Fredric Martin

24th and Tomorrow

Designed to encourage citizen activism, this film centers on a one-man crusade to combat community indifference to urban blight. Ruing the litter, vermin and substandard housing conditions prevalent in his New York City neighborhood at 24th Street and Second Avenue, David started to pick up trash from city streets and went from building to building documenting health violations. Gaining support from the Department of Sanitation, he then enlisted the aid of tenants and their children and helped form the Improvement Association of the East Twenties. Through the organization's efforts, the streets were cleaned, buildings were given a fresh coat of paint and abandoned cars removed. To celebrate the neighborhood's revitalization, tenants, clergy and city officials, including Congressman John V. Lindsay, participated in a tree planting ceremony.