Diocesan News

Only in Print: ‘Stoop Life’ Welcomes New Generation

New Yorkers are returning to their apartment stoops to gather, socialize and join movements from a safe distance. (Photo: Cheyenne Champagne)

MANHATTAN — In the diocese of immigrants, an old-school trend is welcoming in a new-school crowd.

The New York City stoop scene is booming once again, and apartment steps of the concrete jungle are being used for much more than cooling off in the hot summer months.

“Spending time on the stoop is really a seasonal thing if you think about it,” said Judith DeSena, a professor of sociology at St. John’s University.

“People would be there to meet their neighbors, chat with each other and cool off,” the Greenpoint, Brooklyn, resident told The Tablet.

DeSena has extensively studied what she refers to as “stoop life,” looking at the influence immigration, the economy, and infrastructure have had on New York City’s social scene over time…


The rest of this article can be found exclusively in the August 8 printed version of The Tablet. You can buy it at church for $1, or you can receive future editions of the paper in your mailbox at a discounted rate by subscribing here. Thank you for supporting Catholic journalism.