else, in your opinion, would you say that NYCHA lives up to, this is just your opinion, would you say that NYCHA lives up to Robert Moses' name or could there be more changes? Not. Okay. Okay. Anything else you want to say about Robert Moses? Because I know that the Albert Einstein College of Medicine has the buildings named after him, Robert Moses' compound or buildings. Now, did the tenement buildings come after the buildings of the bridges or before? Before. How so? Okay. Okay. Oh, okay. There's a book. So it's called How the Other Half Lives. Okay. So, let me ask you this question. All right. So in Manhattan, for example, there were slums. There was very deplorable conditions, uninhabitable conditions, dirty conditions. So that is why Robert Moses created affordable housing, correct? Yeah. Do you know, since you're taking history courses at the City University of New York, do you know if you know how much a person's rent was back then? So we're talking about 20s because the person goes from what, 29 to 35 or something like that? Okay. So do you know how much rent would have been in the 20s? Hold on. Let's just double check that since I have you on that note. So we're talking about housing and we're talking about the way things were. So, okay. But why was Robert Moses really concentrating on housing and veterans? Was he a veteran himself? Okay. Okay. So let's go in terms of housing in the 1920s and 30s in terms of Robert Moses. According to Google, housing, people were making, let's say, on 85th Street, Manhattan, back in the 1920s, 4,800 per year. So which means rent must have been a little bit less than about, say, $65 to $70 a month a little bit more than that. But, you know, don't forget, back in the 20s and 30s, you had the Great Depression, which, you know, people were homeless and so on and so forth. Yeah. That was another thing. Al Capone prohibition and everything else imaginable with that. So let's now go to, which is a very important ever in history. We talk about housing and, you know, Robert Moses, but let's talk about President Kennedy for a minute. Remember, living in the 1920s and 30s, obviously a lot of people with special needs probably lived in institutions back then. Yeah. Let's talk about President Kennedy. October 24th, 1963 was a day in history that President Kennedy signed into law the Mental Retardation Act of 1963, which was part of the, you know, American 20th century. The reason why he signed that act was because of his sister Rose Kennedy being mentally retarded herself. You know, people don't use that name anymore, but he signed under the auspices of that act of the Mental Retardation of 1963. He signed it in conjunction with a whole bunch of dignitaries at the Association for Retarded Children. He signed that act to give more services for people who were mentally retarded. Basically, he was trying to, according to his words, he was trying to squash or put an end to Mental Retardation. Obviously, we cannot put an end to it, but we could only make it better through services. Now, in your opinion, do you think that services, now that we're in the 21st century, do you think that services could be improved? Do you think President Kennedy did a wonderful thing by creating more services back then? Or do you think services can, how do you think services can be improved? You know, being effective, we're in this horrible administration that we are in. Okay. Because as a, when Rose Kennedy was born, she was basically shunned by, not shunned by her family, but shunned by the community, because they didn't really want to hear about Mental Retardation back then. Let me ask you this question. When you were growing up with special education, did they basically shun people with special needs and special ed back then when you were going to school? I knew they would. I knew I was different. Okay. But being effective, we were in the 20th century, and with all the changes, how do you think things have, have things changed or have they gotten worse for people with disabilities now? Okay. Let me just read this real quick on the Mental Retardation Act of 1963. It says, oh, here we go. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was an act to provide federal funding for community mental health centers, research facilities in the United States. This legislation was passed by President, hold on one second, let me backtrack. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963, CMHA, also known as Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act. Mental Retardation Facilities and Construction Act, Public Law 88-164 of the Mental Retardation and Community Mental Health Centers Construction Act of 1963 was an act to provide federal funding for people with mental health, people in mental health centers and research facilities in the United States. This legislation was passed by John F. Kennedy's New Frontier, and it led to the considerable deinstitutionalization situation, because obviously there was a lot of, there was a lot of people with institutions. In 1955, Congress passed a Mental Health Study Act leading to the establishment of the Joint Commission of Mental Illness and Mental Health. Okay. And while we're talking, we're going to have a picture spot, Bob. This commission was issued to report in 1961, which became the basis of the 1963 Act. The CMHA provided grants to states for the establishment of mental health centers under the overview of the National Institute for Mental Health. The NIH also constructed a study involving adequacy for mental health issues. The purpose of the CMHA was to hold mental health centers to provide the community-based care as an alternative to institutionalization. At the centers, patients could be treated while working or living at home. Now remember, in 1963, during the Willowbrook, well, Willowbrook in 1960s, Robert F. Kennedy visited Willowbrook and he called it a snake pit. I mean, this was crazy. That's why in the 1970s, Harold Rivera went over the wall with ABC to uncover this monstrosity of an institution. Go ahead. Yes. The state of Vermont had Brandon State School. It got closed in 1993. It was like workshops, jobs, but it also included people in horrible conditions. It says only half of the proposed centers were ever built. None were fully funded and the act didn't provide money to operate them long term. Okay? Yeah. And it also states the institutionalization accelerated after the adoption of the Medicaid Act in 1965. Medicaid is also having problems. During the Reagan administration, the remaining funding for the act converted into a mental health block grant for states. Some of the CMHA was enacted. 90% of beds have been cut at state hospitals. Now, we talk about cuts in terms of, you know, I'm pretty sure that Robert Moses created some hospitals or he helped with the building of Albany St. College of Medicine. But in the mental health situation, you have something called the crisis bed. What that basically states is that if you're having a mental health crisis, you go somewhere, you get well, they put you on a 72 to 80 hour hold or in even some cases, they give you a place to stay for a while. That's where the crisis bed. Vermont is having problems. When we talk about Vermont. Vermont now is having, maybe you want to say something towards this. Vermont now is having problems with the psychiatric center on Barry Montpiller Road. You know, either it's going to be sold or not be around for long. You know, in terms of crisis beds, you know, we really have a problem in the United States. I mean, Robert Moses only caused a certain amount of problem. He was trying to fix the solution. Okay. Certain people, President Kennedy, Roosevelt, all these people were trying to fix the solution and make things better. Okay. Look at the freedom of speech. Okay. When we talk about freedom of speech, that's a problem right there. Freedom of speech. Congress shall make no changes to the First Amendment. Now look what's happening. People are trying to block the First Amendment. People are trying to put a bad wrench into a car. You see my point? Or they're trying to put a cog. You know, I say, you know, they're trying to put a bad car together. It won't happen. Social security and Medicaid, well, social security was created in 1940s. Okay. 1930s. 1930s. Early 40s. Okay. With Roosevelt. The Medicaid Act was created in 1965 to give people easier health insurance. You know how many problems Medicaid has in terms of commentary? You know how many problems Medicaid has these days? Why should people be on the phone with Medicaid and social security for an hour or so? People with special needs should not ever, ever struggle. We still have struggles. Okay. Why should my wife and other people who have Medicaid, why should my wife turn around and wait on the phone for Medicaid for an hour and then only to be yelled at and screamed at by the Medicaid customer service representative? It makes no sense. There should be an easier way of doing things. Do you have anything to add to the way things are now? Mm-hmm. Okay. So let's get back to President Kennedy. Thus, because of his work, CUNY has a big chunk of President's Kennedy legacy. The John F. Kennedy Junior Institute for Worker Education, which is down on Wall Street, which is a part of the City University of New York, and also part of the research, the research foundation is the John F. Kennedy Junior Institute for Worker Education, which I was part of, you know, training students when I was in New York, which gave students and interns a chance to learn job skills. You know, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Arts is part of that, so on and so forth. So basically, if it wasn't for certain people, you wouldn't have what you have today. In terms of Robert Moses, is there anything else as far as buildings that Robert Moses created that was really important? I just don't know about him. Okay. Not a problem. Hold on a second. John F. Kennedy Institute for Worker Education. So let's go into that. The John F. Kennedy Institute for Worker Education is part of City University of New York, which is part of the CUNY School for Professional Studies. There is a nonprofit arm founded by John F. Kennedy Junior, which joined the City University of New York, which I was extremely part of, the John F. Kennedy Junior Institute for Worker Education. This is a private partnership that serves the vehicle that carried John F. Kennedy Junior's work in support of the higher education and career advancement of health and human services occupations, as well as people with disabilities. So it gives people with special needs jobs, and it gives them college education. And also, there's a program called the CUNY Connection, which is part of John F. Kennedy. As John F. Kennedy stated, it's known as the CUNY Connection. And, you know, John F. Kennedy did a lot of work, especially when it came to the Special Olympics, which was really important with you and this Kennedy Shriver. Giving people with intellectual disabilities, mental retardation and so on, a chance to do recreational activities, you know, Special Olympics sports and so on. There's a lot of Special Olympics sports, including weight lifting, tennis, bowling, and so on and so forth. Even cooking and culinary, because they've done culinary competitions. So to recap, let's talk about what we spoke about today, which is Robert Moses and the Housing Authority. Now, just to recap, why was it a blunder, in your opinion, with the Bronx Expressway and so on and so forth? Why do you think it was a blunder when he was trying to help with congestion with cars and buses and so on? Go ahead, take your time, take your time. Go ahead. A bridge. So in other words, what you're saying is people didn't want it at first? Okay. But being affected, there was so much congestion. What was that? Okay. But my point being is this, being affected that it was becoming congestion or congested. Okay. Yeah. Being affected, it was becoming congested. Wouldn't it have helped with the congestion to make it easier? I mean, the Bronx Expressway, for God's sakes, is always having problems with people waiting, traffic jams. I mean, I can see huge traffic jams there because I used to live near that area. But I mean, I see your point there, but in terms of, you know, I mean, it was making money with tolls and bridges and so on and so forth, you know, and giving people jobs at certain points, you know, because construction jobs, when you give somebody a job, it's a job. You know? But I see your point there. Is there anywhere that people can turn to if they want to find out more about the New York City Housing Authority, Robert Moses, or anything in relation to that? Okay. But is there, like, I know that LaGuardia Community College has... Are the archives. Yeah. So, okay. Since we said that. That's a good place to start all of that. Okay. Yes. Okay. Since we said that. For those that want to find out more of the work of Robert Moses, New York City Housing Authority, or anything that Robert Moses did in the 20th century, you can go to www.cuny.edu, which is City University of New York, and log on to LaGuardia Community College's archive. I'm an alumni of LaGuardia Community College, part of City University of New York. And for those that want to find out more about John F. Kennedy Jr.'s work, you can go to YouTube, and look at, as a matter of fact, we're going to run as part of this program. We might change the time of this program, because we want to run some of the inaugural addresses of John F. Kennedy, as well as the Mental Retardation Act and the Mental Health Act of 1963. And also, if you would like to find out more about John F. Kennedy, you can go to the Library and Archives of John F. Kennedy, President John F. Kennedy, which we will pop the website up on the screen for that. And we would like to thank our sponsors and thank Andrew Burson. I was going to say John F. Kennedy, but he's no longer around. Well, I mean, we thank him for his work. But also, we would like to thank Andrew Burson for joining us on today's edition of Abledon on Air. That's all, folks. Hold on, Andy. And we would also like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health and Green Mountain Support Services, as well as many other sponsors. And here's a piece of information. Oracle Media, as of March, will no longer be on Channel 15, 16, and 17. We are moving to Channel 1075, 85, and 95. For more information on that, you can go to the Times-Argus article, the most recent article. That's www.timesargus.com. And you can look at information why Oracle Media is moving to the Vermont College of Fine Arts. It's going to be a bigger space, bigger shows, bigger opportunities. So for more information on that, go to www.timesargus.com. As of April 17, we will no longer be on Channel 15. Again, we will be Abledon on Air and other programs will be on Channel 1075, 85, and 95. And you can always log on to www.orkamedia.net. And again, we would like to thank our sponsors, Washington County Mental Health and Green Mountain Support Services and other sponsors. Arlene is not here today. Tulin for other exciting editions of Abledon on Air to come in March, which will be Washington County Mental Health. We will be discussing ambulances and autism. And also, we will be talking about Disability Awareness Day, which will be at the State House on March 12 and other exciting episodes. Again, my name is Lawrence Seiler. And this has been another edition of Abledon on Air. See you next time. Associated Press Media Editors, U.S. Press Corps, Domestic and International.