Abstract
This article is excerpted from a 70-page report of the same name originally published by the Vera Institute of Justice in 1969. The Manhattan Bowery Project is a medical program of alcohol detoxification for men of the Bowery, New York's largest Skid Row. In searching for an alternative to periodic arrests of destitute alcoholics, the program had to resolve conflicting theories of health administration and alcoholism treatment. In its first year of operation, the Manhattan Bowery Project's primary goals were to test (1) whether Bowery alcoholics would accept a voluntary program of alcohol detoxification; (2) whether such a program would be workable in a nonhospital setting; and (3) whether on completion of detoxification, the men would accept referral to other types of programs for ongoing care.
