Until recently, European tourists seeking poverty-porn have been crowding onto buses to ride through “a real New York City ‘GHETTO,’” i.e., the Bronx.
The controversy that erupted over the tour caused the operator, Real Bronx Tours, to drop it today.
But the NY Post tagged along last week as one tour guide, Lynn Battaglia,made snide comments and gazed at impoverished locals.
As the bus idled across from historic St. Ann’s Episcopalian Church, Battaglia launched into a description of the crime, poverty and violence that plagued the South Bronx during the 1970s recession.
As she spoke, a line of two dozen poor people — including one man visibly agitated by the onlookers — waited for handouts from the church pantry.
“I don’t know what that line’s about, but every Wednesday we see it,” Battaglia told the tourists. “We see them go in with empty carts, and we see them come out with carts full.”
Bronx Borough President slammed Real Bronx Tours last week:
“To have foreigners come and gawk at a long line of people who are less fortunate than they are and to make money off of that and to view them as they are some sort of entertainment is pretty disgusting.”
Agree with all of the above; but isn’t this just the next step of Detroit and other post-industrial cities like Cleveland and Pittsburgh’s “ruin porn”?
What did we expect? It’s perfectly acceptable to photograph, tour, sell books and films on rust belt cities like Detroit (including their inhabitants), but now it’s an issue when it’s NYC?
(via wnyc)
