Sad that this happened all over the country; and all under the guise of "urban renewal". The politicians could tout it in their next campaign, the city got tax-payer money for "renewal", the unions got fat contracts to tear down sections of the city. The former homeowners, and tax payers, who were mainly minorities, were pushed out and into the projects, ultimately creating a permanent underclass beholden to the government for a few crumbs. A better destruction of the social fabric could not have been planned.
This was and remains a travesty. Apart from how unjust it was taking and destroying these people’s properties, the climate in medicine and pharmaceuticals led to Pfizer downsizing and leaving the facility that was supposed to be the anchor of what New London thought was going to be built there.