A small excerpt:
Though Chicago has had a number of notorious public housing projects, including the Robert Taylor Homes and Stateway Gardens on the South Side, and Rockwell Gardens and the Henry Horner Homes on the West Side, Cabrini–Green's name and its problems were the most publicized, especially beyond Chicago. Cabrini–Green often gained press coverage for its chaotic New Year's Eve celebrations when gang members fired guns into the air causing police to block off nearby streets every year.
Several infamous incidents contributed to Cabrini–Green's reputation. In 1992, seven-year-old Dantrell Davis was killed by a stray bullet while walking to school with his mother. In 1997, nine-year-old "Girl X," was raped and poisoned in a stairwell, leaving her blind, paralyzed and mute.[7] Members of the infamous street gang, the Gangster Disciples, who controlled most of Cabrini–Green, were ordered by the gang's leaders to find the person responsible for the crime and brutally assault him. The attacker, Patrick Sykes (who was not a gang member), was later apprehended by police and sentenced to 120 years in prison.[8][9]
An unanticipated result of the steel fencing installed to secure the previously open gangways at Cabrini–Green was that it became difficult for police officers to see through the steel mesh from outside; in 1970, two policemen were killed by snipers.
In 1981, gang killings that killed 11 made national attention.[10]
In an effort to demonstrate a commitment to making the complex safer, then-Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne moved into a fourth-floor apartment with her husband in 1981.[11] Backed by a number of police officers and a substantial personal bodyguard detail, she stayed for only three weeks. This incident, too, contributed to public perception of Cabrini–Green as the worst of the worst of public housing. As a security measure, the rear entryway of the unit Byrne stayed in was welded shut. This had the unforeseen impact of creating a fortification for gang members when Byrne left. Many other gangs copied this technique in other units
