David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

of bleak, featureless brick-and-concrete
developments. As the crime rate in New
York City fell dramatically over the past
twenty years, Brownsville always
remained a step behind, plagued by
groups of teenagers who roamed the
streets, mugging passersby. From time to
time, the police would flood the streets
with extra officers. But the effect was
never more than temporary.
In 2003, a police officer named
Joanne Jaffe took over as head of the
city’s Housing Bureau, the group with
primary responsibility for the
Brownsville projects. She decided to try
something new. Jaffe began by making a
list of all of the juveniles in Brownsville
who had been arrested at least once in