The latest episode of Crazy/Genius, produced by Jesse Brenneman and Patricia Yacob, tells the tale of two surveillance states. The first is Xinjiang, China. The second is Brooklyn, New York. (Subscribe here.)
This spring, I spoke with residents of Atlantic Plaza Towers, a rent-stabilized apartment complex in East Brooklyn. They have dealt with the omnipresence of security cameras in and around their home. “Once I walk out of my house, on the elevator, in the lobby, in between the buildings, in the supermarket, in the parking lot. I can go nowhere and not be watched,” said Tranae Moran, a young mother. “It’s almost like a panopticon complex, where they have every nook and cranny covered,” said Fabian Rogers, a 23-year-old resident.
Last fall the landlord, Nelson Management, mailed residents a letter announcing plans to install a facial-recognition-technology system at the entrance of the buildings. The letter asked tenants for their permission, but that request seemed…
