protests, including Wasicsko and others receiving death threats, such as letters containing bullets with a note that “You won’t see the next one”. Wasicsko was forced to comply. The suit was finally settled in May 2007. In addition to the Yonkers City Council members and other local politicians, two groups took opposing sides on the issue: Save Yonkers Federation, led by Jack O'Toole, who were anti-desegregation and voted to defy the federal order, and the Citizens and Neighbors Organized to Protect Yonkers ("Canopy"), who supported the court order, wanting to end the crippling fines. New York Secretary of State Gail Shaffer was appointed by then governor Mario Cuomo as the chair of the Yonkers Emergency Financial Control Board, which was in charge of the city's finances in 1988 as the fines reduced all city services and the city became bankrupt. The Housing Education Relocation Enterprise (H.E.R.E.) was a community-based organization that supported the tenants moving into the scattered-site public housing. Yonkers hires city planner Oscar Newman, originator of the defensible space theory, to work with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development on the housing plan. Newman's theories emphasize the value of small groups of townhouses with yards, rather than multi-story apartment blocks, to provide a sense of ownership for the low income residents, while being immersed in the activities and culture of middle-class neighborhoods. The challenges of the existing projects are shown through the lives of a number of families living there. Cast Oscar Isaac as Nick Wasicsko, former police officer, then Yonkers City Council member running for election to be mayor of Yonkers, eventually the youngest big-city mayor (1987–89) in the nation Carla Quevedo as Nay Noe Wasicsko, City Hall staffer, Mayor Wasicsko's wife Peter Riegert as architect and city planner Oscar Newman, originator of the defensible space theory Jim Belushi as Angelo R. Martinelli, a six-term Mayor of Yonkers who is Wasicsko's opponent in the election to be mayor of Yonkers Alfred Molina as Henry J. "Hank" Spallone, Yonkers City Council member who was passionately anti-housing, who became mayor of Yonkers based on his refusal to follow the desegregation order Winona Ryder as Vinni Restiano, Yonkers City Council president who advocated for integration Bob Balaban as Judge Leonard B. Sand, who ordered desegregation Jim Bracchitta as Nicholas Longo, Yonkers City Council member who was outspoken in his criticism of the federal ruling Allan Steele as