Flying over 96th Street: Memoir of an East Harlem White Boy

by Thomas L. Webber

Tommy Webber is nine years old when his father, a founding minister of the East Harlem Protestant Parish, moves the family of six from a spacious apartment in an ivy-covered Gothic-style seminary on New York City's Upper West Side to a small one in a massive public-housing project on East 102nd Street. But it isn't the size of the apartment, the architecture of the building, or the unfamiliar streets that make the new surroundings feel so strange. While Tommy's old neighborhood was overwhelmingly middle class and white, El Barrio is poor and predominantly black and Puerto Rican. In Washington Houses, a complex of over 1,500 apartments, the Webbers are now one of only a small handful of white families.
Set during the late 1950s and early 1960s, Flying over 96th Memoir of an East Harlem White Boy is the story of one boy's struggle with race, poverty, and identity in a city - and a country - grappling with the same issues. Tommy's classmates at the exclusive Collegiate School for Boys, which he attends on scholarship, dare not venture above the city's Maxon-Dixon Line of 96th Street into the unknown territory of muggers, gangs, and junkies. Tommy, however, slowly makes new friends on the local basketball courts and at church, and discovers a different East Harlem, one where an exuberant human spirit hides within the oppressive projects and drab tenements, fighting to break through the cracked sidewalks. Webber interweaves the nation's growing Civil Rights movement - from watching on television the forced integration of Little Rock's Central High School to participating in the famous 1963 March on Washington - with the subtler, more immediate changes he observes in the lives of his friends and neighbors.

Genres: History, Memoir

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Flying over 96th Street: Memoir of an East Harlem White Boy” is the heartwarming and humorous account of a white minister’s son who grew up in East Harlem (New York) during the late 1950’s through the early 1960’s.

In the genre of Claude Brown’s “Manchild in the Promised Land” and Piri Thomas’ “Down These Mean Street”. Flying over 96th Street: Memoir of an East Harlem White Boy is a touching, inspirational, encouraging and thoroughly satisfying book about the human spirit. Throughout his journey, Webber assesses, absorbs and assimilates whether on the basketball courts in East Harlem or in the halls of the exclusive upper eastside Collegiate School for Boys – for example he writes… “I’m white, but I live in a Negro and Puerto Rican community. I’ve experienced something of what it’s like to be poor; I live in a public housing project, pass winos and junkies every day on the street; understand what is to be an object of hate because of the color of my skin. At the same time, I attend school with the sons of the rich and the powerful. I can talk their language, move comfortably in their circles, help them understand why it’s in their own best interest to end poverty, defeat racism, and create educational and economic opportunity. I can be a bridge between white and black, rich and poor, the powerful and the powerless.”

Thomas L. Webber celebrates life’s differences instead of fearing them.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I close this book feeling like I’m leaving our home in East Harlem, again. I’m so thankful to this writer and his family as I am one of many who benefited from the reading and tutoring program that his mother started in East Harlem. It was at the Protestant Parish, while in the 7th grade, that I was hired to tutor 2nd graders in reading. It was there that I was encouraged to read Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas, and Claude McKay’s Manchild In the Promised Land, the first books I read that reflected my life. I’ve been reading ever since. Flying over 96th Street, will hold a place of honor among these reading treasures. If you grew up in Spanish Harlem you’ll want to read this book to validate your history. If you’re living there now you’ll want to measure the historical changes that may or may not have occurred. If you’ve never lived there read this book and gain understanding of cultural differences that are impacted by economic oppression.

[Yael11 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was particularly enjoyable because I live near East Harlem and recognize so many of the places mentioned.
More than being about the differences created by skin color or economics this was about fitting in in spite of the obvious differences. The author strives to fit in as a white minority in his black and Hispanic neighborhood, and as a financial minority as a scholarship student in a tony private school.
East Harlem is like a character in the book and the author captures the residents, even those mentioned briefly, as well as the changes to his neighborhood through the decades (including the civil rights movement of the 60s) beautifully painting an appealing but not overly or falsely romanticized picture.

[Madison Chester · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoy this book so far. It is filled with heart-felt/real life messages. There are a couple things that I'm uninterested in but overall amazing. The struggle and truth that lies in the words and pages of this book touch a part of my heart that doesn't get touched so easily by just a book. Thomas L. Webber has done a fantastic job with this book and has kept me wanting more and very entertained. Flying Over 96th Street is for sure on my favorites list.

[Jonathan Tepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful, moving and empathetic memoir of a young white boy whose family moved to East Harlem to follow the Christian calling of his parents. Thomas goes from being an outsider to an insider, but he is caught between two worlds, the wealthy world of the kids at Collegiate, and his friends from the street. His portraits of Danny and Rabbit and the characters are touching and a beautiful tribute to them. He is also a witness to the racial changes happening in the US in the 1960s, and his story is a powerfal tale of hope.
This book is so beautiful and moving that it inspired me to write Shooting Up. I am fortunate to have Dr Thomas Webber as a friend, and he is an extraordinary man. He and his family have spent their lives helping the people of East Harlem. The world would be a better place with more people like him.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing but good intentions from Webber, but this book feels like the natural byproduct of an author who is stuck in two times that have already gone by: the early 2000s when he published it and the late 50's/60's when he experienced the events captured here. Webber's writing is okay, but the story feels played out and flirts with white savior notions that are far past their expiration date.

[Kapara · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was nice but very underwhelming. It's written in present tense which contributes nothing but makes it uncomfortable to read. The author might have lived in an interesting time, but the book doesn't have a lot of plot, and frankly reads too much like a religious instruction book.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant read but not earthshaking. Best for New Yorkers or former NYers.

[Elsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting, colorful perspective on what it was like to live in Civil Rights era Harlem -- from the POV of a white kid, the son of a minister.

[Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. I grew up outside of NYC a few years later than Tom so it really resonated and felt true to that time.