Abstract
This article explores the case study of crime and policing in the urban New York City neighborhood of Corona, Queens. Taking a critical criminological approach and employing Jock Young’s theory of social bulimia, it investigates media coverage of crime in Corona from 2011 to 2021, finding that the neighborhood was framed as both a hub for “vice” and for real estate investment via the commodification of “Latin flavor.” The analysis suggests that Corona exemplifies Young’s theory of social bulimia as it both excludes and exploitatively includes immigrant groups. I show how power operates to both criminalize and commodify ethno-racialized populations within the structural context of contemporary US racial capitalism. The article concludes by arguing that the case of Corona is at once distinctive and more generally illustrative of similar processes that have occurred in other New York City neighborhoods like the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.
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Notes
See NYPD. 2023. “Citywide Seven Major Felony Offenses 2000–2022.” https://www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2022.pdf
New York Police Department. 2023. “CompStat 110th Precinct Report Covering the Week 9/4/2023 through 9/10/2023.” www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-110pct.pdf
Ibid.
Sarah Maslin Nir. 2012. “Roosevelt Avenue, a Corridor of Vice” The New York Times October 12 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/nyregion/on-roosevelt-avenue-in-queens-vice-remains-a-stubborn-presence.html?pagewanted=all
Ibid.
Elizabeth Daley. 2011. “Man stabbed to death in Corona.” Queens Chronicle May 19 https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/man-stabbed-to-death-in-corona/article_c14ee6ff-5f58-5855-aea6-3cf540614e8a.html
Liz Goff. 2011. “Reward for Death in Corona.” Queens Gazette May 25 https://www.qgazette.com/articles/boro-wide-blotter-14/
Ibid.
Nicholas Theodorou. 2016. “Cops seek 5 in Corona stabbing and robbery.” Queens Chronicle October 6 https://www.qchron.com/editions/western/cops-seek-5-in-corona-stabbing-and-robbery/article_803f54a4-f76a-5ff5-b485-e04b8070acd3.html
Thomas Tracy. 2013. “Man killed in shooting outside Queens home.” New York Daily News June 25 https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/man-killed-shooting-queens-home-article-1.1381903
Ibid.
Lorena Mongelli and Tina Moore. 2020. “Woman, her two kids found dead in Queens, police sources say.” New York Post May 31 https://nypost.com/2020/05/31/man-kills-wife-and-two-kids-in-queens-police-sources/
Ibid.
Matt Flegenheimer and J. David Goodman. 2015. “Public Urination in New York Becomes Test for Policing” The New York Times July 15.
Maya Guimaraes and Lisa Colangelo. 2013. “City parks are turning into battle zones for food vendors.” Daily News August 09 https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/guerilla-tactics-mark-parks-food-vendor-battle-article-1.1422770
Ibid.
Ibid.
Christine Chung. 2020. “NYPD Boasts of Ticketing Street Vendors Months After Mayor Pledges to Stop Enforcement by Cops.” The City September 16 https://www.thecity.nyc/work/2020/9/16/21440812/nypd-boasts-of-ticketing-street-vendors-after-mayor-pledges-to-stop
Ibid.
Katie Honan. 2016. “Activists Give Out Free Subway Swipes in Queens to Protest NYPD Crackdowns.” DNAinfo August 19 https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160819/corona/activists-give-out-free-subway-swipes-queens-protest-nypd-crackdowns
Vera Haller. 2015. “Corona, Queens, Affordable, With Latin Flavor” The New York Times January 28 https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/01/realestate/corona-queens-affordable-with-latin-flavor.html?_r=0
Ibid.
StreetEasy.com. 2022. “32 Corona Real Estate & Apartments for Sale.” Accessed August 17.
Bagli, Charles. (2018). “Rising from the Ashes, Willets Point Redevelopment Will Go Forward,
City Says.” The New York Times February 5 https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/05/nyregion/willets-point-redevelopment-de-blasio.html
Real Estate Weekly. 2021. “Green Light for New Queens Apartment-Hotel Tower.” https://rew-online.com/green-light-for-new-queens-apartment-hotel-tower/
Paul Junior Prudent. 2021. “Three-Story Building in Corona sells for $3.16 million.” QNS.com July 14 https://qns.com/2021/07/three-story-building-in-corona-sells-for-3-16-million/
See for example the so-called crime wave coverage of Williamsburg, Brooklyn in Warerkar Tanay and Mark Morales. 2013. “Crime Wave Hits: Brazen Thieves Have Broken into a Dozen Bars & Shops in Six Weeks” Daily News, August 2.
See NYPD CompStat 90th precinct: www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-090pct.pdf
For example, in Williamsburg, the NYPD’s 90th precinct reported a -70.1 total decrease in major crime from 1990 to 2022. In the Lower East Side, the NYPD’s 7th precinct reported a -49.5 total decrease in major crime for the similar time frame; See www.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-007pct.pdf
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Montana, O. Policing Corona: Crime, Social Bulimia, and Racial Capitalism. Crit Crim 32, 97–111 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-023-09745-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10612-023-09745-1