The Bodega: Pedro A Regalado

New York City’s Latinx small-business owners were frequent victims of urban renewal “slum clearance” during the 1950s. By the next decade, they wielded the federal War on Poverty to reimagine the relationship between government and Latinx New Yorkers, brokering between them to address hunger, public health, and the plight of credit-starved entrepreneurs. This lecture explores the history of Gotham’s Latinx storefronts—especially bodegas—during this transition. It reveals what their overlooked experiences teach us about the power of place in shaping community. It also offers new insights into how Latinx business owners helped to transform the trajectory of postwar New York.