Disinvestment and Community Organizations
Southside United HDFC Organzies Community in the 1970s
Source: Los Sures, 1971, reprinted by Marwell, 2007
The 1950’s and 1960’s were a time of expeditious transformation in American cities, most notability New York City. The two decades brought initiatives aimed at modernization that proved to monumentally change the city and its neighborhoods in perpetuity: some improved, while others degraded beyond recognition. During this time, existing citywide policy was altered and new policies initiated. Two noteworthy changes had a profound impact on Williamsburg directly: the construction of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway and the Congressional Housing Act of 1949. Both would serve to fragment the neighborhood of Williamsburg, displacing thousands of individuals, increasing competition for resources, and elevating class and racial conflict. These events, paired with the later financial crisis in New York City in the 1970s, established the basis upon which the urban blight of the 1970s and 80s was possible. A survey of Williamsburg during this time (1950s-1970s) brings to the forefront recurring themes that plagued neighborhoods throughout New York City: deindustrialization, depopulation, and general citywide and neighborhood disinvestment and disrepair, all of which brought crime, economic inequity, social stratification, and near total abandonment to Williamsburg.
The construction of the BQE resulted in displacement of much of the community in Williamsburg (especially Southside), and in turn invited urban renewal, which further damaged the area. By the 1960s the once vibrant community had fallen into a state of disrepair after landowners and landlords abandoned properties, leaving tenants without basic services. The cost of maintenance, when weighed against the income generated in less-than-sought-after neighborhoods like Williamsburg, was incentive for many owners to take an initial loss and leave Williamsburg. Residential landowners were not the only people moving out of Williamsburg, however. As businesses learned of the planned urban renewal, they chose not to invest in the local economy, further degrading the situation.
By the late 1960s/early 1970s, rot infested the built fabric in South Williamsburg, and the abandonment by landlords and property owners of the early 1960s had resulted in buildings “…so badly neglected that structural walls collapsed, forcing tenants out into the street…” (Marwell 2007, 45). As quality of life worsened, discontentment grew in the Southside, especially amongst the Puerto Rican and Latino communities that were disproportionately affected by the egregious conditions. Soon groups were forming all over Williamsburg to address such conditions, one of which was New Age Realty Group, who later joined with the influential organization Los Sures. Working with the community, these groups partnered with the City of New York to manage abandoned buildings under the new Housing Receivership Program. In 1968, they (New Age Realty) began to manage buildings under the Central Receivership Program, collecting rents to make necessary repairs, and implementing a bottom up housing management plan that empowered tenants. In 1973, the community further realized what they began in the 1960s when New York City granted Los Sures their first contract under the Community Management Program: 149 South Fourth Street.
The construction of the BQE resulted in displacement of much of the community in Williamsburg (especially Southside), and in turn invited urban renewal, which further damaged the area. By the 1960s the once vibrant community had fallen into a state of disrepair after landowners and landlords abandoned properties, leaving tenants without basic services. The cost of maintenance, when weighed against the income generated in less-than-sought-after neighborhoods like Williamsburg, was incentive for many owners to take an initial loss and leave Williamsburg. Residential landowners were not the only people moving out of Williamsburg, however. As businesses learned of the planned urban renewal, they chose not to invest in the local economy, further degrading the situation.
By the late 1960s/early 1970s, rot infested the built fabric in South Williamsburg, and the abandonment by landlords and property owners of the early 1960s had resulted in buildings “…so badly neglected that structural walls collapsed, forcing tenants out into the street…” (Marwell 2007, 45). As quality of life worsened, discontentment grew in the Southside, especially amongst the Puerto Rican and Latino communities that were disproportionately affected by the egregious conditions. Soon groups were forming all over Williamsburg to address such conditions, one of which was New Age Realty Group, who later joined with the influential organization Los Sures. Working with the community, these groups partnered with the City of New York to manage abandoned buildings under the new Housing Receivership Program. In 1968, they (New Age Realty) began to manage buildings under the Central Receivership Program, collecting rents to make necessary repairs, and implementing a bottom up housing management plan that empowered tenants. In 1973, the community further realized what they began in the 1960s when New York City granted Los Sures their first contract under the Community Management Program: 149 South Fourth Street.
By the late 1970s, many buildings had been “received” under the new program, and vast improvements in housing conditions and affordability were realized in Williamsburg. With this came the birth of a new organization focused solely on the social ills that still plagued the area. El Puente, formed in 1982 by Luis Garden Acosta, set out to redefine the sociology of Southside Williamsburg by addressing crime, violence, education, and other injustices that had become commonplace in the area. By the end of the 1980s the blight that had taken over the built environment and the ills that had been accepted as social norms were on the decline, all thanks to the work done by the aforementioned community groups formed in the 60s, 70s, and 80s.