2. Levittown, Where The Good Life Begins

La Brega

WNYC Studios and Futuro Studios

De, San, Noticias, Rico, Juan, Historia, Vieques, Podcast, Levittown, La, Society & Culture, Brega, Puerto

4.9 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2021

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Alana Casanova-Burgess traces back the story of the boom and bust of Levittown, a massive suburb that was founded on the idea of bringing the American middle-class lifestyle to Puerto Rico during a time of great change on the island. Casanova-Burgess (herself the granddaughter of an early Levittown resident) explores what the presence of a Levittown in Puerto Rico tells us about the promises of the American Dream in Puerto Rico. Check out photos and archival material about the boricua Levittown here. Cezanne Cardona Morales' book of short stories set in the suburb is called Levittown, Mon Amour. Silvia Alvarez Curbelo's book, Un País del Porvenir, is here. Hilda and Paula and Sixto, who share their experiences in this episode, also talked about Levittown in this episode of "Nuestro Podcast." To read more about this period of time in Puerto Rico, we recommend Concrete and Countryside: The Urban and the Rural in 1950s Puerto Rican Culture, written by Carmelo Esterrich.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Listen to Support it, WNYC Studios.
0:09.0	Hey quick note, there are English and Spanish episodes of La Brega.
0:13.7	This is the English one.
0:15.2	If you want to excut her in the Spaniel,
0:17.1	wolverine and selection on the version with the title in
0:20.4	in Espaiol. Littler in Spaniel. Listen to Support at WNY studios. This story begins in many ways in late March 1951, with a reporter's
0:47.1	ways in late March 1951, with a reporter's dispatch from San Juan, Puerto Rico. This is audio from WNYC radio in New York, which sent a crew for a live broadcast.
0:52.4	The occasion is the inauguration of Nonstar Plains. which sent a crew for a live broadcast.
0:52.5	The occasion is the inauguration of non-stop plane service
0:55.3	from New York to Puerto Rico.
0:57.0	We are awaiting the arrival of the Puerto Rican from New York City,
1:00.0	which has just come in.
1:01.0	Before this, only Pan Am offered regular flights to New York and the monopoly made
1:06.4	tickets expensive so it was big news that Eastern Airlines had gotten permission
1:11.6	to offer service to Puerto Rico as well and
1:14.4	that they would be offering cheaper flights.
1:16.5	The mayor of San Juan is about to present the mayor of New York City with the keys
1:21.0	to the city of San Juan.
1:23.6	Today, we might take it for granted
1:25.6	that by the mid-1960s, over a million
1:28.5	Boricas had moved to the states, over 600,000
1:31.6	just to New York City.
	...

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