Brooklyn, una novela criminal

On the streets of early-1970s Brooklyn—where no signs of gentrification have yet appeared—a daily ritual unfolds: they call it "the dance." Money changes hands, possessions are surrendered, and power prevails. Violence is everywhere; it is a form of currency. For any kid—whether mixed-race, Black, or white—the street is the stage where he displays his strength, his weaknesses, and his shames, while the other actors remain in the wings: parents, police officers, blue-collar workers, booksellers, landlords; the people who write the headlines, the stories, and the laws; the ones who give the neighborhood its name. At first glance, the rules seem obvious, yet through the lens of memory, it is unclear who is the victim and who is the criminal. The doors of a neighborhood—now transformed into an oasis for the wealthy—swing open to reveal, beneath the gleaming facades of its buildings, stories both past and present.